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Topic: Transferring digital downloads from U to Switch?

Posts 1 to 20 of 24

TheAdrock

Is this possible now?
If I buy BotW on U as download can that be transferred later to the Switch?

Zelda is the best game series in history.

TheAdrock

But I read that they are allowing digital transfers between systems, did they mean between like systems, as in Switch to Switch?

Zelda is the best game series in history.

Luna_110

No. If you buy BotW digitally for Wii U, you're buying a license (the right to use) the game on that console, not the right to use the game on any platform.
There isn't cross buy here.

I have a chronic lack of time, for everything.

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TheAdrock

Okay Luna, but when I buy a license for a game on my tablet through Google PlayStore I can transfer that to any tablet or phone when I upgrade later. THIS is sensible. No reason that Nintendo can't do the same thing.

Zelda is the best game series in history.

Lethal

TheAdrock wrote:

Okay Luna, but when I buy a license for a game on my tablet through Google PlayStore I can transfer that to any tablet or phone when I upgrade later. THIS is sensible. No reason that Nintendo can't do the same thing.

Nintendo is not Google or Apple though. There is no cross buy for any Wii U or Switch games. You can either buy the Wii U version, or the Switch version. This is not like buying an old N64 on the virtual console. Those games will probably be cross buy or knowing Nintendo, they will charge you $1 to transfer what you already bought. But that is only for virtual console games. No retail games.

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Joeynator3000

I keep telling you people, Nintendo wants you to rebuy games...once the Virtual Console for the Switch happens, the same ol' discount thing to "upgrade" will happen. Including Wii U games whenever that happens.

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Keep it PG-13-ish.

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Joeynator3000

@TheAdrock Also, you might want to change your profile pic, it's a bit too inappropriate here...

My Monster Hunter Rise Gameplay
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzirEG5duST1bEJi0-9kUORu5SRfvuTLr

Discord server: https://discord.gg/fGUnxcK
Keep it PG-13-ish.

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TheAdrock

@Joeynator3000 , apparently someone reported my profile pic (I wonder who that would have been). Not sure what people think is "inappropriate" about a woman's stomach. No nudity. No partial nudity. Just a stomach? Please people.

Zelda is the best game series in history.

NEStalgia

@TheAdrock When you buy a license to a binary application (not a source code license) you get to transfer exactly that: Your license to a binary executable that happens to also run on the new tablet running the same architecture and OS.

If you want to be technical, your license to a binary game DOES carry over from your WiiU to Switch. You just can't do anything with it because the Switch can't execute WiiU binaries. It's like running MacOS software on an Android phone. Different architecture, different OS, different code execution.

If you got to "cross buy" it it means the company spent time/money/human labor to port the product to the new platform, and you're getting a free license for a different binary with the purchase of the first. It's a nice perk, but it's not an artificial restriction.

It's one of those cases where it's not just a digital rights thing, physical is physically incompatible, and digital is also physically incompatible. Wii to WiiU was compatible and did carry over through the emulation mode where it ran the older OS.

NEStalgia

TheAdrock

@NEStalgia , excellent explanation and completely valid points.

Zelda is the best game series in history.

NEStalgia

@Masurao I can't remember back to PSP (and never bought digital on PSP), I do have some classics on Vita, but I don't remember how it all worked with PS3 or not. Originally it was a PS3/PSP cross-buy type situation because that's how they were promoting the PSP - a Playstation on the go. They did bring it over to Vita....similar architecture, and, frankly those are the only 1st party games they gave Vita after the first year, so they kind of had to give Vita owners SOMETHING, "Thanks for your $300, you can...uhm...play your old PSP games that you re-bought that were your PSX games on your new machine...and uh...basically just that..." But the more related case is PS4 which does NOT run the Classics you already bought. The official solution is: Buy a Vita. That's a more similar situation to Switch since it's a big architecture change. Both companies supported "free" backward compatibility when it didn't cost much to do it with the same or similar architecture, and dropped it when they changed architectures and it would take a lot of effort on their part to bring the emulator over etc.

