Topic: How do you view eShop exclusive content?

For me, its an important part of the 3DS. Only buying retail games means you're missing out on a half of the 3DS' library. The eShop should have great games of its own too, even if they are download only releases of Japanese niche games. More good games on the eShop will attract other developers to put more good games on the eShop.

If the best eShop games were also available at retail then it would lose its own identity and purpose. There should not be a cap on the quality of exclusive games on the eShop.

As for not having an account system, neither did the Wii and we have been buying downloadable games since 2006. So yeah, I do feel the complaints about the 3DS not having an account system to be petty, or is that too strong of a word?. I'm with Nintendo for the games I want to play, if I wanted a console with competent online capabilities, I would be an XBOX 360 or PlayStation 3 only fan. We all know Nintendo is way behind on the online accounts, but we all, well most of us, love them still the same. Just be careful with your console and it'll be fine.

I think games are heading towards only digital in the future. Missing out on digital games now, especially on the 3DS, is just a shame.

The majority of the system's best games can be found in cartridge form, but it would still be a shame to deprive oneself of some of the charming downloadable content available on it.

For me it depends. If stuff is meant to be an eShop exclusive say like Gunman Clive (yes I know it was on phones but I am talking about exclusive to Nintendo as an eShop game) and its made that way I don't mind. But if its an exclusive to one region as an eShop game like the upcoming Phoenix Wright game in NA or Code of Princess in Europe than I think that is just stupid. I mean if they put it out in cartridge form in on region I can't see logically why they can't for all besides just sheer stupidity. Yeah I know that they company's claim oh that game isnt a huge seller in that region or we dont think it will do go is just corporate bs. If they could offer it digital they could do physical as well, and if they are worried of it being a huge seller wouldn't it be a smart choice than to make it available to as many people as possible?

Right now, I'm starting to dislike it because my SD card isn't too large. A selfish reason, I know, but having Code of Princess on there at one point ate nearly half the space with those darned voice clips.

There is indeed a huge amount of quality content on the eShop though, and it's a really good idea for each 3DS owner to sample a couple of titles. It seems like the cartridge releases tend to play it safe, gameplay wise, while the eShop ones are less reluctant to experiment with unorthodox controls or presentation. I really respect games which do the latter, so the eShop has been very satisfying for me so far.

I love the eshop, however, there are some problems, not having an account system is bigger of a deal in a handheld than it is in home console I guess, the chances of it being stolen, dropping and broken ect... are much higher for a handheld...

The other problem with the Eshop is that is not available everywhere, I know most profit of nintendo and other video games companies come from US, Canada, EU, Japan and Australia but the rest of the world also counts and most other countries now are forced to find workdarounds to access the eshop such as importing pre-paid cards for other regions or finding an eshop that does not do zip code check for credit cards

I love the eShop, they only reason I don't buy every single game as a digital download is because all of the first party games are incredibly overpriced in my country. But I preffer digital versions.

The small downloads and eshop exclusives form a very important part of my 3DS too, to the point where I pretty much use the card port only for DS games and final fantasy theatrhythm.

The eShop has been very enjoyable for me. Games like Liberation Maiden, Crimson Shroud, Cave Story, VVVVVV, Denpa Men, and more, are just too good to pass up.

My only issue with it, is that whenever I'm trying to save up for a retail release, something tantalizing pops up on eShop & drains my savings, lol. (My last retail purchases were KH:DDD & PM:SS back in December)

My 3DS stopped working last year due to my own fault. Cost me the price of a new game to get it fixed. Now its working fine again. Physically losing your 3DS should be the only thing people should be very careful about.

My only problems with the eShop are that I can't always access it. I'm using my 3DS to type this right now but I get an error code when I try to access the eshop. I did manage to visit it two weeks ago but only for a few days. Also, I am more likely to buy retail games if they are also available on eShop because they tend to be cheaper than on the eshop. Why pay full price for an old game on eshop when you can look around and get it for 1/3 of the cost?

I enjoy seeing my folders fill up with games I download. That gives me a greater pleasure than seeing game boxes fill up physical space in my room. And I've long since been over the need for a paper manual to read.

I find that the eShop sometimes throws errors if your connection isn't immaculate when you attempt to connect, while the 3DS browser is more lenient.