Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

Along with the controller grips I received recently for review was a pair of skins for the Nintendo DS Lite. I decided pretty quickly to install one, and give the other to a lucky reader. So read on for my review of RedBeard’s metal skins for Nintendo DS Lite, and to find out how to get the one I didn’t crack open to apply.

If you read my other RedBeard review, you know I was left pretty impressed with the quality of the products, though the sample I received was a mixed bag in terms of sheer usefulness in my personal setup. Skinning a handheld is the area I’ve had the most experience, as my wife and I both had DecalGirl vinyl skins on our original Nintendo DS systems. They were launch systems, in that drab gray, and we needed a means to tell them apart, which remains the most valuable aspect of any skin. But as you’ll see, these metal skins are a pretty different animal.

You can check out RedBeard’s product line at their official website.

When you’re buying a skin, there are some options. Most are adhesive vinyl, in varying levels of quality. Fortunately, even the highest quality vinyl is still pretty cheap, because… well, it’s vinyl. RedBeard takes the construction of the skins a step further or perhaps even more, because the skins are actually made of metal, which is then coated with epoxy. The result is a surprisingly durable skin, even at its narrowest parts, that is somewhat thick. An epoxy-coated metal skin makes for a suit of armor any piece of hardware would be proud to boast, but it’s a bit unwieldy as well.

It takes a bit of time to apply the various parts of the skin, since each panel is one continuous piece for the DS Lite: you get one piece for the top of the closed unit, by far the easiest to apply. This obscures the DS logo on your system, which may or may not be an issue depending on your taste. Secondly, there’s the section of the skin that goes on the panel around the top screen. I found that either the design or the cut of this portion of the skin was off center, and as a result it does not look centered on the panel. It’s clear how to apply it as the top corners are rounded and the bottom are square, but using the narrow frame around the Lite’s top screen as a guide for where to place the skin did not work, and the end result is less than perfect. It creates a choice between a skin that won’t lie flat and a skin that’s off center. Repeated applications crumpled the metal on one side as well, something that turned out pretty ugly.

The piece that is applied around the touch screen is the most challenging to apply. The skin is very narrow and flexible where it runs along below the touch screen, and it took a few attempts and adjustments to get it to lay flat. This part of the system is not flat, so laying a skin on it is not easy. Positioning the skin around the buttons on the Lite’s crowded face was a challenge as well, but the design of the skin handled the challenge elegantly. After a few adjustments, I found it a good fit, and nice to look at.

Closing the system puts the game to sleep, but with the skin on, the system doesn’t quite close tightly. This doesn’t seem to cause any problems, but it would remain to be seen whether this would invite dust into the closed unit if you kept it out of a case. The added bulk from the skin didn’t cause any problems with my case though, which is the official ALS DS Lite Play-Through case. I was convinced the shiny, thick layer of epoxy would catch on the clear plastic of the case, but there is no such issue.

In the end, this is a beautiful skin that is as clumsy as it is eye-catching. The super-shiny epoxy-on-metal look is really remarkable. If you’re willing to take the time to apply it and adjust it until it’s exactly right, the result is very much worth it. My advice is to go slow, especially on the narrow parts, so you don’t crumple the metal like I did. I’m hoping the cut of the top screen panel’s skin was an isolated issue, because it’s the biggest problem I had with the skin. The free Lite stylus, which is white with the RedBeard name printed on it in read, is basically identical to the one that comes with the system, and is a nice little bonus.

I give the RedBeard DS Lite metal skin a 3.5 out of 5.

And now, on to the giveaway! Guess how many Nintendo DS games I own. The commenter on this article who comes closest to the actual count of DS games I have sitting here on my shelf by Monday, November 12th, at 9:30pm EST, wins the skin, which is brand new and sealed, the black “Web” design you can see on RedBeard’s homepage. Good luck!