May 2nd, 2012

Nintendo working on a program for third-party digital releases on the 3DS

79 Comments

Nintendo has revealed that they are working on a program to allow third-party developers to release their games digitally through the 3DS. They didn’t give a specific time-frame for when this program will be rolled out, it shouldn’t be too long before we hear something on the matter.

  • Moac

    Great news.

    Now people would be able to use the “i don’t wanna buy games so i illegally download them because I don’t wanna carry 100 cartridges. ”

    Good Move Nintendo.

    I think ill buy most games via the Store then.

    • Moac

      people Wont be able to..
      typo

    • I’M A BEAST

      yeah buying them saves me time now i dont need to go to gamestop i can just be lazy for that time

    • Green Reuben

      I had an r4 for my ds and at first it was so I wouldn’t have to carry games around (I owned the games) or wanted to test them but eventually I just started straight up pirating them.

    • Neil

      @I’M A BEAST

      You still need to buy Eshop cards in retail shop :D
      except you pay with credit card ^^

    • The un-informed gamer

      I had an R4 myself, I never pirated anything though, It made it a waste of my money in the end.

    • http://youtube.com/the8guys Dylan

      u do realize this takes up A LOT of space im sticking to the usual cartridges

  • uriel

    1?

  • the psvita is better

    well i dont really care
    i like retail games better

    • Zack

      I still find it awesome that Nintendo is providing the option. And what’s with your name? I sense a troll but you suck at trolling.

    • http://gravatar.com/jacknzack27 JacknZack

      hes (or she) is actually not a troll despite the troll sounding name. its kind of like the old saying dont judge a book by its cover.

    • the psvita is better

      i am not trolling, i have never trolled
      i just said i liked retail games better
      maybe you should try to understand my comment before trying to conclude anything about me

    • zxride64

      It is more so your name is misleading of your character. It would be something a troll would use.

    • http://hybrilynx.net/ Hybrilynx

      the xbox is better then the wii and 3ds. its just the truth. the psvita is better then a 3ds. at least, im pretty sure of it. i had my 3ds for a year now, its still not exciting. so who cares what the guys name is?

    • Green Reuben

      More power doesn’t mean it’s better, it all comes down to games, 3ds > Vita
      for exclusives Wii > ps3 > xbox360
      for third party Xbox360 > ps3 > wii

    • mah boi

      The psvita is better has and loves his 3DS. He also has a vita he likes more. It’s okay to prefer one over the other. It is human nature to

    • mah boi

      @Green Reuben

      I agree with you that it comes down to the games, but I disagree with that order a little. Nintendo kept almost all of thier series the same on wii and stupid motion control only games such as wii sports really brought it down. The 360 just doesn’t have enough. I think the PS3 wins because of the huge amounts of variety in their games from E rated LittleBigPlanet to M rated God of War.

      Exclusives: PS3>Wii>360

      Your 3rd party I would agree with because of all the Xbox owners that have gotten great multiplayer and adventure games (they got the extra tales games which makes me a little jealous). Most 3rd partys tend to port to PS3, but not all of them and wii wasn’t powerful enough to port such games

      3rd partys 360>PS3>Wii

      The competition just started between the Vita and 3DS so let us wait a couple more years before judging that.

    • tw33ty

      the xbox is btr than the wii n 3ds? lmao, every console is good, it just that some people choose one to be better but their all good and unique in their own way, it just depends on wat games people like more. ps vita btr than 3ds? it could be better, but its alot more expensive, and who wouldnt want to see games in 3d? if i had to choose one i couldnt, their both awesome in their own way.

    • Green Reuben

      @Ma boi I guess it comes down to preference. mario kart, skyward sword, xenoblade, last story etc are all japanese games which appeal to me. Sonys exclusives are more western based.

      Maybe it would be better written like this
      Nintendo>Sony>Microsoft
      even if some games weren’t implemented well (if at all) on the wii the sheer number of franchises give nintendo that edge.

    • http://hybrilynx.net/ Hybrilynx

      i dont know, but i do know i never seen a wii game with 16 players online at once. or was it 18? i dont remember, but xbox can do that. plus i never heard of a wii using any forms of online chatting, except with the animal crossing thing, but i dont think it works with online unless its someone you added as a friend. these should cover the wii part not passing xbox.

      plus the xbox i have came with 120 GB built in. the 3ds came with a 2gb sd card. this should cover the 3ds part 60 fold. i mean i respect everyone, but seriously.

    • http://www.youtube.com/user/GMMAwesome?feature=mhee G.M.M.

