• Guest, you're invited to help build our new TBT time capsule! It contains three parts, with some of its elements planned to open in 2029 and others not until the distant future of 2034. Get started in 2024 Community Time Capsule: Blueprints.

3DS XL System Transfer Discussion!

For the above conversation click to 1h27m.
This was what made me decide on getting both the bundle and a physical copy, Lindsey and Kohei both play their games in this stream and they only have 1 3DS that is fitted to record from. Though I am unsure of whether they had to switch SD cards to do this or not, but hopefully this'll help clear somethings up.

Also, going back to the SD card backing up conversation. Are you saying that if all the data from an SD card is copied onto another SD card (via a PC) that the second SD card wouldn't work in the 3DS? Therefore if a 3DS wasn't damaged but an SD card was irreversably destroyed you would lose the data on it anyway? (and subsequently have useless data backed up)

And isn't your Town data saved onto the cartridge (for physical copies), so it wouldn't matter at all if you switched DS's to play (other than FC/Dream address.). Or are you saying that the Town data is saved onto the SD card? - In which case surely you could make as many towns as you want by buying more SD cards.

So much confuse!
 
Last edited:
For the above conversation click to 1h27m.
This was what made me decide on getting both the bundle and a physical copy, Lindsey and Kohei both play their games in this stream and they only have 1 3DS that is fitted to record from. Though I am unsure of whether they had to switch SD cards to do this or not, but hopefully this'll help clear somethings up.

Also, going back to the SD card backing up conversation. Are you saying that if all the data from an SD card is copied onto another SD card (via a PC) that the second SD card wouldn't work in the 3DS? Therefore if a 3DS wasn't damaged but an SD card was irreversably destroyed you would lose the data on it anyway? (and subsequently have useless data backed up)

And isn't your Town data saved onto the cartridge (for physical copies), so it wouldn't matter at all if you switched DS's to play (other than FC/Dream address.). Or are you saying that the Town data is saved onto the SD card? - In which case surely you could make as many towns as you want by buying more SD cards.

So much confuse!

Cool, I'll check that out this weekend thank you!

Well from what I've heard, if you back up your SD card, you'd have to back up every time you played or the save would be rendered useless in the event of a redownload issue. Apparently the game has "check points" that have to match up to the check point on the save, if these don't match then the save data won't work. System transfers are different because the 3DS deals with that during the process. If you're upgrading your SD card and copying all the data across then it should still work, as it's a direct copy, but BOTH SD cards could only be used in the one system as the data is tied to the system, you'd have to format the old SD to make it usable for anything else.
So, if you had the most recent save data backed up on a PC then you could copy it to a new SD card and have it good to go, but if the game had progressed past the point where you last backed up, then it would be useless and lost, yes (PLEEEEEASE someone correct me if I'm wrong, this is only what my Googling last weeek taught me!).

Physical copies save data onto the cartridge, yes, but some games save Extra Data to the SD card as well, so if you use the cartridge and the digital, then this Extra Data would keep getting overridden and of course be no use. I don't think it's all games, but I'm not sure how you'd tell unless you played both until it became apparent if data was being overridden or not. So Lindsey and Kohei both have physical and both played on the same system. If they haven't noticed a loss of data then it may well be that there's no extra data saved, but as you say, they may have switched out SD cards. (Lindsey can you help :D?!)

And yes, so much confuse!! (I'm getting bundle and physical too, wooo!)
 
Cool, I'll check that out this weekend thank you!

Well from what I've heard, if you back up your SD card, you'd have to back up every time you played or the save would be rendered useless in the event of a redownload issue. Apparently the game has "check points" that have to match up to the check point on the save, if these don't match then the save data won't work. System transfers are different because the 3DS deals with that during the process. If you're upgrading your SD card and copying all the data across then it should still work, as it's a direct copy, but BOTH SD cards could only be used in the one system as the data is tied to the system, you'd have to format the old SD to make it usable for anything else.
So, if you had the most recent save data backed up on a PC then you could copy it to a new SD card and have it good to go, but if the game had progressed past the point where you last backed up, then it would be useless and lost, yes (PLEEEEEASE someone correct me if I'm wrong, this is only what my Googling last weeek taught me!).

