Nintendo Lists Formally Tested Micro SDHC Cards for the New Nintendo 3DS

32GB was my decision, anyways.

But it's good to know your limits!

Come on guys, can't you support 64GB now?

I have a 64gb in my aus import, works fine.

So when I heard the New 3DS was taking micro SD Cards I went to a closing RadioShack and got a great deal on a 64 micro card. Now it's useless cause I don't need it for any other purpose

The issue with formatting a 64GB to FAT32 is that it doesn't help with the restriction on the maximum number of 300 games/apps that you can have on your 3DS. I'm nearing 300 with a 90% full 32GB card.

@RupeeClock

I can. I'm using a 64 GB card in my 3DS card now. Have been using it since March with no issues. There is a guide online showing you how to format a 64/128 gig SD on a PC to use it for the 3DS.

I already use MicroSD (With an adapter, of course) on my 3DS XL, and it's 16GB so I should be fine if I decide to upgrade to a New 3DS. It appears to be a class 4 SD card, though, and it's by some brand called DaneElec, so it might be worth upgrading to a higher class SD card regardless. Maybe I should upgrade to 32 GB as well.

Many devices and use MicroSD cards larger than their listed size limit, my question is, can the New 3DS?

And unofficially I have over 511,000 blocks!

I got myself a Class 10 Samsung 32GB card for not even 15$ and I sure hope it will work just fine. It would be weird if it did not I'd say.

@BJQ1972 @RupeeClock My 32 gig only had 5000 blocks left on it and I'm not even at 200 yet. I just upgraded so I can go quite a ways further.

I have 6 games that total well over 100k. The rest are a lot of filler. Some as high as 8000 blocks while others as little as 250.

I'll stick with my 128gb sd card.

Eh, I'm sure my local electronic store has one of those cards.

If this is true I'm going to be very sad. I already ordered a 64 GB Micro SD for when I get the New 3DS because my 32 GB has been full for quite some time :/

@Nanamine You can use it, I have a micro in mine right now. It has over 511,000 blocks. You just need to format it to fat32. Look up some online instructions as there is plenty to find.

It does make a difference because the model numbers are different in the UK.

e.g Presumably these two are the same but the model number is slightly different.

SDSDQXP-032G-G46A
SDSDQXP-032G-A46A

I don't know why everyone says that the Limit's 300. It's 331 including the Cartridge.

@RupeeClock

Just merely stating that they can be formatted to work on the 3DS, that's all. It's better to use a spare one you have lying around than to have to run out to the store to buy one just for your 3DS.

I thought Nintendo said the New 3DS would support 64GB?

Got a 32GB in my system now, only around £15 on Amazon! Bargain!

I've been using a 32G micro SD for two years now. When I get the new 3DS I'll be using a new 32 GB I just got a few days ago. I don't know why they are only listing name brands. No name brands work just as fine for me with no problems. And at a tiny sum. I only paid 4.50 for my new one. My old one is going in my video camera.

I don't get why there even needs to be a list? I mean, MicroSDHC is a standard. At most, they might have to recommend a certain minimum sped (Class) and/or minimum size, but other than that, it's supposed to accept any MicroSDHC card no problem.

And yes, I know other cards not explicitly on this list will work, I'm just saying why there even needs to be a list on something that is supposed to be a standard in the first place.

I hope it's easy as to transfer games from my XL to my New 3ds as it was to upgrade SD cards.

My "Old" 3DS XL is sporting a 64GB micro SDXC w/ adapter, and it's running great.

Considering how confusing they already made the instructions for the 3DS-to-New-3DS transfer, they'd probably end up confusing people even more by telling them how to format their card. Not to mention they'd have to write a formatting program or point to a third-party formatting software for anyone running Windows.
...I just imagined all the confused people formatting C: to FAT32. I laughed, morbidly.

Does anyone know how a system tranfer between an old 3DS XL and a New Majora's Mask Limited Edition 3DS will work, especially concerning the digital copy of Majora's Mask on the New system?

Because as far as I know, during a system transfer, all the stuff from the old system replaces everything on the new system. Meaning MM3D would disappear. I would assume the system either somehow retains MM3D, or I'd be able to re-download the game after the transfer's done... But I'm not sure, really.

@CB85 It will delete the game but since the 2 accounts will be merged you will be able to re-download it. Sorry but there is no way around that. I'm going to have to do that with Monster Hunter 4U.

