Special Animal Crossing-edition owner gets a surprise when Nintendo fixes her busted handheld.

By virtue of their clever ideas, charismatic characters, and focus on fun above all else, there’s a timeless quality to many of Nintendo’s games. But while the appeal of classic titles may be eternal, video game hardware after service is not, and in February Nintendo announced that it will be discontinuing repair service for its 3DS and 3DS LL handheld models as of March 31.

This left Japanese Twitter user @yukimirimo22 with a dilemma.

▼ The system is not supposed to be in two separate pieces like that.

Some time ago, @yukimirimo22’s 3DS LL was accidentally broken by her daughter. However, hers isn’t just any 3DS, but an Animal Crossing model with a special casing. Since it was a limited edition and no longer on sale when her daughter broke it, @yukimirimo22 figured that if she sent it in to Nintendo to get it repaired, it’d come back with a different, non-Animal Crossing case, so she was hesitant to send it off to the Kyoto-based game company.

But with the repair deadline announced, it was now or never, and so @yukimirimo22 took advantage of this last chance to restore her 3DS to working condition. “I’ll see you when you come back, all fixed up” she told her system while boxing it up. “Even if you look different, my memories and love for you won’t change.”

That was at the end of February, and this month Nintendo sent the repaired unit back to @yukimirimo22. Anxious to see what sort of casing they’d stuck the internals in, she opened up the box…

…and discovered…

…that Nintendo had gone the extra mile and restored her 3DS, in its special case, to fully functioning status, not just replaced it with another casing out of the parts bin.

“No way…I was totally resigned to having to say goodbye to my Animal Crossing case!” says @yukimirimo22. What makes the story even more touching is that Nintendo didn’t even need to be asked to try to preserve the special aesthetics. As a matter of fact, @yukimirimo22’s casing was so busted she didn’t even bother asking for anything of the sort in her repair request. Nintendo just knew, on it’s own, that if you like Animal Crossing enough to buy a limited-edition 3DS, you probably like it enough that you don’t want to lose the casing.

The total repair bill came to 7,000 yen (US$68), but @yukimirimo22 says it looks practically brand-new, having been given a thorough cleaning by the Nintendo staff. They also replaced the battery and put a protective cover on the LCD screens.

▼ The latest in the long line of amazing Nintendo customer service tales.


Online commenters reacted with:

“You can really feel the love Nintendo has for its customers.”
“And that’s why their customers love Nintendo.”
“This is the secret to their success.”
“I’ve been going through a lot recently, but hearing this kind of heartwarming story brings tears to my eyes.”

So @yukimirimo22’s 3DS now has a new lease on life, and is currently occupying a space of honor right next to her Switch…

…which, naturally, is also a special-edition Animal Crossing version.

Source: Twitter/yukimirimo22
Top image: Twitter/yukimirimo22
Insert images: Twitter/yukimirimo22
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