Physical copies save data onto the cartridge, yes, but some games save Extra Data to the SD card as well, so if you use the cartridge and the digital, then this Extra Data would keep getting overridden and of course be no use. I don't think it's all games, but I'm not sure how you'd tell unless you played both until it became apparent if data was being overridden or not. So Lindsey and Kohei both have physical and both played on the same system. If they haven't noticed a loss of data then it may well be that there's no extra data saved, but as you say, they may have switched out SD cards. (Lindsey can you help :D?!)

And yes, so much confuse!! (I'm getting bundle and physical too, wooo!)

Backing up after every play seems like a hassle unless you know you won't be playing for a while then. - Though obviously it'll be fine for saving pictures taken.
If it saves extra data you can check on the Settings -> Data thingy. it'll appear in the list. I would guess that will only save pictures taken, seeing as if it stores DLC and then you switch SD cards to one never used with AC those items would have to magically disappear. Though really there should be enough empty space on the cartridge to add DLC.
Though updates to the software like Japan had to remove glitches might also be stored on it, meaning that'd need to be redownloaded to a new card.
Should be easy to check for us though. Buy the game, make a town and save asap, check to see if extra data was made. (unless it forces it like some games, but you should be notified on first play then)
And maybe resetting your 3DS clock might count as a system restore to use remotely saved data as you're activity log will show that you never played the game since the back-up. Though it's more likely done through a time-based random code.

^That is all just random musings though, in the hope someone can confirm/disprove them.


And no, Lindsey has physical and Kohei has digital I think. - I'm guessing he system transfered to the recording 3DS, (or that the chip etc was put in the ACNL one) either way, it's clear from that video they don't both use physical copies unless they have a magic way of having 2 physical copies plugged into 1 system. xP
 
And no, Lindsey has physical and Kohei has digital I think. - I'm guessing he system transfered to the recording 3DS, (or that the chip etc was put in the ACNL one) either way, it's clear from that video they don't both use physical copies unless they have a magic way of having 2 physical copies plugged into 1 system. xP

Ah OK, I've never watched any videos so wasn't sure.

Yea, backing up each time would be a total pain. I think any glitch fixing would go onto the SD card though. I can check with another cartridge I have, I downloaded a glitch fix and will see if the updated version of the game shows up in a 3DS that's never played it before and so not downloaded the update.
 
I don't think they can write to the cartridge, which is why the fix goes onto the 3DS itself. Not sure how they write save files though
 
Well I got a reply from Nintendo:

Regarding your query, it is not possible to have more than one digital copy of any game on your Nintendo 3DS.

Once you have downloaded a title from the eShop it will then tell you that you already have this game and it will not allow you to purchase it again.

However, you can have one digital copy and a physical copy of the same game.

I am happy, means I can have 2 towns on the go if I wish :)
 
Aha! Well I preordered the bundle and the physical... I could have two towns too, but this would mean A LOT of free time. Maybe I'll use the digital as a secondary project in case I lose my physical (unlikely as it'll be the cartridge keeping the dust out of that slot and played constantly haha!).

Oh, wait, how would that work in terms of friend codes, I know it's one for the 3DS in general, but would that mean you'd have to register the same people as best friends in each game? Or they would just visit whatever town that you were playing at the time? Haha that would be so fun to mess with people like that. Why, yes I DID remodel my entire town overnight, thank you!
 
So does it mean, once you system transfer and the game is deleted you cannot redownload??
 
Saves must be written to the Physical copy otherwise Lindsey could not play her town on the 3DS with Koheis downloaded town on. - But this did change her dream address, so I'm not sure how those work. And I presume she just had to play off of Koheis Friend list? But each character gets their own best friends, so I imagine you would need to reset them if you changed 3DS? And I guess friends'll just have to accept that they don't know which town they'll end up in. xP

The e-mail sounds like if the games use extra data on the SD card then the SD card is capable of holding the data for more than 1 town. Which is promising. Though no word on how that works with putting a physical copy in a different 3DS.

