Never tried canned air for my DS shoulder buttons, took the whole thing apart and now the screen on my DSi fades into obscurity after 5 minutes of play, so it's worthless now.

I tend to vacuum all the fan ports on my Wii, PS3 and 360 (this is especially good for the PS3 and 360 which tend to make hideously loud sounds whenever the fan ports are choc full of dust)

@G4L Try the Wii lend cleaner and see if that helps. If not a part in the disc drive can get bent with use and scratch you discs.

I guess I could try the vacuum technique @ChunkyDroid. The central air ducts in my house are so F'ing dusty, so everything collects dust like a magnet. Those air ducts really need to be cleaned out. If you dust around my house, the very next day it appears as if you didn't.

@iPancakez, my Xenoblade Chronicles disc isn't scratched, it just has some type of film on the surface. I've been informed elsewhere that it's just a special coating that's only found on dual layered discs. I guess that's why I haven't experienced this with my other game discs.

How to prevent usage gunk from 3DS niches? No matter how much I clean it next time I get it again. I do have long play sessions on a few games but sometimes it's just ridiculous and shows up within 10 or minutes!

Yeah, I have the same problem :@

Good one. Is it safe to use a flamethrower on my 360 before chucking it off a cliff? Also, would a 3DS survive being nuked?

What about that problem where your GameBoy walks to the store? I think mine may be having symptoms of it, is there any way to prevent it?

I know, that grimy crap is around my buttons after 10 minutes of play. I wipe it off w/ a cloth, around the buttons, and then I sweep down to make it look smooth (kinda like brushed aluminum). If you look, eventually the stuff will even be on the sides and bottom of your system too. Wipe a cloth strait along each layer to clean it off on the sides; the bottom's pretty strait forward (it's smooth).

How to prevent grime and gunk on your 3DS: wash your hands before playing it. Seriously, works wonders.