Modding my Mario DS: the power of nostalgia in Mario

How the Super Mario Bros Franchise impacted my childhood and connected my brother and I.

The car bumps along the highway, the steady drum of wheels hitting the cement below, but my eyes stay transfixed on a tiny handheld screen. The screen shakes slightly in my hands as well, but my eyes are too close to the screen to notice. I sat in the backseat of my grandparents white Lincoln Town Car on an annual family trip to Ocean Shores. To my right sat my little brother Evan sandwiched between my cousin and me. The devices the three of us held were Nintendo DS Lites of various colors, and year after year, our trio would pass each road trip playing Mario Kart and racing our tiny customized karts for hours.

From as early as 2007, Nintendo subconsciously branded my childhood and connected me with my family members. Even before I was introduced to the DS, I was given a small gray Gameboy as a birthday present.

The Super Mario Brothers is a massive franchise, and has been since Mario first appeared as Jumpman in Donkey Kong in 1985, and today Mario has appeared in over 200 games. The franchise has grown and evolved over time, changing from its original 2D style to become a multigenre fandom with advanced graphics, evolving characters, storylines and openworlds.

I remember the bricklike Wii that sat on my family's TV stand and the nostalgia its long wand-like controller wielded. Memories of dancing in the living room to Just Dance, vigorously sword slashing in Zelda, and even trying to exercise with Wii Fit come to mind. As I entered my 20s, I tried a handful of obscure Mario games before learning how extensive the library was.

My gaming experience drastically changed during this time as I started to experiment with console modification. This is a fairly common practice, with many trailblazers of the modifications posting in depth tutorials to help “mod” most devices. Console modification is a broad topic, ranging from body mods, to modifying the system hardware and sometimes even creating completely new consoles like the WiiBoy Color.

The main console I personally modify is the 3DS: Nintendo’s final update to the DS line of consoles. My modification focused on the existing software, which I both altered and added to. With the 3DS eShop officially closing on March 27, all servers were discontinued. However, with the use of something called the hShop, gaming opportunities have been reopened for 3DS users. 

Cracking open my 3DS, I was surprised to be able to modify my first console in under an hour. The bright green logo of the hShop felt daunting, but after clicking it, I was floored by how much content was available. Instantly, I felt waves of memories crash over me, and I began downloading any title I recognized reminiscing on games I hadn't seen since I was a child.

I loved playing games with my brother Evan growing up, or even just watching him play — it felt like a movie where my best friend was the star. We played on many platforms: Xbox, Nintendo and even some board games. 

After I moved to Bellingham to attend Western Washington University, it felt harder to stay connected with my brother. Sometimes we would go days or weeks without speaking. I felt so disconnected from my family, now two hours away.

A major event in my family's life was a double jaw surgery my brother had a few months ago. Knowing about the upcoming surgery for over a decade, I wanted to get Evan a new 3Ds he would be able to take with him to the hospital during his recovery. This was no easy task, as the consoles are considered rare, and I began casually searching for an extra console in November 2022.

My only option was to search for a used console. I began searching online in November, but the impending doom of online scams ensnared me. I tried to buy something from eBay, which never came, and when I made a purchase from OfferUp I was given a fake tracking number. Luckily, I was able to get refunds and I reluctantly began to continue my search in real life at the start of January 2023. 

Driving through Bellingham, I stopped at every used gaming store from Reset Games, Cosmic Games and the multiple nearby Gamestops. I continued south, checking a comic book store and arcade called Docking Bay 93 in Mount Vernon and then stopped at Next Level Video Games in Everett. 

I still couldn't find the console. 

Far from home and out of luck again, I felt defeated, when an employee mentioned another place called Another Castle, slightly further out in Edmond.

I drove to Another Castle and I quickly ran inside. The walls were coated with familiar apparel and I was suddenly shocked to see a turquoise 3DS in mint condition. I wasted no time and checked the console over before buying it and driving further south to visit my brother. 

As I drove up to my childhood home at around four in the evening; the winding neighborhood sat quietly. Without alerting my family, I pulled into the driveway and quietly snuck up to my old room and plugged in my laptop.

The familiar hum of my overworked Zephrus laptop quickly filled the small room, and with the gentle scratch of the SD card moving between the small turquoise hand held and my booming laptop, within minutes, I had another modded console.

I didn't really plan, so the wrapping paper for the small console was just a T-shirt. I ran to give it to him.

When Evan saw the console, his eyes widened. We both had that console as kids, but he hadn’t owned a 3DS in years, and in giving this to him, I was able to introduce him to what I have learned about these systems. 

Our conversation about gaming began again.

Evan has always been tech-savvy. Ever since we were young, I can remember him taking apart consoles and attempting to fix them himself, over the years amassing a large collection of vintage handhelds. 

“I just grew up with them and I liked collecting them after a while,” Evan said when showing me his consoles. I always admired his consoles, not realizing I could have my own collection until I got a lot older. 

With this new shared knowledge of modding, we began to share our projects with each other again, such small consoles allowing us to rediscover our shared nostalgia for games.

“I can’t get too specific,” Evan told me. “But I just really loved playing the DS together, playing Super Mario Brothers, Mario Kart DS and just you and Cameron and I on those road trips.”