Performing A New Nintendo 3DS System Transfer? Break Out The Screwdriver.

With the New Nintendo 3DS XL appearing in just a few days here in North America, there’s been a lot of concern over how exactly we can transfer downloaded games and save files onto our new systems. Yesterday, Nintendo released this YouTube video to guide your New Nintendo 3DS system transfer but it conveniently ignores some serious problems. Take a look:

So, there’s a lot of problems here. What do you do if you’re trading your old system in? Can you still transfer data? Why do you need to buy extra equipment for this to work? What about people who purchase systems with pre-installed hardware in bundles? I pre-ordered my New 3DS XL, but this terrifies me, because it looks like if I trade in my old 3DS XL, I’ll lose a ton of data, including some full-priced games such as Smash and Pokemon ORAS because I can’t see GameStop letting me go home to transfer things and then come back.

Fortunately, NeoGAF comes to the rescue. From this thread and a user named kubus, we get this guide. It condenses the information from the video into an easy to follow questionaire that tells you exactly how to transfer the data in your individual situation, whether you’re swapping SD cards or using a PC or have a bundle. There’s still the problem of whether GameStop is going to let you sit in store and transfer the data before they take your old system, but the NeoGAF guide is at least some relief.

Still, it’s right to criticize Nintendo for this complex and rather ridiculous form of data transfer. Nintendo has long frustrated its fans with its refusal to create a convenient, linkable system of accounts with information and data shared across them. Its competitors have it mostly figured out. Why is it then that I’ve gone through about three or four different Nintendo Network IDs since the program started? Perhaps whatever creature is coming to succeed Club Nintendo will offer a better form of Nintendo accounts, but for now we’re stuck awkwardly copying our files and trying to find the right size screwdrivers.

Good luck if you’re trading your old system in for a New Nintendo 3DS XL on Friday. You might need it.

Thanks to @DHGFMadson for the tip on this one!

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