12 June 2006

DS Lite (un)branding

Something that strikes me after playing with the DS Lite for a few days is the lack of branding anywhere on the thing. The top has the little double square logo, but even that is understated, molded in white plastic the same color as the rest of the enclosure. With the machine open in front of you, as you look at it when you’re playing, there’s no “Nintendo” stamped or written anywhere, except on the splash screen when you boot up. Only on the bottom of the unit do you find branding information along with the requisite electronics specifications. I guess this is true of the iPod as well, but I think it’s interesting and bold of Nintendo to leave this stuff off where they could have easily stuck their logo on somewhere.