Why I'm playing the ds lite in 2026 (due to the AI data center ram tax)

First some background. I recently got a ds lite back in April 2026. I got some decent games but not a lot yet Mario&sonic Olympics 2008, Lego star wars the complete saga(which didn't make it on psp.) learning math, speling and etc.

What's good about the the ds lite. 

1. The originally ds games have no updates you can play any of ds games 10 20 30 years later and it'll play.

2. The ds lite is a modern device. With a touchscreen and some basic 3d capabilities but it is offline. Being offline I can homebrew it and add open source apps. Also since it's offline I dont have to age verify on it. It's literally impossible to enforce it on the ds lite it's offline.

3.  The system is cheap to buy, and so are the games. You won't believe this I got a used copy of Mario and sonic Olympics for 10$ way less then any 3ds or switch copy today.

4. The ds saves are on the cart directly meaning if my cheap system ever got fried I can just buy a new one and continue on the new device like nothing happened.

5. The system itself has 14+ hours of screen on battery life destroying the switch by a milestone at playability. Nintendo Switch can only stay on in portable mode for 3-5 hours depending on your model.

6. Switch is also expensive AI data centers rose the price to over the original 300 and 400$ of both switch 1 and 2.

Overall I'm satisfied with my ds lite. However I might eventually get a psp for better graphics at an affordable price. Used games and consoles is the way to game without spending 1000$ these days.

8. Also the ds lite don't even force a gaming subscription.

9. Ds lite comes packed in with picto chat and you can sketch or do a mini diary and type. On picto chat you can text and draw images to people near you that also have a ds lite. It's not via wifi they must be local.

10. It's a good long term investment homebrew app support remains strong from music video, and text editors all open source.