If I upgrade to a new 3ds will my digital game data transfer?

[Cai-crossing]

Hey everyone! It's been a while!

tldr; If I transfer everything to a "new 3ds" from my 3ds XL, will I lose my save data for my digital copy of ACNL?

full post:

So my beloved 3ds XL is getting a bit worn. It's been having some trouble with the new pokemon game, lagging when loading up and little things here-and-there. It's also a refurbished console, and the broken pieces are starting to crack off! Of course, I've started to consider the update to the "new 3ds" (though I'm not really happy about it, I adore my current 3ds XL)!

I remember reading on the forums here that someone who updated to the new 3ds lost their digital acnl save? Will this still happen if I transfer everything to the new 3ds? I haven't done a system transfer in a long time and I'm not sure what to expect! I'd certainly be a bit frustrated if all my hard work on my acnl town went out the window! My digital copy is my "no cheating, no hacking, and no time traveling!" town, so it's the one I put the most effort into.

Side note: I'm not super thrilled with the color options right now, especially since I'd really like another XL. The galaxy one is pretty cool, but I'd really prefer something pastel or a white one that would blend well with pastel decals. NA doesn't have many options right now, but I noticed that the EU systems recently got some new options. Should I wait a while longer for more options on the new XL or just say screw it and go with the significantly cheaper white mario new 3ds? (I mean, $100+ is pretty big savings for just a slightly smaller screen and more customization ability. Aesthetics are nice, but my bank account is definitely more important.) If you have any opinions, I'd be glad to hear them!

 

[StarUrchin]

I'm really thinking if I should get the 100 dollar Mario New 3ds on Black Friday, or I might hope to see a cheaper 120 dollar XL version. I want a bigger screen but I hate the lag I get on Pok?mon Sun and Moon. I wonder if too. lol we are in the same boat. I'm only a kid and have only 160 dollars on me or my mom might just get it for me, who knows?

 

[Cai-crossing]

I'm really thinking if I should get the 100 dollar Mario New 3ds on Black Friday, or I might hope to see a cheaper 120 dollar XL version. I want a bigger screen but I hate the lag I get on Pok?mon Sun and Moon. I wonder if too. lol we are in the same boat. I'm only a kid and have only 160 dollars on me or my mom might just get it for me, who knows?

I'm starting to lean towards the smaller one, as much as I adore my XL there are more customization options for the smaller system and there's a chance we'll never get the expanded options for the new XL systems in the US. It's also possible that if the colors DO come out later, we could trade in the smaller devices for a discount... The price difference between the normal size and the XL is pretty significant! Though you're right a $120 XL wouldn't be too bad either, just less customization~

I totally understand, I'm an adult but I have to pay for my own college so I only have $30 to my name right now! ^^; My mom said she'd be willing to grab one for me if I help her out with the house and pay her back the rest later when I'm not as focused on my classes. Now I'm just trying to figure out if I'll lose my poor town! D:

 

[StarUrchin]

I just get rewarded sometimes for getting a lot of "first letter of the alphabet's" lol.

 

[Trent the Paladin]

You shouldn't lose your save data at all, pretty much all my data has transferred fine throughout three different 3DS games. The only reason I can see somebody losing data is if both systems died mid-transfer or the SD card was damaged.

 

[ceo]

When I tried transferring I ended up losing ALL my save files as I only have digital copies of games, but I'm pretty sure I messed it up in the process somehow, as I tried moving the data through computer?
TBH it wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to me as I replay games a lot, but I'd definitely advice researching more about how the transferring has to be done properly before doing it!