The Nintendo 3DS XL is out this summer. Hooray for tech nerds that love new hardware. With any new Nintendo device though, existing fans hoping to upgrade are always hassled by the same question: Will I be able to play my already purchased games on the new device? The word from Nintendo is yes you can, but with a significant caveat.
One of the biggest problems plaguing Nintendo’s home and handheld devices in the era of digital distribution is the lack of a central account structure for users. Buying and downloading games to the Nintendo 3DS through the eShop is easy enough, but having multiple devices with the same games on them? Impossible! Your 3DS was stolen and you need to get your games back? You have to send that thing to Nintendo and even then it’s not a guarantee that you’ll get all your games back. Unlike Xbox Live, the PlayStation Network, Steam, Apple’s iTunes, and countless other digital media services, Nintendo does not recognize your purchases as tied to a single account which entitles you to use purchased goods on multiple devices. Even a Club Nintendo account that links all these purchases together doesn’t count.
How then will existing Nintendo 3DS owners who upgrade to the 3DS XL get all their games onto the system? A Nintendo representative told Digital Trends that the “System Transfer” feature in the existing Nintendo 3DS settings will transfer that info to the 3DS XL.
The transfer will carry over Nintendo 3DS settings like Internet Connection info, saved information like Friends Lists and Miis, Nintendo DSiWare titles, everything saved on the SD card, and Nintendo eShop account information, including download history and any balance in your eShop wallet.
Some early 3DS owners concerned that their Ambassador Program games won’t carry over don’t need to worry. Nintendo offered 20 free games to 3DS buyers that purchased the system before the July 2011 price drop, including 10 Game Boy Advance games that aren’t available in the eShop. Since the Ambassador Pass was a download from the eShop, that will transfer to the new system.
What’s the problem then? If you’re planning to keep your old Nintendo 3DS after upgrading to the 3DS XL, all of your games and data will be inaccessible on the original system.
Nintendo has already confirmed that it’s making transfer plans for the Wii U. This same representative told me in March that Nintendo’s official line is: “We are planning to make it possible to transfer the purchased contents from Wii.” Now that Nintendo is getting into the DLC business, it has got to find a way to centralize users’ information in a convenient way. System transfers that render old hardware inert are just unacceptable.
Good thing digital games are all that matters anymore, eh?
Never mind the 3DS’s ability to play all DS retail games unlike the Vita which can’t play any UMD PSP games. Never mind the fact that the Wii is the only current gen console that plays all of it’s predecessors games without any of those horrible ‘caveats’.
When Sony and MS do it we make excuses. When Nintendo does it, it’s ‘unacceptable’.
Never change media…our world needs it’s poster boys for ignorance, hypocrisy, double standards and bias.
Thanks for trying to bring up things that have nothing to do with the article to try and get people to get on your side.
No one is talking about physical media here. And while I’m not a fan of either system, the point of this article was about the fact that your digital content isn’t tied to a single account. This is a bad thing, whether you like it or not. Especially since I love cruising the eShop. I shouldn’t have to send my console TO Nintendo to get my DLC back, and sometimes not even all of it, should I lose my system, upgrade, etc.
They mentioned the other consoles once in this whole thing, and only in regards to how your DLC is connected to your account on them.
You wanna talk about unrelated bias though? How about the fact that the PSP never had a second analogue stick(stupidly of course) but people bashed the hell out of it. However, the 3DS comes out day one(how they could not learn from Sony’s mistake is beyond me), without it, and people hail it like the second coming, Oh you have a few sites here and there talking about the lack of it, but no where near the amount of people the PSP had.
The new Wii’s within the last year have come out, and they don’t play GameCube games. Where is all the hate over that? I’m glad I have an old Wii, because I would be super pissed if I couldn’t play my WII COPY of DDR due to the fact that I need to have a GameCube controller port for the dance pad. Or the fact that you can no longer play Brawl with a GC controller. No one’s crying over that. Microsoft even slowly stopped supporting their backwards compatibility years ago, but no one gives a damn, but if Sony does it, OH LAWD.
Yeah. Spot on, about all the bias.
Never change fanboys. “,,,our world needs it’s poster boys for ignorance, hypocrisy, double standards and bias.”
I’m aware the article wasn’t about physical media, doesn’t change the fact that:
“Will I be able to play my already purchased games on the new device? The word from Nintendo is yes you can, but with a significant caveat.”
Reeks of a significant double standard, hence my whole post.
And please, if you don’t think media is complaining in droves about the 3DS’s lack of a second stick, especially the XL….all I can say is, look again.