Cant transfer data to a new system?

[Krissi2197]

I just heard from a friend that if you get a new nintendo switch system you cant do a data transfer to move your island over to the new console is this true? If so how am I supposed to move my data over in the event I want a new system? Does this have to do with what they mentioned in the direct where you need to contact Nintendo to get your data back?

 

[CalSamurai]

Yup, you have one Island on one switch that can't be backed up or moved. Nintendo didn't want to use their cloud backup system because it'd make the game very exploitable in terms of item duplication and such. I believe they said they're working on a unique backup system the game though, but that won't be out for launch by any means

 

[Krissi2197]

Yup, you have one Island on one switch that can't be backed up or moved. Nintendo didn't want to use their cloud backup system because it'd make the game very exploitable in terms of item duplication and such. I believe they said they're working on a unique backup system the game though, but that won't be out for launch by any means

Ugh that's pretty disappointing. I have a first day switch and wanted to upgrade to another one in the near future but now I probably wont even bother since making a transfer seems so tedious.

I understand the reasoning behind it but ugh

 

[CalSamurai]

Ugh that's pretty disappointing. I have a first day switch and wanted to upgrade to another one in the near future but now I probably wont even bother since making a transfer seems so tedious.

I understand the reasoning behind it but ugh

If you're keeping the old one, then why not just have 2 Islands? There's so much you can do with it and so many themes and ideas to try that you could definitely have fun with a second town

 

[Krissi2197]

If you're keeping the old one, then why not just have 2 Islands? There's so much you can do with it and so many themes and ideas to try that you could definitely have fun with a second town

There isnt enough time in my day to maintain two islands since I work full time and have other things to do. Not to mention I'd likely just trade in the old system after transferring everything over since I dont see the point in two systems.

 

[atalkingfish]

Yup, you have one Island on one switch that can't be backed up or moved. Nintendo didn't want to use their cloud backup system because it'd make the game very exploitable in terms of item duplication and such. I believe they said they're working on a unique backup system the game though, but that won't be out for launch by any means

This is a commonly stated bit of reasoning, but it’s never been confirmed that their reasoning for preventing back-up and system transfer is to prevent cheating. It may be, but I think it’s much more likely that the reason is because the Switch’s operating system probably doesn’t allow a user to access save data from a different user. Therefore, it would be difficult to have an island accessible by many users on the same console. If it belonged to User A, and was on his account, User B wouldn’t be able to play unless User A was on. Or they’d be forced to have a separate island. Or, all users could be stored on User A’s account, in which case User B would have to play on User A’s account as a separate person. Therefore, I think they made the game data saved to the system, unconnected to any user, so that all players on the Switch could have full access to the island. Unfortunately, the Cloud and Transfer systems are both user profile-based. That is, your account must have access to cloud backup, and system transfer is done on a per-user basis. Therefore I think the Switch software is actually incapable of transferring data stored this way (anyone let me know if I’m wrong about this, if there are other Switch games that don’t save to a user and can be transferred, I haven’t heard of any).

So, they have to make their own system for storing island data for backup and transfer, which will come out eventually and has been confirmed in the most recent Animal Crossing direct.

 

[JKDOS]

This is rough. I'm planning on getting a revised Switch for better battery. I'm just holding off to see if they make a Switch pro or not.

 

[Krissi2197]

This is rough. I'm planning on getting a revised Switch for better battery. I'm just holding off to see if they make a Switch pro or not.

That's how I feel I usually play undocked most of the day since I play it on the go and the battery life is AWFUL. 2 to 3 hours at best. It's why I've been considering a new one after I've saved up for it.

 

[MorningStar]

I believe in the 20/2/2020 direct, they mentioned that despite the absence of Cloud back-up, they're going to have a recovery system in place where if your Switch gets lost or damaged, they can recover your New Horizons save data, but the fine print at the bottom mentioned that they can or will do this only once. However, I've heard that the original direct was taken down and put back up sans the fine print, so we'll see what happens when it's actually put into place.

 

[Xara]

^^ as others have mentioned, nintendo did say something about working to create a way to restore or recover data but i don’t think there’s a timeline established as to when it would be available

 

[HopeForHyrule]

Can't say for sure (obviously), but Pok?mon also doesn't allow for cloud save backups. The reason I bring this up is because I recently got a Switch Lite and was able to use the native "save data transfer" option built in to the system. It erased my Pok?mon Sword save data from my OG Switch, but it's now on my new system.

So I'm currently working under the belief that Animal Crossing will be able to function the same way.

 

[Krissi2197]

Can't say for sure (obviously), but Pok?mon also doesn't allow for cloud save backups. The reason I bring this up is because I recently got a Switch Lite and was able to use the native "save data transfer" option built in to the system. It erased my Pok?mon Sword save data from my OG Switch, but it's now on my new system.

So I'm currently working under the belief that Animal Crossing will be able to function the same way.

From what I recall they specifically said that the save data transfer will not work with Animal Crossing :c

 

[HopeForHyrule]

From what I recall they specifically said that the save data transfer will not work with Animal Crossing :c

If this is true, that would officially be one of the dumbest things Nintendo has ever done. I'd be able to kind of understand their rationale if the data stayed on the original system, but as Pok?mon has already showed...that's not the case.

 

[MorningStar]

Almost everything they've done for New Horizons, from the delay to the compatibility with the app and Pocket Camp, seems to have been well thought out.

