ive had a split in 2 ds still work but then dad tried to fix it (ran out of warranty) and the thing fully broke apart >_

You can replace the shell if you find a guide on how to do it. Shells and the tri-star screwdriver can be found on dealextreme and ebay. Just be careful with the ribbon cables. Getting the ribbon through that connects the top and bottom was the only real difficult part when I did it.

As TWRoO noted, it is always best to ask. Companies like Nintendo like to do goodwill for their customers. Sure, it may cost them $40 out of pocket now, but they gain a lifelong customer who will spend potentially thousands on their products. Nintendo has been known to go above and beyond what they claim they cover under their warranty.

Just remembered the year long warranty ran out in July it's now on the extended warranty I bought extra, I'm sure that'll screw things up a bit, I'll call and see what is said.

if you bought extended warranty from bestbuy or gamestop (nintendo doens't offer one I'm aware of other than 3 months for registering the system), I think they even cover the acts of complete idiocy. Go check it out.

I'm in the uk, I should have pointed out.

Nintendo would likely cover it under warranty if it is within the right time frame. Hinge cracking around the plastic is a well known defect that sometimes leads to this breakup over time if the crack is on the right side hinge. If Nintendo won't help you, get a new shell and tri-wing screwdriver from dealextreme (should run less than US $20), and do some careful surgery following the step by step guide on GBATemp. In an hour or two, you can have a DS that's as good as new. Get a new right hinge from them while you are at it, just in case your old one is frozen up causing the original cracking and eventual breakup. The most difficult part when I did it wan not the ribbon cable for the top LCD (because the guide covers how to work that through the slots very well). My biggest problem was those springs holding the shoulder buttons. It was a bitch to keep them in while getting the buttons put back over them.

I was gonna say this. New shells can be found online for like 10-20 bucks, then the only thing you'll need is patience and nimble fingers. Will take a few hours, but then you'll have a brand spanking new DS. And yeah, that ribbon thing was the only hard part. Also take care not to fry the motherboard if you attempt to re-shell your DS. That can happen easily.

Here are pics for the result of my DS lite with replacement shell:

Nimble fingers are not mine to own so I think I'll try the repairers...if I can find the number for them ¬_¬