Its not so much a nightmare, Arceus. The thing was made for a younger audience which really fits in well with Nintendos marketing to families. Sure its design is ugly and bulky but it seems like it was built to hold up against careless kids who drop stuff, step on stuff and general just destroy anything they can get there hands on.
Plus its much cheaper than the 3ds which also give people on a budget a chance to play the newer 3d games !