The sole exception to that rule is almost EVERYTHING to do with save data, from how it works across multiple files so you can only have one save file per Switch (and thus no second town/island unless you have a second console), to not being Cloud or Data Transfer backed up, to the autosaving feature which is beloved by some but will be a game-killer for others.

 

[Fayde]

I'm pretty certain they've only mentioned that save data does not work with cloud saves, but data transfer from one Switch to a different Switch would work as normal. I've Googled for information on save data transfers not working and have only ended up with links that specifically says lost save datas (damaged or stolen consoles etc). I think you'll be fine so long as you have your original Switch with you to transfer your save files over to the new Switch. c:

 

[Dacroze]

I'm pretty certain they've only mentioned that save data does not work with cloud saves, but data transfer from one Switch to a different Switch would work as normal. I've Googled for information on save data transfers not working and have only ended up with links that specifically says lost save datas (damaged or stolen consoles etc). I think you'll be fine so long as you have your original Switch with you to transfer your save files over to the new Switch. c:

No, they also said transfers wouldn't work, which is also stated on the NH US-website: "Animal Crossing: New Horizons does not support the ability to transfer your save file from one Nintendo Switch system to another." I mean how are they supposed to? All backup and transfer options deal with save-data specific to your profile, while NH saves console-wide, so the normal ways can't really do this.


The German NH website luckily states that there will be an option for system transfers later on, specific to NH. So it will be handled like the save-data backup, we will get a specific service later on.

 

[Fayde]

No, they also said transfers wouldn't work, which is also stated on the NH US-website: "Animal Crossing: New Horizons does not support the ability to transfer your save file from one Nintendo Switch system to another." I mean how are they supposed to? All backup and transfer options deal with save-data specific to your profile, while NH saves console-wide, so the normal ways can't really do this.


The German NH website luckily states that there will be an option for system transfers later on, specific to NH. So it will be handled like the save-data backup, we will get a specific service later on.

That is a rather odd way of doing things. Did the German website provide any indicator of when this system would be implemented? Seems rather silly to lock players' saves into a console especially when the coral pink Switch lite would be released after the game is launched.

 

[jiojiop]

That is a rather odd way of doing things. Did the German website provide any indicator of when this system would be implemented? Seems rather silly to lock players' saves into a console especially when the coral pink Switch lite would be released after the game is launched.

It was just first spotted on the German site, which may have launched first. It's now on all sites. At the bottom of the English site it says:

This game does not support the Save Data Cloud functionality of Nintendo Switch Online. However, a limited ability to recover Animal Crossing: New Horizons save data from the server in the event of system failure, loss or theft will be available to Nintendo Switch Online members sometime in the future. Check back for more details as they are available.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons does not support the ability to transfer your save file from one Nintendo Switch system to another.

And they reiterated that in the Direct, I believe. So key points:

- no save backup/download from Nintendo Online cloud (the game has its own servers it saves to), either to current switch (overwrite save) or to a new switch

- no save file transfer to another switch

- no timeframe announced for release of ability to recover save files from the game's server

- no info on how many times save file recovery can be done or what restrictions will be put in place (you will probably need to call Nintendo support for it if it's limited, and it sounds like they do wanna limit it)

- ability to recover files from the game's server will be limited to Nintendo Online subscribers only (subscription costs money)

 

[Dacroze]

It was just first spotted on the German site, which may have launched first. It's now on all sites. At the bottom of the English site it says:



And they reiterated that in the Direct, I believe. So key points:

- no save backup/download from Nintendo Online cloud (the game has its own servers it saves to), either to current switch (overwrite save) or to a new switch

- no save file transfer to another switch

- no timeframe announced for release of ability to recover save files from the game's server

- no info on how many times save file recovery can be done or what restrictions will be put in place (you will probably need to call Nintendo support for it if it's limited, and it sounds like they do wanna limit it)

- ability to recover files from the game's server will be limited to Nintendo Online subscribers only (subscription costs money)

It's been there for a few days now, but as I said the German website states something additonal: https://www.nintendo.de/Spiele/Nintendo-Switch/Animal-Crossing-New-Horizons-1438623.html

- Dieses Spiel unterst?tzt nicht die Speicherdaten-Cloud-Funktion von Nintendo Switch Online. F?r Nintendo Switch Online-Mitglieder wird es jedoch im Laufe des Jahres die M?glichkeit geben, ihre Speicherdaten aus Animal Crossing: New Horizons im Falle von technischen Problemen, Verlust oder Diebstahl der Konsole ?ber den Server wiederherzustellen.

- Dieses Spiel unterst?tzt derzeit nicht den Transfer von Speicherdaten von einer Nintendo Switch-Konsole auf eine andere. Allerdings wird im Laufe des Jahres eine speziell f?r Animal Crossing: New Horizons vorhandene Funktion verf?gbar sein, ?ber die Nutzer und Speicherdaten auf eine andere Konsole ?bertragen werden k?nnen.

The last part is missing from the US website, which states there will be an option for user and save-data transfers to other consoles later on, specific to AC:NH.

 

[jiojiop]

It's been there for a few days now, but as I said the German website states something additonal: https://www.nintendo.de/Spiele/Nintendo-Switch/Animal-Crossing-New-Horizons-1438623.html


The last part is missing from the US website, which states there will be an option for user and save-data transfers to other consoles later on, specific to AC:NH.

It's there on the website in the part I quoted, 2nd sentence.