There’s been no shortage of ticked off nerds (ourselves included) over the fact that Nintendo doesn’t use an ID-based system for downloads, making it impossible for them to currently replace any lost games in the event that your 3DS or Wii U is stolen, lost, or breaks. Instead, the content is tied directly to the system.
Naturally, this leads to ongoing rumors that Nintendo is prepared to replace the digital content if absolutely necessary (ie. obtaining a police report), but we’ve never seen any concrete evidence that they’ll do this if prompted. However, one unfortunate soul from NeoGAF recently had an interesting experience of their own, when they inquired to Nintendo as to what would happen if they lost their 3DS and its game-laden SD card:
“All virtual content downloaded on the Nintendo 3DS is tied to the system itself. As our warranty doesn’t cover lost or stolen game cards and systems, if this were to happen regardless of your games being virtual or you owning the physical copies, they would not be covered for replacement.”
But here’s the thing. The bonus of downloading over purchasing physical game copies is that, in theory, you should be able to re-download the games if they were ever lost or stolen. Obviously this isn’t an option with physical copies, but there’s really no reason why it shouldn’t be possible with digital.
It’s likely that Nintendo is working on a solution for this, considering that all other platforms have ways to recover lost games—and it’s possible they are losing ground over this. Plus, it’s never good to annoy your core fan base.
In the meantime, keep that 3DS close!
