Nintendo 3DS system transfer question

[deltoidsteep]

Hey everybody, I'm hoping somebody can help me with a question regarding the 3DS system transfer feature.

I have a 3DS and a 3DS XL, each with some downloaded games on the SD cards. What I want to do is consolidate all my downloaded stuff onto the 3DS XL.

From what I've read, it looks like you have to wipe all the data on the target 3DS and then insert the SD card from the source 3DS to the target 3DS.

Is there any way to migrate games from my 3DS to my XL without wiping out the games that are already on my XL?

Thanks

[Tanooki]

I don't think you can. The crude setup Nintendo bumbled into basically forces you to wipe and write, so when it wipes out the data on one to put it on the other that'll get wiped too. Now if they share the same login/pass account though I would think you could just re-download the existing games the XL has which is still an unnecessary hassle.

[Flojomojo]

I think Nintendo knew what they were doing when they tied purchases to hardware. I don't think you can consolidate purchases, sorry. You can only move a whole system over to a new one, and then you're frozen out of doing another transfer for seven days afterwards. Pick a system for yourself and stick with it.

[FieryReign]

I think Nintendo knew what they were doing when they tied purchases to hardware.

I'm gonna go ahead and take that as sarcasm...

[Leo_A]

You can consolidate purchases on the Wii U. Your Wii purchases will be consolidated with anything you may of already purchased via the Wii Shop on the Wii U's Wii Mode. You can even transfer content from multiple Wii's to a single Wii U, with it all properly consolidated.

So I suggest seeking out confirmation here, just in case.

[deltoidsteep]

Thanks for the responses everybody, I figured that was the case. As much as I love the stuff Nintendo produces, they sure make some baffling decisions sometimes.

[retroguy]

I think it all goes back to the bad experience they had with the Famicom Disk System. Ever since then, they've been excessively paranoid about piracy and sometimes that's been at the expense of user-friendliness.

[FieryReign]

This shit is just stupid. It's time for Nintendo to step into the 21st century. If I paid for a fucking game and it's tied to my account, I SHOULD BE ABLE TO PLAY IT ON ANY 3DS I WANT TO PLAY IT ON.

Nintendo is like that stubborn old grandfather who refuses to change, no matter how far behind the times they are.

[The Adventurer]

Thanks for the responses everybody, I figured that was the case. As much as I love the stuff Nintendo produces, they sure make some baffling decisions sometimes.

Well, in this particular case its meant to prevent duplication of purchases across multiple systems.

[deltoidsteep]

Well, in this particular case its meant to prevent duplication of purchases across multiple systems.

Which would be understandable if it was just a matter of stopping people from giving free games to their friends or whatever. But I gave them several hundred dollars for 2 systems, it would be nice if I could play a game I buy on both of them.

With Sony, I can buy a game and download it on both my Vita and my Playstation TV without any issues. Hell, I can buy one game and download it on my Vita, PSTV, PS3 and PS4. (Yay cross buy)

Tying your content to your account instead of your console makes for a much more user friendly experience.
With Nintendo's current policy, I can't even download my DLC to more than one system. So despite getting Mewtwo free for owning both copies of Smash Bros, I'll end up having to pay for him anyways to be able to play him on both 3DSs.

[Tanooki]

Due to their current and even somewhat worse setup before the soft accounts now I would never buy anything unless it was $5 or less, and even then most of the buys were freebies (gifted or gift card) as I can't support it and I know I'm not alone on that.