As solid as the DS is....
The original gameboy puts in to shame.
Mine went through the washing machine twice, fell out of moving car, got stepped on, dropped off of my bunk bed countless times....it never stopped working.

There's this one that survived a BOMB BLAST IN THE GULF WAR!!!!

Had my phat DS since day 1 of release. Still works like a charm.

Personally I'd recommend screen protectors, at least for the touch pad. My brother let some of our over zealous friends play Wario Ware Touched and the screen became really scratched up.

That being said the touch pad was responsive as ever, it was just a little harder to see what was going on.

Your need own a Pokemon D/P, is one of the best games on DS.

Kirby Canvas Curse or Power Paintbrush. It really shows off what the touch screen can be used for. I've played it for like 15 hours already and is about 65% finished :)

Good for you!

I don't use any screen protection and mine is still great. People just push down too hard with the stylus.

Btw, I used to do some carpentry work as a roofer and my friend dropped his DS off of a 3 story rooftop onto a concrete patio, which it bounced off of into a pool, and sank 9 feet to the bottom. Took at least 5 minutes for him to get down there and fish it out of the pool. It still works like the day he bought it.

"my ds"
"the day he bought it"

Was supposed to say "his DS."

My DS has never been "tested" in any way, but I'm also very careful with my things.

Nice!!! Hope u enjoy it!
As for a case or protection for the touch screen, I advise a case that doesn't cover the touch screen cause a layer on top of the touch screen makes it hard to control