Topic: 3ds to new 3ds

I recently traded my 3ds xl in to Gamestop for trade credit and bought the new 3ds xl. I kept the sd card from inside the 3ds xl and they wiped the system. I found out that the new 3ds xl uses a micro sd card. I've been looking everywhere I can to see how to get the data back on, but I can't. Apparently you can't transfer it on a pc because your games will be unplayable. I can't login to my Nintendo Network Id either, it says it's linked to another 3ds, a.k.a. the one that was wiped and sold. I have no idea what to do now. My 3ds is long gone, I have the sd card with my games and data, and I have no way to get it on to the new 3ds xl that I am aware of. Please help.

Your best bet is to phone Nintendo & explain the situation & hopefully they will be able to transfer your NNID & all your games etc.

Making NNID's cloud based rather than tied to our individual 3DS & Wii U is an issue Nintendo seriously needs to address going forward with the NX. Contact Nintendo about it, it will be cumbersome yes but its the only way to get your NNID and 3DS content back.

Yep, @LeonSilverleaf. Based on experience and my understanding of Nintendo's current structure/policies, you should be able to get any games (or anything else) you downloaded using that Nintendo Network ID. You'll just have to redownload all of them from the eShop for free. Unfortunately, your saves are not tied to your Nintendo Network ID, so you will likely end up losing any saved data (unless you used the Save Data Backup tool on the 3DS).

Yep again. I know that clould-based saves have been confirmed for the new Nintendo account system coming this spring, so let's hope for the best.

This wouldn't be a problem if Gamestop hired people who knew anything about the the 3DS transfer system.

@renaryuugufan92 @VelvetElvis: I ended up calling Nintendo and explaining my situation. They freed up my NNI so I can access it and redownload the games I had. Mariokart 7 came with my old 3ds, and I'm not sure how to get that back. I had Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and Link's Awakening DX. I don't really care about the Link's Awakening DX data, but I do care about the years put into Animal Crossing that I can't get back. I bought a new micro sd card and micro sd card adapter, so now I can redownload Animal Crossing (The system's default card didn't have enough memory). However, I still need a solid answer for one question. Can I get the save data from my old sd card for Animal Crossing onto the new micro sd card if I have the game downloaded, and the adapter necessary? Or must I start over?

I have the following:
New 3ds xl
32 gb micro sd
micro sd adapter
PC
Old sd card with data
A friend's 2ds system

If I can't do anything with all that, I suppose I can just accept fate and start anew.

Unfortunately, I believe you've likely lost your save data. To my knowledge, you can only transfer SD card data around when you're using one system — I don't think you can transfer SD data from one system to another unless you're doing a full-on system transfer (because of the way NNIDs are tied to systems). There's more on that here. Might be a good idea to poke around that support page, too. I know it's not too helpful to say, but I'd give Nintendo a call specifically about the SD card/save data question before giving up all hope, as I'm not 110% sure. I really hope they know something that I don't, because I'd hate to lose that Animal Crossing data.

I feel you, though. Had a similar situation with a Wii U to Wii U transfer; I was able to redownload all of my digital games when I made the move, but because I didn't have both consoles on-hand at the same time, I lost all of my Wii and Wii U save data. It's a real bummer — Nintendo's cloud-based saves can't come soon enough.

Even though you got your NNID back, since you didn't do the transfer it still counts as a new separate system.

That save data won't be recognized.

@VelvetElvis: I see, well I suppose I will call them again. Thanks so much for the help!

@Morpheel: Thought so...