Before Nintendo slaps a ‘3’ onto its DS brand, and steps into the third-dimension of mobile gaming, we take a look back. The Nintendo 3DS is just the latest in a long history of portable game consoles, the DS has come a long way since its humble beginnings in 1980.

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The DS has risen in the portable gaming market, growing from a single-function video game player to a multifunction mobile device that not only excels at games, but plays music, shoots and manipulates photos, and now offers up a sans-glasses 3D experience. And the DS brand has picked up a legion of unwavering fans along the way. Even with the wildly popular game-friendly Apple iPhone, iPod touch, and an army of Android phones, Nintendo has sustained overwhelming popularity in the mobile gaming market.

Hit the slideshow for a close look at the evolution of the DS, including its design changes, internal component upgrades, and the features that made each update unique.