I turned my 3DS into a genuine Game & Watch knock-off

So for the past two months or so, this is what my 3DS XL looked like. Well, not always. I mean, sometimes it was open. Pretty much just a normal XL with some Mario stickers on it. Strategically placed stickers. Because see, underneath…

There’s this unsightly crack. It appeared after the 3DS slipped out of my pocket – as I was sitting down – and fell a short distance onto carpet. To this day I’m not sure how it managed to gain such an impressive war injury from a trip to the cinema. Perhaps it hit a few years worth of dried chewing gum spikes protruding from underneath the seat on its way down.

The Paper Mario stickers, which depict the ancient story of Mario finding joy in a grotty old half-peeled mushroom sticker that’s far too big to put in his book (as an ever bigger mushroom threatens to crush him), was just a temporary Band-Aid. I looked at various skins and cases to cover the 3DS’ shame, but nothing really grabbed me.

But then Cool Clown came along with their ‘Retro Face Case’, and I absolutely had to slap down a pre-order for it. Because cool. COOL CLOWN.

Oh my God, Cool Clown. This is the Japanese branch of Datel, the UK-based company who released the Freeloader for GameCube and Wii. Datel probably does some other stuff, but whatever.

So, yes. The Retro Face Case is basically designed to give your 3DS LL/XL the look of an old Game & Watch that smashed into a Famicom. It’s pretty great.

Just put your XL in there and it clips in with little fuss.

All the important sliders, slots and bits can still be accessed, even though you’re not supposed to open that trap door, ‘cos there’s something down there. My only issue is the volume slider becomes a bit harder to quickly adjust; the casing sort of blocks the very top and bottom of it. But that also means there’s now less chance of accidently bumping it all over the place.

The case itself feels really sturdy, except for this piece of rubber at the back hinge which flops about when you’re clicking the screen open. Only time will tell if that part will burst into flames one day.

The 3D Game Console Game & Wa… Touch is ready. Let’s take it on a magical Mario adventure.

Oh. Well. Maybe next time.