Alright, I really love my 3DS, and am glad to have none of the many minor hardware problems that many users here have faced (such as having a loose hinge — mine is actually really tight, and doesn't move at all even with a good amount of pressure, and I also have kept both screens free from scratches.)

Anyway, somehow I managed to scratch, and scrape a little bit of the material off of the circle pad. I guess its not a big deal. Is this pretty common? (as in does anyone else have a scratched, or at least SOME material missing from their circle pad) I think this is from my fingernail scraping against the really soft material that the circle pad is made of. It doesn't ruin any functionality, but it can be a little unpleasing at times. And is there anyway I could try to remove these (or at least minimize them)?

Perhaps I'm just a little paranoid. Usually I won't see these marks. It is only when I move it in just the right kind of light that I see this.

I have a small nick at the bottom of mine. Since the pad is rubberized, this stuff is bound to happen. Unless it starts seriously affecting the performance of your circle pad, I wouldn't worry about it.

Yeah I have these on mine, too. Your fingernail makes them. Like Birdman said, don't worry about it unless they affect the Circle Pad performance.

Mine doesn't have any scratches, but I've noticed that the circle pad's edges seem to attract dust and hair-like particles. I can clean it if it gets out of hand, so it's not really a problem.

I've noticed something else, though. This might sound strange, but when I haven't used my 3DS for a while, there's some kind of dried residue on the system's surfaces. Does that happen to anyone else? I have no idea what it could be.

While I dont have a 3DS alot of my analog sticks on my other systems to get some ware and tear on them. Like the left analog stick on my Xbox controller has had the nubs on it wore down and the rubber on my PS2 analog stick is all but gone. The only thing is with a 3DS you cant very well get another controller like a home console. The only thing I can say is if you think its your fingernails maybe keep them trimmed if you dont that is and just be careful how you handle it.

LOL, my poor PS2 analog stick. It got heavily injured playing kingdom hearts. The mascara dual shock 2 actually has lasted longer, analog stick wise.

LOL, my poor PS2 analog stick. It got heavily injured playing kingdom hearts. The mad cats dual shock 2 actually has lasted longer, analog stick wise. (darn the auto correct got me, LOL mascara)

Haha. It's good to know I'm not the only one facing this. And, yeah, I actually did trim my fingernails since I think that was the problem.

Here's a picture of the little scrape in the circle pad (it was really hard to get a clear picture of it, especially with the 0.7 MP camera of my iPod touch lol):

The markings are on the left side of the circle pad.
I just wish there was a way to remove them. Ah well, it's just a minor issue.

It'll heal over like skin.

Yeah, I hope so. I've only had it for two days, so I have yet to use it very much. For those who have similar markings as me, have they diminished (even slightly) over time?

Not trying to seem stupid but how have you gotten these markings? because I play my 3ds and have had it like since the beginning and I do not have any markings.

I'm not sure exactly. I'm guessing my fingernail rubbed against the circle pad somehow. They are very small markings, so I'm not too concerned. I also found some other 3DS users with the same problems. According to them, the circle pad wears down considerably over time, which I'm not sure I necessarily like.

At least its not as bad as the GC sticks

Well just be calm with it because mine is perfectly fine right now.

Aliens.

Yes. That's the only explanation for this nonsense.

Well, I've played Ocarina of Time 3D for about 60 hours now, so I've used the circle pad like crazy. I can honestly say that the markings are somewhat subsiding. I'd like to see them completely gone soon.

Also, I have some scratches on the back of my 3DS. The only explanation I can think of is that since my fingers are resting on the back of the 3DS, maybe my fingernails are scratching the back.

You should see some of my old handhelds

I learned that there's no way to make them look brand new after a while without coughing up lots of $$$$, so I just live with it

Similar to what annoyed me - finger nail mark on my black's wii remote d-pad.

I have one. I don't scratch it or anything... and it's also only on the left side... weird...