      @Hybrilynx

      A Wii game with 16 players? Someone already thought of this BEFORE the Wii!

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZq31JUYf8M
      (check the top comment)

    • Revolution5268

      why do people judge you man?

    • Zack

      Goddamnit, I wasn’t trying to start, or should I say continue, the never-ending console war. I just asked about his name because he seems like a troll, except he doesn’t like to troll. I never said anything about his comment relating to his name either.

      Okay, so you like the PSVita. That’s great. Enjoy it. Tell people why you like it. But putting such an obvious and austere name such as “the psvita is better” is just asking for attention. “The psvita is better” is a bland, meaningless, and mindless statement. It has no truth, it has no reason, and it’s nothing more than a pointless way to invigorate someone.

    • mustbepbs

      @Hybrilynx – Monster Hunter had online chat. And that game was f***ing awesome.

    • http://youtube.com/the8guys Dylan

      Nintendo wins! with the Wii U launching soon all other consoles will go away. With Nintendo Network coming we WILL have the xbox messaging style you just have to follow Nintendo. All Nintendo games are far better than Sony or Microsoft. Nintendo has a wiiiiiiiiiide variety of games from pokemon to mario to zelda and now a new kirby launching in August. Even though Nintendo (at the moment) isn’t as good as xbox or ps3 doesnt mean that they wont change and believe me in September-December when the Wii U launches im staying away from my xbox plus 3DS is far better than the vita i hate sony :)

  • Wichi

    I like this, mostly becuse where I live (mexico), the people in the store sells the games with the price they want so normally its really high price, so this is going to save me some money

    • Reo

      you’d better import them from another country.
      well I live in indonesia, but 3DS game is not that expensive.
      most people even import games from play-asia, with normal price.
      but you’ll need to wait about 2-4 weeks.
      about that time some people would already beat the game. :p

    • Green Reuben

      I live in NZ and activision gets away with charging $150 nzd (or $120usd) or more for COD, hopefully it will be cheaper as well, although I don’t like the idea of cutting retailers out, you can download games but you can’t download consoles and retailers couldn’t survive off consoles.

  • Zack

    So basically all games will be available digitally or at least all CAN be available digitally. It’s great Nintendo is doing this. But you can count me in on being one of the people that will buy physical games instead.

    Digital is better for the virtual console or something. If they can do it with 3DS games, then they can do it with DS games. Personally I think that would be awesome and more fitting.

    • Green Reuben

      physical > digital for so many reasons, it’s also better for the economy

  • Matthew

    This is nice, but I need a memory card with much more data. I still have the 2 gbs one. Lol. But I like buying real copies. I just love staking up my 3ds games.

    • the psvita is better

      me too
      nothing beats the feeling you get when you open a new game you have been waiting for

    • Zack

      The smell of a freshly opened case is the best.

    • Tails the Foxhound

      It amazes me that there are weirdos who like that new game smell. I thought I was the only one. XD

    • the psvita is better

      its not the smell dude, its the awesomeness of having the hard copy of something you have been waiting for such a long time
      its a feeling of happiness no other thing will ever give you

    • Albert

      Just looking at the physical copy is pretty satisfying.

    • Zack

      Yeah, like when I got my 3DS. I was waiting anxiously for it to arrive in the mail. I knew it was coming that day, so I went to Target and bought Ocarina of Time 3D. For about 2 hours, I just admired the physical box and card. It looked so pretty from across the room.

    • Belinni

      Something about opening that small box for a brand new game and hearing that CLACK sound makes me happier than all my downloaded games combined.

  • Bewoulf2000

    I might actually mix it up a bit. Though most games I’ll get retail, maybe I’ll pick up pilotwings or something to play casually from download on eshop. Though nothing reallly beats getting a new mario game retail or any other first party game.

  • Waterboy11

    Lol, just bought my 32 gigabyte sd card. Bring on the games:)

    • BR!4N

      So that’s… *opens Calculator*… 16 games. How much was that card?

  • Jc

    Never going to buy a full downloadable retail game on 3DS until/unless they change to an account based system. With the current system they have going buying a physical retail copy makes much more sense. They’ve begun taking steps in the right direction (such as the e-shop, the way friends work(though friend codes need to go away) and the addition of folders) but they’ve still got a little while to go.

    • Ice Climbers

      Well, something tells me by the time Nintendo starts having games released for both digital and retail, they will have the account-based system up and running.

  • Zack

    wut

    • Zack

      Goddamnit that was supposed to be a reply, David is trolling me again.

