Gamer Shows Off Unusual Nintendo DS Cartridge Collection

Highlights

• A fan of the Nintendo DS has completed their collection of extremely rare DS Download Station cartridges used for in-store demos.
• These cartridges were not sold officially and were meant for demo kiosks in stores, showcasing popular games and trailers for Nintendo DS and Wii.
• The collector found the hardest cartridges to obtain were volumes 7 and 8, featuring demos of Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword.

A fan of the Nintendo DS has managed to complete their collection of an extremely rare set of cartridges exclusive to the handheld console. These cartridges are the DS Download Station cartridges, which stemmed from a series of machines that allowed Nintendo DS systems to download content using the built-in Nintendo DS Download Play feature. These were never sold anywhere officially, as they were meant to be used for demo kiosks in stores that demo various games.

The Nintendo DS Download stations were present in physical stores like Target, GameStop, and Walmart, allowing gamers to try out a variety of games in a short demo form. These were available in stores for customers to try throughout the console’s lifespan, running from 2006-2011. These stations included some of the Nintendo DS’ most popular games that were going to be released at the time, including the likes of Mario Kart DS, Metroid Prime Hunters, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, and many more. Trailers and videos of Nintendo DS and Wii games were also present, showcasing games like Pokemon Battle Revolution and Mario & Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. One lucky gamer shows off their complete collection of these cartridges, as well as the demo system used to play them.

This collection of cartridges was posted by Guarden_Gnome on the r/gaming subreddit, where they attached a photo of their handheld console and 21 different cartridges. 19 of these game cartridges contained various demos that were used in stores, while two of them were labeled as “Nintendo DSi XL Demo Video.” These were cartridges that contained demonstration videos that went over the features of the Nintendo DSi XL, along with the games that are playable on it, like the DSi exclusive software, Flipnote Studio.

These cartridges were put in the DS Download Station unit, which is a blue version of the console that was hidden from the customers. This unit was also shown in the photo, complete with a label. The DS cartridges and console all have a “Not for Resale” note on them, meaning these are not meant for public sale. However, with consoles being replaced with brand-new ones, some have gone to great lengths to get these discontinued Nintendo systems, either for archival or collecting purposes, with Guarden_Gnome being in the latter camp.

According to Guarden_Gnome, the hardest to obtain cartridges in this collection were volume 7 and volume 8. These two cartridges were used throughout Winter 2007/2008 and Spring of 2008 respectively, having demos of games like Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney and Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword. Many gamers congratulated Guarden_Gnome on completing their collection of this rare Nintendo hardware.