Hardware The usual question about preinstalled games in bundles

[GBA rocks]

How "resistant to deleting" are preinstalled games? Let's break down all the cases

1) format (or swap) SD card --> no problem, just redownload from eShop

2) format (or swap) SD card + format system --> again, just redownload from eShop (right?)

3) complete NUKING (format SD card + format system + delete eShop account into oblivion by typing the serial number) --> ???? (is the hardware serial of the console somehow recognized and allowed to re-download the preinstalled game till the end of time, no matter how bad you NUKE data from it?)

4) system transfer TO another 3DS --> bundled game disappears on first system and is transfered to the target system. the first system loses right to re-download it, and the target system acquires that right. (right?)

5) system transfer FROM another 3DS OVER the bundled one --> MERGE of the games installed on the 2 systems, AND you can redownload it anyway (right?)

I'm curious about number 3. It would be a nice bonus to have a system whose hardware serial is allowed to re-download a certain game forever, nuking of eshop account notwithstanding.

To put it in practice, let's say I buy a pre-owned Monster Hunter bundle 3DS XL from a guy who didn't delete his eshop account nor did a system transfer to a new 3DS, and I wanna wipe the 3DS completely factory clean (including deleting the eShop account), would I lose the ability to re-download Monster Hunter?

 

[Langin]

Ones your correct:

1, 2, 4 and I am not sure about 5? Is that not just 4?

3 NO WAY.

Yes you'll lose your MH3U

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

The game is tied to the eShop account, so 1, 2, 4, and 5 are fine. However, deleting the eShop account means losing the game as far as I'm aware.

 

[Arras]

I suspect 5 would remove anything that was on the 3DS originally, including the ability to download preinstalled games. I'm not sure about that though.

 

[GBA rocks]

Yeah 4 and 5 are pretty much the same, and as far as I read around it should work this way: in system transfers eShop accounts are MERGED, installed softwares are MERGED and I would guess that re-download rights are MERGED. On the target system. The starting system should now be "blank" as far as the eShop account is concerned, so if the starting system is a bundled system (option 4), it will lose the preinstalled game and the ability to redownload it.

So theoretically one could stack up digital games scavenged from bundled systems by merging them onto his own system and then reselling them (the now "blank" bundled systems), of course they would be worth slightly less but if the difference is less than the price of the digital release of said games, profit.

Except, any given system can perform transfer/merge only 5 times. 1 should be left for when you wanna move to a new system, so 4 are left for digital scavenging purposes.

Of course all of this is borderline crazy (except if you work at a game shop and somehow manage to scavenge MK7+SM3DL+MH+FE:A for free from used systems), it's just a mind experiment to check if I'm getting how the transfers work right.

Anyway I was mainly interested in understanding 3. So it doesn't work. The precious bundled game is lost if the eShop account is deleted. Imagine someone buying a pre-owned Fire Emblem bundled system (that has not been transfered over a new system before being sold), saying "well let's start fresh" and deleting the eshop account...he would be left with a blue 3DS XL with a nice decal on the back and no game...

I like (sarcasm) how easy it is in nintendo-land for (paid for) digital content to just disappear into THIN AIR...

 

[GBA rocks]

I suspect 5 would remove anything that was on the 3DS originally, including the ability to download preinstalled games. I'm not sure about that though.

No.

http://techforums.nintendo.com/message/80571

Hello,
​

Thank you for contacting us. It's great to hear of your interest in the Nintendo 3DS XL, and I can certainly understand your concerns. I'm pleased to confirm that when performing a system transfer from one Nintendo 3DS to another, the information from your old system is merged with the information on the new one. With this in mind, you will not lose the pre-installed copy of Mario Kart 7 on the new system.

In case you weren't already aware, it's important to keep in mind that the system transfer process requires that you have both systems in your possession. Additionally, they will both need to have an active Internet connection to facilitate the transfer. You can find more information on this process on our website:

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/3ds/en_na/gi_index.jsp?menu=transfer&submenu=ctr-gi-apps-transfer-overview

If you have any further questions or concerns, you're welcome to contact us again.
​

Sincerely,
​

Crystal L. Odam
Nintendo of America Inc.​

 

[Arras]

No.

http://techforums.nintendo.com/message/80571

Hello,​

Thank you for contacting us. It's great to hear of your interest in the Nintendo 3DS XL, and I can certainly understand your concerns. I'm pleased to confirm that when performing a system transfer from one Nintendo 3DS to another, the information from your old system is merged with the information on the new one. With this in mind, you will not lose the pre-installed copy of Mario Kart 7 on the new system.​

In case you weren't already aware, it's important to keep in mind that the system transfer process requires that you have both systems in your possession. Additionally, they will both need to have an active Internet connection to facilitate the transfer. You can find more information on this process on our website:​

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/systems/3ds/en_na/gi_index.jsp?menu=transfer&submenu=ctr-gi-apps-transfer-overview​

If you have any further questions or concerns, you're welcome to contact us again.​

Sincerely,​

Crystal L. Odam​

Nintendo of America Inc.​

Huh, interesting, I thought it overwrote everything. So this applies to non-preinstalled titles as well?

 

[GBA rocks]

As far as I understand, yes.

The rights to RUN and REDOWNLOAD games are merged on the target system.

I said "RUN" because the actual game data is on the SD cards, when you do a transfer you just transfer the DRM to run stuff, not the actual games.

So I assume one should also manually merge (on a PC) the content of the 2 SD cards onto 1.

Or you can just re-download the missing games, but this way you will lose the SAVES (which are stored on the SD card).