@CB85
1. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES put an NNID on the N3DS before you transfer.
2. Transfer from Old 3DS to New 3DS
3. Redownload your preinstalled game from the eShop

Ah, yes, the typical lineup... SanDisk, Toshiba, and/or Kingston. They're well-known, so they charge more for their products than they have to.

There are lesser known choices out there, though- For example, I am using a brand of SD card for my 3DS called Silicon Power. It is not much lesser than it's peers for it's time, yet it was cheaper in price- a 32GB, Class 10, 40 MB/s read, 15 MB/s write, UHS-1 (104 MB/s bus interface speed), SDHC card for about $19 last year. (It was about half the cost of it's peers.) Today, it's possible to buy a higher end model than the one I have for about $13, including improved specs like 85 MB/s read. (Although it is a regular sized SD card, so it's not as versatile- it has good reviews though!)

The SanDisk equivalent (with an additional improvement to UHS-3 up from UHS-1, which only makes a difference in 4k resolution recording, so it doesn't apply to the New or old 3DS) is on sale now for about $35. Almost 3 times as much, for a card that gives negligible or no improvement in a device like the 3DS.

As for micro SD cards such as the ones Nintendo is advertising on their site, they are all more expensive devices than we need, such as the SDSDQXL-032G-A46A model being sold for about $33... For example, t's possible to buy a Silicon Power microSD card (without UHS, since the Silicon Power microSD with UHS seems to have a lot of bad cards based on reviews, but it's no big loss in our case since 3DS doesn't truly make use of UHS anyways) with somewhat lesser specs for $15. It might make a difference in a digital camera to pay more than double the price, but we as 3DS gamers don't need to do that.

Please, save your wallets some pain. Look for cheaper, worthy alternatives to the advertisements on Nintendo's website.

I hope the 32GB SanDisk Ultra I bought will work fine, I read about people with problems with it. Anyone with this on their 3DS who can tell how it works?

Lexar is not listed, not even one type? I'm kinda surprised since my 3DS XL had a Lexar as default SD card. I wonder which one the New 3DS has and if it's in the list...

@BakaKnight Probably because Lexar has a bad reputation in some circles as a bottom of the barrel quality memory card manufacturer. There's no excuse for them either, because there are cheaper alternatives which work just as well as their more expensive peers.

@Spoony_Tech and nacho_chicken
Thanks! I'll be sure to follow your advice.

Thought this was a new list, this has been around for a while now...

Does anyone know if the New 3DS comes with a mini SD card? Sorry for the stupid question.

@Kirby_Fan_DL3 The New 3DS comes with a 4GB microSD, but there don't seem to be any reviews out there yet detailing the card's actual specs. For all I know, it could be a slow card. Best to get an aftermarket card, for optimal performance, if needed.

I got a Sony 32GB card from Amazon via a Kinja deal last week. Should be good enough, I hope.

I have a sandisk ultra 16 gb card and it works with my old 3ds and wiiu so it should work with my new 3ds

@Spectra_Twilight True, although most cards sold today are Class 10... The distinction here today is, do they have UHS? The 3DS doesn't really use it, so why pay double the price or more for features on a product than one has to?

Pretty much all SD cards are formatted to either FAT32 or a proprietary format before being sold, but if one isn't formatted to FAT32, one can just use something like the FAT32 GUI Formatter or even the Windows default formatter to do the job.

It would be worth mentioning the "lesser quality manufacturers", I think- one name that's been tossed around for years in that regard is Lexar.

I picked up a generic 32gb one locally, hopefully I won't have too many issues with it.

I got a SanDisk Ultra 32 Gig card. Hope it works...

@PlywoodStick More important is UHS uses more pins so the card would be in a backwards compatibility mode. (I have one Sansdisk Ultra Mobile card that corrupts all the time if it is used without being in a proper UHS device but is otherwise fine).

@PlywoodStick 4 gigabytes is fine enough for me. I never download full retail games, so it shouldn't be a problem. Thanks!

@unrandomsam Interesting, I haven't had any UHS related issues with my card... (It has 9 contacts, the same amount as an old regular SD card.) Does your card work in your 3DS?

@Kirby_Fan_DL3 In that case, specs aren't a big deal. Have fun!

