Topic: If I buy a digital copy of Mario Kart...

and download it to my external hard drive, and then several months later get a different external hard drive...can I re-download mario kart to the new one?

Also, I assume you still get the free game even if you buy the digital mario kart?
Are there any discounts going on when you buy hte digital version of mario kart?

thanks

If you still have your original hard drive by the time you get the new one, you can just copy the data. If you don't have the original drive you'll need to re-download it.

Yes, you'll still get free game if you downloaded it, so long as you linked your Nintendo Network account with your Club Nintendo account.

thanks. yeah, I think i did link my wii u with my club nintendo account. because that was required to get the coins for the wii u and I got them.

so,
a) all the games you buy digitally are tied to the club nintendo account?

or,
b) are they tied to the club nintendo account and the wii u?

I figure its b...which is fine too.

thanks again....the reason i;m asking is because my kids just broke the nintendo land disc....so it got me thinking, maybe I should get the digital version of mario kart instead.

A lot of publishers will replace the disc for around $10 if you send them the broken disc. Pretty sure Nintendo does this or at least use to.

Your NNID is tied to your Wii U and your purchases are tied to your NNID. The Club Nintendo account linkage is just so you earn rewards from Club Nintendo for your purchases. Personally I think they should dump Club Nintendo and just have NNIDs - not like they're age-restricted. Anyway like others have said you don't need to re-download if you get a new hard disk, you can just copy content (game/save data are inseparable with downloaded games) to the new disk. In fact I have two disks and regularly make a backup. It's slightly clunky, but you can only boot with one hard disk attached so you need to connect/disconnect the second hard disk when you're in the settings area or the Wii U will shut itself down - even then it will still complain that you're connecting/disconnecting a USB device when it's powered up!

If you have the black Wii U, you are also eligible for the Deluxe Digital promotion, so you would be getting $5 of eShop credit just for buying MK8. So you kinda get a discount for getting the downloadable version.

thanks for all the info!
That is great to know that they might replace the disc for 10 bucks! I'll try that. I almost wish they would have had it on the eshop. That way we could just have a digital copy; one less disc that could get broken.

Anyway, we bought Mario Kart 8 last night. Unfortunately, I have the white Wii U....so it was $64.99 after taxes.
The sad part is, they had it for 49.99 at our local Fry's. We almost bought it there. But, in the end, I wanted to have a digital copy so it couldn't be broken.

So, I actually paid more for a digital copy. That doesn't make a lot of sense. You would think it would be cheaper. I figure a digital copy would cost nintendo less to produce than a disc, case and booklet plus middle man to sell it. Plus, you can always sell a disc and get more of your money back (in other words, a disc is a lot more liquid than a digital copy). Plus, nintendo, like all game companies do not like the used game market, because they don't make any money on it. So, you would think nintendo would be giving more incentive to go digital by making the digital games cheaper.
I guess not. Oh well. The game is still fantastic.

Ok, to get the free game when you buy a digital version:
goto club nintendo website
login
it will popup with a screen that says what free game do you want
click red select button for the game you want
click the get it now red button
click the order button (it will send an order confirmation to your email address you have registered with club nintendo)

right this second (5/31 @ 9:55 central time) the club nintendo site seems to be down and its not working.

but that seems to be how to get your free game for those who are new to this club nintendo stuff like me.

http://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_...

unfortunately, it looks like they don't do this anymore. My Nintendo Land was purchased over 90 days ago.

@zepking The WiiU is capable of using a second HD drive as storage. You can also transfer data over from one to the other should you not want to have the two drives on the go.

You could try calling them up and seeing if they'll offer a replacement. You never know they could do it.