  • najee

    wow its like nintendo is trying to make the eshop play any portable game and past consles i bet in 2yrs it can play gamecube and the next generation may have wii games

    • Belinni

      I’m certain the Wii U will have GameCube games available however I highly doubt the 3DS will allow us to do so as well.

      Maybe N64 games and certain retail DS games but that’s as far as I’m willing to bet.

  • Zack

    Wouldn’t it be cool of the retail games came with download codes.. so you could own the software both ways? o: And then people who like physical copies can get what they want, while people who hate shipping can play their games in the mean time.

    • Zack

      *IF the retail games

    • Tails the Foxhound

      I like this idea but how would they stop you from trading in the game after you’ve got the DL code? I mean sure, they’ve already made their money, but what’s to stop you from playing their game after you’ve sold it?

    • Zack

      Yeah, that’s true. I guess it figures my awesome idea would have some fault somewhere. If one price gave you two copies, you could just sell one and get most of your money back. And that WOULD affect their profit because whoever you sold it to wouldn’t buy the game from Nintendo.

  • uriel

    has anyone heard when rayman origins is coming to the states……

  • mah boi

    Nice to see that Nintendo is finally catching up, but I think I’ll stick with physical copies.

    • Zack

      I think that’s how most of us here feel. A trip to my local Target isn’t far at all, or I could order from Amazon and receive a game within 1 day. Can’t say the same for people in other countries though. If they just want to play the game, downloads are great for them.

  • Tails the Foxhound

    Alright Bamco, now gimmie mah DS Tales games. (No, I won’t shut up about that.

  • carboard_box

    Bah, I can’t even add points to my 3DS account with my foreign debit card and they don’t sell the prepaid cards around here (and importing would multiply the price by x1.5 at least). I can’t get anything from the eshop like this. Heck, Nintendo Video isn’t even supported here, dammit.

    • BR!4N

      Time to move.

  • http://nintendo3dsblog.com/photos-of-a-kid-icarus-uprising-float-in-japan Kaizar

    So who is going to download Resident Evil: Revelations (3.16 GB)?

    And who is going to download Kid Icarus: Uprising (1.66 GB)?

    I know the last one is Nintendo.

    SHABLAGOO!

    • Green Reuben

      I’m not sure that kid icarus would be released digitally seeing as most people find it unplayable without the stand.

    • http://nintendo3dsblog.com/photos-of-a-kid-icarus-uprising-float-in-japan Kaizar

      I play it more better without the stand.

      But I watch Netflix more better with the stand that came with Kid Icarus: Uprising.

      Ironic.

      SHABLAGOO!

    • Tails the Foxhound

      @Green Reuben
      Please, I’ve got carpel tunnel in my both wrists (severe in the right) and I can play it fine, for hours. It may not be the best designed control scheme design wise, but it’s far from unplayable.

    • SakuMo

      @Green Reuben: What difference would digital vs physical make on actually playing the game? I’m having trouble understanding your reasoning.

      As for the stand itself, I never use that thing. I think it’s still in the box, lol. To be fair, though, I have the Nyko Power Grip, which has a nice little groove I can hold onto, making KI an actually very comfortable experience.

  • Flygon

    Most of my purchases will probably be retail. Exceptions might be games I know I’ll keep no matter what, like Animal Crossing. But I doubt there would be very many more titles like that, for me personally. (Mario Kart 7 would have been nice to have as a digital title.)

  • http://mayker.tumblr.com Mayker

    Wait, wait, wait.

    Is this a reference to full retail games also being digitally distributed, or is it a reference to Nintendo opening their doors for more developers to create downloadable games?

  • http://www.youtube.com/user/GMMAwesome?feature=mhee G.M.M.

    Just gonna post this again because last time this ended up horribly in the middle of a page with a glitch with the reply button.

    So usually, I get retail games at Gamestop for about $38. They’re usually shown as being $35, so I’m guessing it would be $34.99 on the e-shop. I also am using a area id that doesn’t get tax, so could this mean cheaper games…

    • http://nintendo3dsblog.com/photos-of-a-kid-icarus-uprising-float-in-japan Kaizar

      It depends on the retailers QR code, because the retail stores are still selling the digital download as well as the physical copies.

      And you use the retail stores QR code in the eShop to see what price that game digital copy purchase wireless thru the particular retail store will be.

      So you can scan around for different QR codes for the same game from different retailers, to get the cheapest deal for downloading the digital copy of the game.

      So you can pay as low as $25 to $20 for a $40 game.

      And with Third party games, you can get Dream Trigger 3D & Cubic Ninja for $10 to $5 each.

