Article: To eShop or not to eShop…

[Rain]

Physical. My digital copy of X corrupted not long after I completed the game and I lost my save file.

 

[Florges]

I went with digital this time around. If I was able to get the time off of work like I originally planned, I would have gone with physical. But since I have to be at work at 8:30am and work until 5:30pm, potentially longer if the children I teach do not get picked up, I went with a digital copy. With that, I can play the game during my lunch break and after work go directly to my fiance's house as we play binge play the game.

 

[LyokoGirl5000]

Physical. Nintendo will have to drag me kicking and screaming to digital.

 

[Hikamaru]

I'm going with the physical copies because it's always been tradition for me, plus I like having the game in my own hand.

 

[MaSterBarth]

My 3ds kinda stopped working. I had to get a new one. I now just buy physical copies of games. With Pokemon, I've always gone with a physical copy.

 

[ßritto]

I feel that a digital copy is risky as the state of your DS could corrupt meaning you lose everything, however I have just pre-ordered the Pokémon Sun 3DS XL Bundle which I believe will have the game preloaded :3c.

 

[Imperator161]

I prefer physical games where possible. That's not saying that I won't get a digital retail game here and there (I'm happy enough with the digital copy of Mario Kart 8 on the new Wii U I bought in June, and I download full games on my 3DS from time to time, generally when there are sales), but a physical cartridge feels more secure somehow. Safe file corruption could happen either way, but at least with the physical cart, I know that only a single game is likely to be at risk at a time. And anecdotally, I've always gotten the feeling that people have more issues with data corruption on digital game copies than on physical ones. That may or may not be true, but unless digital copies are shown to be significantly more stable, I don't have a huge desire to switch over.

Regarding game-finding difficulties as a reason to go with digital over physical, I either keep my cartridges in their cases or in my 3DS, and I don't think a game case is a whole lot harder to keep track of than my 3DS (though it is annoying when I put games in the wrong case and have to sort through all of them).

Space is also a big issue for me. I don't want to have to switch memory cards again (I'm a little afraid of messing up the data I have on the card during the transfer process), and I don't want to use up my space too quickly. I think I have a 16 gb SD card, and I still have a bunch of it free, but I want to keep it that way.

My biggest issue with diving in fully on the digital front is Nintendo's poorly laid out account system. It's just so hard to get anything back if something happens to a device, and I don't really want to spend hours on end with Nintendo's customer service line if I can help it.

 

[Zeturic]

For Gen VI and Gen VII, I buy a digital copy of my main game and will later get a physical copy of the other game. I would get digital copies of both, but you can't trade between two digital copies on the same 3DS.

My physical copy of Y, which is nearly unplayed, seems to have something wrong with it. I can't go more than 30 minutes or so without my 3DS thinking its been ejected, and I don't have this problem with other games. This wouldn't be an issue with a digital copy.

I prefer digital copies where possible.

 

[spike6958]

I'm just gonna watch a Let's play of it, and not buy the game at all.
I'm sick of always having to spend a week trying to avoid spoilers just because I live in the UK, if Nintendo can't release the same day, or at least the same week, then I'm not supporting there games anymore.
It's stupid because Australia uses the same region version as us, yet they get it the same day as America and Japan.

 

[MattEnth]

I'm personally going physical. I don't trust Nintendo's account system.

 

[janejane6178]

I pre loaded Sun and when I click on its icon it says there r 2 days until release.
But shouldnt the games be available in less than 1 days ? (For Australia )
Thanks <3

 

[Charlie Brown]

I pre loaded Sun and when I click on its icon it says there r 2 days until release.
But shouldnt the games be available in less than 1 days ? (For Australia )
Thanks <3

It's available in <10 hours for Australia ;D

I'm getting a physical copy (midnight launch woooo), I'd prefer to have a physical copy in case anything ever happens to my DS or anything tbh.

 

[LilyGardy]

As is always the case with 3DS I am getting a physical copy.

Whilst it is annoying (And inexplicable) that Europe has to wait 5 days longer for the games than everyone else it is what it is and I will be picking my pre-order up on Wednesday.

 

[janejane6178]

I wish someone knew if the games usually get released at MIDNIGHT on E-shop..

 

[The Evil Mewtwo]

I go for Physical incase because I like the game card and also I don't need another SD card.

 

[janejane6178]

So if the games go online on E-shop at 12 am the local time, then it should be up in about 12 mins (Since my 3ds location is set to Australia). I doubt it will happen tho

 

[Sektor]

Digital copies: No retail value. Cannot sell 'your copy'

Physical Copies: Potential to increase in Value. Can sell your investment later down the line should you choose to do so.

 

[Wizardling]

Digital. I'm playing through Moon right now (I'm a NZer) :-) No wait to play, and really I never get uber attached to my Pokemon.

I did buy AS as a cart just to have something to fill my New 3DS's slot. But I bought OR digitally (as I did with every other 3DS title) so I could indulge my liking for multiple playthroughs with different teams and strategies - e.g. bugs only, or only the first pokemon I catch (not including HM slaves).

For me, a lost save is a chance to have some fun all over again, and I figure with my Pokemon Bank sub I'm covered for most of my 3DS Pokemon games pokemon. At worst I'll only lose the the team I have in-game and whatever I've caught since my last banking session, or what I'm working on breeding.

I'm just not that fussed. But I do understand how serious players, especially those that breed for perfection and compete, would be devastated to lose their sometimes years of effort. I only hope Nintendo supports cloud saves and backup in their next portable - it's well past time!

As for the Switch - I truly hope it doesn't mark the end of smaller portables and especially the dual screen line. I love my New 3DS with it's stabilised 3D and lower touch screen. The only changes I desire are improvements like higher screen resolution, and multitouch. Not radical change. But evolution. My dream Pokemon console is a 3DS with iPhone style screens.

 

[Eruption]

I always buy new games physically and I see no reason to change here. Some people have put some reasons I didn't even consider in here, I always just decide based on physical being cheaper and allowing you to trade the game in further down the line (though trade-in probably won't be necessary here).