Nintendo 3DS (thread twooooo)

[kryss]

You have the option to transfer everything or download stuff from the shop again, which I did. Unfortunately the number of photos I had on there meant it took a good 40 minutes to transfer.

[Nu-Eclipse]

I'm starting to feel like I've had enough of hoarding 3DS game cases and cartridges and that it would be considerably more convenient to go digital with all of my 3DS games.

Only thing holding me back is Nintendo's lack of user accounts for digital downloads. That and their continued insistence that software downloads remain tied to the hardware that it is originally purchased and the continued need for system transfers between multiple sets of hardware.

It's 2014 going on 2015. How have Nintendo STILL not managed to rectify this? So archaic it's laughable.

[Dogg Thang]

Yep, that's the main barrier for me too.

[Asura]

Yeah, I've bought Phoenix Wright (because it was only on the eShop) but I won't buy anything else pricey until they fix this.

[Digfox]

Same here. I've only spent about ten pounds on each of 3DS, Wii U and Wii (VC) digital content (none on DSi store). All my games are retail discs and cartridges and I won't buy digital until there is a user account system in place like all the other services out there. I do have 3 full games on the 3DS; SM3DL (2012 Xmas promotion), MK7 (with machine) and AC: New Leaf (Apr/May 2013 promotion) and as people have said portable machines are made for having your whole library on the move.

Does make me laugh that people on NeoGaf get shot down for suggesting Nintendo hardware doesn't have a account system, because some pedantic people claim that's what the new NN system 'apparently' is (http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=912290).

[Guts]

Why would you need some account system when you can do a system transfer between Wii/Wii U and 3DS/New 3DS? If your machine breaks (which Nintendo hardware almost never do) you'll get your digital stuff back, right?

I actually like that the games are tied to the system. That means if I want to sell my system second hand, I can choose to sell it with the digital content or without it, I don't need to sell my account with my details like I would have to do if I sold my 360 or PS3.

[wakka]

Dude....no way. The Nintendo system is way worse. If you lose your console or it's stolen, you have no recourse to get your games back. That's really, really bad, because one of the key benefits of buying digitally is that the stuff can't be lost or stolen, it exists in the cloud in perpetuity.

It's kind of a benefit you can sell your digital content with your system, but there's no choice involved. If you sell your system, you HAVE to sell the digital games with it. And you'll probably make a pretty huge loss, because selling games as a bundle always means you're taking a hit on each one compared to selling them individually. Plus, what if you'd like to keep your games in case you buy a console again in the future? You can't.

There are so many inconveniences with Nintendo's system. Like if I want an N3DS, I have to buy it first, transfer my stuff over, THEN I can sell my XL. I'd much rather sell the XL first and redownload everything onto the N3DS, but that's just not possible with Nintendo's system.

Literally every other company in the world that sells digital content ties it to your account, not the device it was downloaded on. It's just much better that way.

[Dogg Thang]

Why would you need some account system when you can do a system transfer between Wii/Wii U and 3DS/New 3DS? If your machine breaks (which Nintendo hardware almost never do) you'll get your digital stuff back, right?

Well firstly, if we had an account system we could sell our systems well in advance of buying a new one. We could decide to sell our system and then a couple of years later decide we'll get another 3DS and we can access our games. We can't do that right now. As for when a system breaks or is stolen, can we really get our digital stuff back? I wasn't sure it could even be done but, if so, how easy is it?

Locking it to the system makes it more fragile and that's more risky than owning a cart. If I lose a cart, I've lost one game. If I lose my 3DS, I lose all my digital content. Simple to sort on a Vita, not so simple on a 3DS. Or at least not as far as I know - if I'm wrong about that, it would be good info to have.

Edit: Wakka got there first!

[Guts]

Well, I agree about the fact that you can't sell your system before you get your new system, that's the only negative thing in my opinion.

If I want to sell my PS3 and buy a PS4, I can't access my digital content anyway, because it's not backwards compatible and I can't really sell it either because it's tied to my personal information. I like the fact that on Nintendo hardware you have actual backwards compatibility where I can transfer my stuff to the new system and keep using it or sell it with my old system if I want.

I don't really see a problem with losing your system or having it stolen. That's not actually very likely scenario to happen if you're a responsible adult and don't live in a third-world country where you get mugged everytime you leave the house.

[Dogg Thang]

But I don't really see a problem with losing your system or having it stolen. That's not actually very likely scenario to happen if you're a responsible adult and don't live in a third-world country.

It's awesome that the crime rate is 0 in Finland and that nobody ever loses or breaks anything ever but the rest of the world isn't such a wonderful paradise, I'm afraid. By comparison, Ireland is a total dump - people break into houses, sometimes people leave bags on trains, sometimes our kids throw our DSs to the ground and they break. It's anarchy here, I can tell you.

[wakka]

That's not actually very likely scenario to happen if you're a responsible adult and don't live in a third-world country where you get mugged everytime you leave the house.

Come on mate. That is just ridiculous and you must know it. Of course people lose and get things stolen everywhere.

[Dogg Thang]

Not in Finland.

[Asura]

Not in Finland.

In fairness, not in Japan either, where street crime of that nature is also very low.

[Digfox]

Why would you need some account system when you can do a system transfer between Wii/Wii U and 3DS/New 3DS? If your machine breaks (which Nintendo hardware almost never do) you'll get your digital stuff back, right?

I actually like that the games are tied to the system. That means if I want to sell my system second hand, I can choose to sell it with the digital content or without it, I don't need to sell my account with my details like I would have to do if I sold my 360 or PS3.

Apart from what wakka and Dogg Thang have already said the remaining points are fairly moot because digital content is pretty much worthless (unless it's an unredeemed code) irrespective of how it's tied to a machine. See how much extra GAME will offer for that downloaded copy of Mariokart 7 on the 3DS console on trade-in. Also an DRM-activation system would still allow Nintendo to offer the migration of digital content between machines if they wanted to continue to offer a Wii > Wii U (has 3DS to N3DS been confirmed?).

[Nu-Eclipse]

(has 3DS to N3DS been confirmed?).

You seriously think that it would need to be?

Both machines are part of the same brand/platform.