      You can even get “the Hidden” for as $5 or $7 or $8.

      And such games as Crush 3D & Shift for $5 to $10, depending on the retailers QR code you use to purchase the digital download.

      So the retailers we still always make money thru Nintendo Games.

      But PlayStation is pissing Retailers Off.

      So naturally we are going to see stores like Best Buy & Target & Wal-Mart & K-Mart & etc., advertise the 3DS & Wii U games more.

      Especially after the success of both the Wii & 3DS in the past.

      This is going to be great because Super Mario 3D Land is only 310 MB, so other games like; New Super Mario Bros. 2 must be like around 100 MB.

      And you can always redownload a game you have had before for the Digital retail games, just like the eShop exclusives.

      So if you accidentally delete a retail game, you can redownload it for Free.

      And there is an unlimited number of times that you can redownload anything & everything from the eShop.

      WE THE BEST! FOREVER!

    • http://here.con kingdomofknifes

      To… long….read….. X_X

  • SEGAGIGA

    You’re not really saving on anything when you buy digital. You can’t trade it you can’t re-sell it so there’s no way you could get back (a portion) what you just spent.

    The tangible aspect of the game is a drive to buy them, There’s nothing beating the sense of having physical control over the things you spend your hard earned cash on.

    It’s the materialization of all the people’s effort who made it possible. From developer, to publisher, to logistics and the retailer. A lot of people will lose jobs if all games go digital.

    I love the packaging and the art. At times I would just stare at them on my display cabinet. And yeah, I love the smell of freshly opened games too. =))

  • Harpuia

    This will make it easier for games like Monster Hunter to be localized. Capcom wont have to spend as much money on shipping if they make the game only available as a digital copy :)

    • http://nintendo3dsblog.com/photos-of-a-kid-icarus-uprising-float-in-japan Kaizar

      Like “Order Up” in all regions outside of Euroasia.

      But they will also do a physical copy for Monster Hunter 3G & 4.

      THIRD POWER!

  • mustbepbs

    I don’t want digital releases only. I need something to keep the dust out of my cartridge slot!

  • BR!4N

    I can see how this is a good idea, for people who live where you have to get a game imported, for 2x the price. But I think I’ll stick with my hard copies. What if the downloaded game gets corrupt somehow? Do you email Ninty and get your money back? But why should they believe you?

    • http://www.fscompany.webs.com seguraf12

      i know right!

  • SEGAGIGA

    “Harpuia
    This will make it easier for games like Monster Hunter to be localized. Capcom wont have to spend as much money on shipping if they make the game only available as a digital copy :)”

    It won’t make localization easier since that is a development process.

    I think what you are trying to say is that distribution will be a lot faster and publishers wouldn’t have to spend much on logistics. Basically, they’ll be cutting down the “middlemen”.

    It would bring down the cost but the end result is not as cheap as you would expect when you compare it to a physical copy. The price difference is usually just around 5 to 10 bucks.

    The disadvantage here is that digital copies don’t mark down as easy or as fast as physical copies. Retail copies can slash down prices whenever they simply need to clear inventory or take advantage of a holiday rush.

  • http://www.passid.ca/murphy blueeyes7

    While there are several ways I can see this being useful, the overall concept just doesn’t add up. While digital everything seems to be where the future lies at the moment, I have to say, that speaks very badly for where this world is headed if you really think about it.

    • http://here.con kingdomofknifes

      MAn what u talkin about this is awesome we wont have to carry around dozens of cartridges and having to keep track of every little cartridge @_@

    • http://www.passid.ca/murphy blueeyes7

      Sorry? It’s my personal opinion. There don’t appear to be many people here who would just up and switch to exclusively downloading their games. There’s just something about heading to GameStop and holding a new game in your hands. Plus, how many modern retail games can you really be expected to fit on any of the SD cards? Not that much at all.

  • Tylos

    Hmm… With my luck this’ll happen: “Ok I downloaded new super Mario bros 2 and fire emblem awakening on the e-shop! Now Ill just start up the game” *dog bumps into me and 3ds falls down the road* “NOOO!!!” *Car runs over 3Ds* “FUUU- *the rest of this message was removed due to excessive suffering and mention of suicide*”

    Well not really but I’d rather have the retail version than suddenly waking up and finding all my games deleted and being unable to re-download them, or even having to re-download them… I wonder how long that’d take…

    • http://www.3DS-screenshot.com Kaizar

      you can download later, so that way it downloads in sleep mode, like when you get your 8 hours of sleep.

      THIRD POWER!