And if you system transfer then the game will appear on the previously downloaded software list on the e-shop. So you just need to redownload it.
 
How do you back up your SD card?

Sorry, I'm a little new to this...How do you back up your SD card? On your computer?
 
Sorry, I have a question about this!

I have a regular 3DS and I was planning on moving everything to a XL in July. This 3DS has a digital copy of ACNL on it. If I were to move everything to the XL, would I lose all of my data on the digital copy of ACNL? :c
 
Sorry, I have a question about this!

I have a regular 3DS and I was planning on moving everything to a XL in July. This 3DS has a digital copy of ACNL on it. If I were to move everything to the XL, would I lose all of my data on the digital copy of ACNL? :c

Everything from your existing 3DS is moved over to your new one! But a system transfer merges the eshop accounts from both systems so when you redownload NL at this time, and move your SD card from the old system to the new, your game will start up where you left off with your save data in tact. (I'd back up your SD card to computer first to be safe, that's what I' doing in case I stuff it up!)

I'm also going to do a Google before I actualy transfer to see if there are any tips from people, who knows, huh?! (Good luck. I'll let you know how I get on in June :))
 
I'm having trouble deciding whether to perform a system transfer or not. I live in Australia and I really want the bundle so I'll be ordering it from the UK. But the bundle won't be reach me for 2-3 weeks after its release, and I really don't want to wait another 3 weeks to play animal crossing. If I were to buy the physical copy here, what would happen to the digital copy if I did a system transfer once I got the XL? My other issue is that my internet connection is really bad and I'm worried i'll lose all my data if my internet cuts out. Can this happen????
Thanks for any advice! =]]]
 
I'm having trouble deciding whether to perform a system transfer or not. I live in Australia and I really want the bundle so I'll be ordering it from the UK. But the bundle won't be reach me for 2-3 weeks after its release, and I really don't want to wait another 3 weeks to play animal crossing. If I were to buy the physical copy here, what would happen to the digital copy if I did a system transfer once I got the XL? My other issue is that my internet connection is really bad and I'm worried i'll lose all my data if my internet cuts out. Can this happen????
Thanks for any advice! =]]]

OK, if you system transfer, EVERYTHING from your current 3DS stays with you including your friend code (yay!!) and you keep the SD card from your existing 3DS to put into your bundle console (you can copy the data onto a bigger SD card at this point if you would like more space). Because the system transfer merges the eshop accounts from both consoles, all you have to do is redownload (for free) the NL game, you're all set to play! As far as Nintendo have said, you can play both the cartridge and the digital version on the one console.

Data connection, can you go somewhere with a reliable connection (I have the same issue at home with internet so I hear ya on this one!) to do the transfer? You'll need about 45 minutes or so and then the same again to download the digital game, but if the connection cuts out at least the game download will resume when it comes back. Your best bet is getting somewhere reliable to transfer to minimise the chances of that happening. Over here, some restaurants/hotels/libraries offer free WiFi, you could look into that as you'll have some time to research this beforehand.

Long post I know, but I hope I helped you, and welcome! :)
 
Thank you so much, this is very helpful! - So if I were to put my animal crossing cartridge in the XL (once its had the system transfer,) It would have all the same data it did before?
 
Everything from your existing 3DS is moved over to your new one! But a system transfer merges the eshop accounts from both systems so when you redownload NL at this time, and move your SD card from the old system to the new, your game will start up where you left off with your save data in tact. (I'd back up your SD card to computer first to be safe, that's what I' doing in case I stuff it up!)

I'm also going to do a Google before I actualy transfer to see if there are any tips from people, who knows, huh?! (Good luck. I'll let you know how I get on in June :))

Ah, okay! :D Thank you!
 
Back
Top