Nintendo 3DS Gamer Finds Sealed Case Crumbling to Dust

A gamer named Randolph found something weird. Like, really weird. They had this sealed Nintendo 3DS case, just chilling in the box, doing its thing. And then? Poof. Dust. I’m serious! You wouldn’t expect your precious gaming accessories to just, I dunno, vanish into thin air. But here we are.

You’d think a 3DS case would last forever, especially from Nintendo. Those systems are tough. Practically built like tanks, right? So putting a protective case on one seemed like a pretty solid idea. Keep it safe from drops, add a bit of personal flair without ruining the original gloss. But apparently, we should all double-check our cases. You know, just in case this whole dust situation is more common than we realized.

Randolph, via something called NintendoSoup (seriously, where do they get these names?), had a Dragon Quest 8 themed case. Yep, it was sealed tight, stored away like a treasure. Only it wasn’t. Because when they opened it, there was nothing but fine, crumbly bits left. The packaging? Still pristine. Inside, though, it was chaos. Like opening a box of cereal to find only bits of the bag left.

Now, here’s the “why” part, and it kinda makes sense. The case was made from TPU, a fancy biodegradable plastic. Sounds eco-friendly and all, right? But guess what? That stuff breaks down in about three to five years. This case came out in 2015, so… do the math. It’s just nature doing its recycling thing. Great for the planet, but not so much for collectors holding onto these things as prized memorabilia.

So, yeah. It’s kind of a bummer. One minute you’ve got a cool 3DS case, the next, you’ve got a pile of dust with some fond memories attached. Probably didn’t plan to use those cases forever anyway—maybe just a few years or until it got too scratched or scuffed. But for those who love collecting, this is a heads-up. Check your stash! Might find you’re holding onto nothing more than glorified compost at this point.