@PlywoodStick I honestly didn't know that Lexar have a reputation as bad manifacturer, but luckily I never had a problem with their SD cards. Althought I always suspected them to not be the top-class since they are usually the cheapest SD cards I find in stores.

I'll keep an eye and ponder more my options considering the infos you shared, but given the quality-price I experienced from them so far, I could even risk and stick to Lexar when I'll get a New 3DS.

LOL, does anyone here know what an SD card is? They're all the same! Everything except SDXC works (even XC works if it's FAT 32, but FAT 32 can't have files more than 4 GB, so some games could potentially have problems).

I've always used SanDisk for my mobile devices: a 32GB microSD for my phone and a 32GB standard for my 3DS. I know other people have different results, but SanDisk had never given me any problems. They may be more expensive, but its a name i trust. Been using their microSD cards in my phones for years. I got the one for my 3DS for under $30 at Wal-Mart. A 32GB card holds a lot more than I thought it would.

I also had good success with a Samsung- branded card in my tablet.

@BakaKnight Granted, I've never used Lexar products myself, so I don't have first hand experience with them. Their previous reputation mostly stemmed from their Memory Stick Pro Duos being completely inferior alternatives compared to Sony and SanDisk, not even being worth the lesser price. They may have mended their practices in recent years for all I know, especially with SD cards- their SD cards have a lot of good reviews right now.

So, if your card has been working fine up until now, then there's probably no issues with it. There also seem to be some good-looking 32 GB microSD cards from them for $17-$30, and even 16 GB cards for about $10, depending on what you need. The New 3DS would probably do fine with whatever you pick.

But yeah, it's up to you. I don't think you could possibly fare as poorly as the SanDisk 512MB SD card I bought back in 2007 for my Wii, which physically fell apart on it's own while barely handling it within a week's time...

One thing that worries me is that I'm getting the MH4 New 3DS, and I would like to system transfer, but I've got nearly 28 gigs of games and stuff on my current system.. The MH4N3DS only has about 2 gigs in space.. From what I understand I can move stuff like saves and my account over without the games.. Which would be great, because I've read in order to get MH4U on your account you have to transfer systems, which will merge the game onto your eShop account.. I've never done this before (have an OG Ambassador 3DS) and am afraid of messing it up.

And by 2 gigs in space I mean left over because of the game..

I love the Bowser picture that is used for this article. The way he looks is exactly how I feel about all this. Haha. XD

Man I just wish Nintendo would find a way to transfer all your licences to your SD card and lock it until you're ready to lock it to your new 3DS. That way it saves headaches trading your old one in. /rant

For what it's worth I have a Samsung micro SD in mine and it works just fine. Nintendo probably just list the name brand cards to give new customers a piece of mind to make shopping for one easier.

I also have the Samsung 32GB PRO Class 10 ready.

As many people have said, even the current 3DS systems can take a 64GB or higher SD card as long as you format it as FAT32, though anything higher than 32GB tends to come as extFAT.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M55C0NS/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I ordered this 2 weeks ago. This should be good right? It's chilling in my desk waiting for my New 3DS.

Until I upgrade 3DSes, my MicroSD cards will work fine in my regular 3DS if I use an adapter, right?

@Revanmann
I have the exact same type in my 3DS XL now, but in 64GB. Excellent card. Cheap, too.

@SkywardLink98
Not only does it work fine, it'll make the transfer painless. You won't even have to use a PC; just remove the microSD from the adapter once the NNID is transferred and put it in the New 3DS.

I ordered a 32 GB microSD card basically right before I found out you could use larger ones if you format them, but I'm not bummed about it. I'm only about halfway through the memory anyway. I use the eShop as my extra storage for games I hardly play. If I ever get the urge to run through them again, I redownload them.

The card was cheap too. $15. Great deal

Why don't people delete old software that they aren't using. The amount of 3ds games and eshop games that 32gb can hold is too much for one person to play at any given time. It's like having over 1000 friends on a social networking site. (FYI: A lot of those people aren't really your friends.)

I delete what I'm done playing and keep what I like to go back to from time to time.

A list is pretty much useless since any brand should work.

We'll see what happens when I place my 32GB Toshiba micro SD in the New 3DS XL.

I have a 16GB SD on my 3DS XL. But I don't think it's necessary to buy a new Micro SDHC for the New N3DS. At least, not for me, because I'll be using the NEW 3DS mainly for Monster Hunter 4, