I've been buying game systems since the NES era, probably longer than you've lived on Earth. My point is bad design or not, you will get scratches on it. Not all the 3DS systems have this "design flaw", but if you were smart you would buy a screen protector any way because you would know (from common sense) that your device would get scratched no matter what over time. Basically, if you get a screen protector and your device has this "flaw", it won't be a flaw anymore AND you will have protected your device from everyday use from that point forward. Double whammy. PLUS I might add, in my case when I had the original PSP, the Hori Screen protector UPGRADED the PSP. It was horrible in direct sunlight and I got a Hori screen protector that had anti-glare technology in it, and I was able to play it outside with so much less glare. Word. MicrosoftISdumb

My point is that a handheld can get scratched up by shoving it in your pocket, using a stylus while there's dust on the screen, dropping it, whatever. It should not, however, be able scratch itself because you closed the screen. That is a design flaw.

Also, getting a screen protector doesn't get rid of the flaw, it just hides it.