Just kind of curious what people prefer when it comes to buying 3DS games, and their opinions on digital vs retail.

I personally prefer buying retail(physical copies). It just has this nostalgia feeling when you swap out the cartridge. Having the physical copy also just feels more substantial; you have something to show for your purchase. The biggest thing is that you can resell your copy of the game; which cannot be done with the digital copy. Going full digital is much more convenient though for sure(instead of carrying cartridges everywhere), but I find the eshop for the 3DS severally flawed. If you have a failed file transfer or your 3DS is stolen, lost, damaged, or otherwise... you lose everything. Sometimes Nintendo will let you have your games back, but this is not always the case.

Cartridges can be stolen, lost, and damaged; but it's a much smaller chance for me to lose everything in one go. I don't carry everything with me, and its not all reliant on a single 3DS system.

This doesn't mean I don't buy digitally on the 3DS; physical copies just takes precedence over digital, unless it is substantially cheaper.

Just my thoughts and opinions .

Digital

Physical for the sole reason of NO F**KING ACCOUNTS.

Outside of Nintendo though, it just comes down to whatever is cheaper.

Definitely retail. It feels great to open a new game.

retail .-. for pretty much the reasons you've listed. im only making an excetion for unchained blades (coming out in a few days on the eshop) because that looks like its gona be a really fun game.

Going digital on the WiiU just to take advantage of the discount thingy until it expires then I'm heading back to the physical domain... 3DS digital downloads in Aussieland are alot more expensive than physical so there's no point in me going that route unless it's VC related

Digital all the way. I love the convenience of it all.

Physical for me. I have no problem with digital mind you (I understand the convenience), it's just that there's nothing quite like opening the box for the first time & leafing through the manual (nostalgia FTW!).

Digital. I get pretty annoyed going through my wallets and boxes just to switch in games. Now if I get the chance to buy games downloadably, I will take that chance, as long as I have the memory to store it. I find as much nostalgia in opening a game's box, compared to being in the midst of a game's download.

Retail. I like feeling physical objects..

What manual? Now they just have these little foldout things, at least for 3ds games..

Companies such as EA, Ubisoft and Activision have very thin, skimpy manuals as well. It's unnecessary to have thick manuals anymore.

I prefer buying physical copies. I'd rather save my SD card for eShop games, or content that has to be on it. And that way, I can lend my games to my brother and sister, or borrow from them. Besides, retail downloads are really expensive in France--the latest Layton game costs €45 on the eShop and €35 in on-line stores. Even in physical stores, I don't expect it to cost more than €40 (except maybe one or two stores that are known for ripping off their customers).

Physical - there isn't much question about it.

• Games can be lent, traded, or sold again (for at least 50% when in good condition)
• Games are just cheaper in general when purchased physically
• Doesn't take up space on the SD card (which you'd need to change anyway when it becomes full)
• You get the box, instructions and cartridge while still paying less.
• Losing your 3DS means not losing all the games you own along with it.
• Being able to play your game on more than just one 3DS system.

Honestly I'll never understand why people go all-digital. Even if for some reason you feel the need to have all your games in one place so you don't need to change the game card, you'll still need to end up doing that once your SD card fills up - and having to do so in the first place isn't really a chore when you consider the fact that you could just buy a case to hold all your games for under £5.

Isn't this also like the 5th thread on this topic?

@Geonjaha Yeah! and it goes a little something like this... Break it down

Retail, both because of the flaws the OP noted, but also because I'd like to get some return for my games by selling them used or trading them. Can't do that with digital yet...

Gamestop gives hardly any money back for trading games in, so that's really pointless. The only reason I still go physical is that there are more sales for physical copies at different retailers than DLing the game.

Physical when it comes to retail type games, cause I still like the box art and such.
Of course for pure eShop games I'm fine with digital.

The biggest adverse on the 3DS are the "limited" system transfers, especially with all the remakes Nintendo is doing of their hardware.
Buy a retail copy, you can have it forever, by it digital and that's questionable.

some games i go digital, like art academy lessons for everyone and the new professor layton game, because i know i won't get rid of those and my son doesn't play those games. but other games that i know i will be sharing with my son then i go physical.

Digital because in 10 years if I wanna play Paper Mario SS again I'd have to play it only on my 3DS, while the Digital accounts will be with me forever
Boxes take up space