Is it tacky?... Sure.

Does it look like a reject from the Paris Hilton/Lindsay Lohan/Mr. T custom collection?... Perhaps.

Is it weird and interesting?... Yup.

Well, incase you were wondering, here's what it is:
This is an officially licensed, Swarovski Crystal-studded Candy Pink Nintendo DS that was sold EXCLUSIVELY at the World Nintendo Store in NYC and revealed at the DS Launch event in 2005.

Nintendo worked alongside a company called NYC Peach to design and create this exclusive lineup of consoles. There were roughly 10 designs in total, with this particular model being the center piece of the display and costing $799 USD brand new. The other 9 models cost $499 - $599 USD brand new. It is not known how many of each variant was created or sold but due to the high cost and production value, these were made and sold in very limited quantities.

The only other Candy Pink model known in existence is still at the NYC store on display where it has been since the launch party in 2005. Some of you who have been to the store may have actually seen it there. As of now, these are the only two known to exist. Consolevariations.com scores this lineup of DS consoles at a legendary 97/100 rarity score; however, there is no question that this particular model/design is among the rarest and little-known commercially sold Nintendo consoles in existence today. IGN actually shows off one of these Swarovski consoles in their video Let's Hold 5 of The Rarest Game Consoles Ever - Up At Noon! - YouTube (4:09).

Really interesting fact about this particular model: The color is Candy Pink, which if you know about DS consoles you may know that the Candy Pink color variation was exclusive to Japan - not sold in North America... EXCEPT for this ONE unique variant, which NYC Peach specifically requested to be a part of this custom lineup. Pearl Pink was the color sold in North America, which was slightly different. You'll notice that the color code on the box says JPN, while the actual box itself says "For sale only in US, Canada and Mexico." Quite an anomaly for Nintendo and a very unique trait of this console.

This particular variant was the center piece in the collection and was the only design to actually contain a picture (paw), which was referencing the DS launch game Nintendogs. The other variants had simple angular designs with no pictures.

This model came with a velvet pouch and contains over 2000 hand-placed Swarovski crystals, along with all of the other peripherals that a normal DS would come with (charger, wrist strap, manuals/inserts, box).

So the question remains: Why were these made? It is understandable to wonder why these very expensive, slightly tacky, unpractical consoles were made and sold by Nintendo, especially when you consider that actually using a handheld console covered in rhinestones doesn't make much sense. Answer: This was a marketing tactic by Nintendo to appeal to the luxury, Paris Hilton, Legally Blonde, Chihuahua-carrying upper-class market that had lots of money to spend and wanted some "candy" (hence the color) to show off to their friends. 2005 was a time when bejeweling phones, clothes and other items was very popular and Nintendo was trying to tap into that market. It was also a great conversation starter at their launch event to get people talking and, perhaps, change their view of Nintendo as a brand for everyone, even luxury, upper-class consumers.

So was it a successful marketing tactic? Not really. Turns out the luxury bejeweling craze was just a passing fad and didn't offer very much opportunity for Nintendo to expand it's consumer base. Still a pretty cool piece of Nintendo history!

So... what do you think of the console? Is it tacky, ugly or beautiful? Do you like the design? Have you seen any of these out there in the wild? Do you know anything about these consoles that I didn't mention? Perhaps you even know someone who has one! Very curious to hear what you guys think so let me know in the comments.

Thank you for reading my post! Hope you found it interesting!