XBox 1 BC is an interesting case because they didn't really want to do it with the architecture shift either, but since they had basically no advantages whatsoever over PS4 at the same selling price, leveraging their X360 back catalog which was the previous gen leader of the two was all they had to distinguish themselves and try to keep their customer base from jumping to Sony (which was happening in droves.) So in the end, PS4 ended up the only 8th gen console without BC.

BC's always a benefit, but it's certainly understandable with an architecture shift that you don't get the new engines for free. OTOH Nintendo has precedent of offering cheap upgrades for existing owners, so if you bought things under an NNID that's linked to a Nintendo Account, it's very possible they'll offer some sort of upgrade promotion again. Note a given, and they're not obligated, but it's certainly possible. But that would be just for VC, not actual Wii/WiiU retail games (and GCN is questionable...that's a hard one because it was the most powerful 6th gen machine, Wii wasn't much more powerful than it, and WiiU was only somewhat more powerful than Wii, and Switch is only somewhat more powerful than WiiU, so I wonder how emulation would really work out without sharing architecture? GCN games could be rebuilt for Switch natively I'd guess, but then it's truly new software.

NEStalgia

Dokkaebi

@TheAdrock

I get what you are saying, but when you do this on Google, you are transferring on the same operating system even though the devicesand hardware may be different.

The WiiU and the Switch are different operating systems. Now if you were to say, transfer games from the Switch to Switch 2.0 a few years down the line, that would make sense.

Dokkaebi

Ryu_Niiyama

NEStalgia wrote:

@TheAdrock When you buy a license to a binary application (not a source code license) you get to transfer exactly that: Your license to a binary executable that happens to also run on the new tablet running the same architecture and OS.

If you want to be technical, your license to a binary game DOES carry over from your WiiU to Switch. You just can't do anything with it because the Switch can't execute WiiU binaries. It's like running MacOS software on an Android phone. Different architecture, different OS, different code execution.

If you got to "cross buy" it it means the company spent time/money/human labor to port the product to the new platform, and you're getting a free license for a different binary with the purchase of the first. It's a nice perk, but it's not an artificial restriction.

It's one of those cases where it's not just a digital rights thing, physical is physically incompatible, and digital is also physically incompatible. Wii to WiiU was compatible and did carry over through the emulation mode where it ran the older OS.

Well said.

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TheAdrock

Yeah @NESalgia points are totally valid and makes perfect sense.
However, I understand that N has no obligation, but ever since the Gamecube they have offered carryover support of the prior system's discs (GameCube -> Wii -> WiiU). Obviously the Switch won't play a disc, but clearly a greater adoption of the new console is better for N, so encourage it. So why not offer a carryover credit when migrating to the Switch games?

Zelda is the best game series in history.

Dokkaebi

@TheAdrock Because Nintendo is greedy and doesn't always make the best marketing decisions haha.

Dokkaebi

Dokkaebi

@Masurao There are ways now to get Snes games on your 3ds, but you would have to do some googling to make it all happen. I just finished bahamut lagoon a few weeks ago.

I never really though of it like that, but you have a great point about Nintendo not owning the rights. I wouldn't mind repurchasing these older games that I haven't played in the past ten years though as long as I'm not being raked over the coals for them.

Although, I would gladly drop $50 on Mana Collection just to get at an official translated version of Seiken Densetsu 3. The amount of hours and entertainment in the three mana games would be well worth it.

Dokkaebi

Dizzy_Boy

Here's athought, if you want to play your old games, keep them along with the old console.

Dizzy_Boy

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LzWinky

There's no need for your logic here!

Current games: Everything on Switch

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DefHalan

dizzy_boy wrote:

Here's athought, if you want to play your old games, keep them along with the old console.

Some people don't have the space or money for that. I find VC to be a suitable replacement, but the lack of backwards compatibility in modern Video Game Consoles is weird to me. Microsoft is the only one with backwards compatibility, and adding that feature was a huge boost to their reputation.

People keep saying the Xbox One doesn't have Backwards Compatibility.
I don't think they know what Backwards Compatibility means...

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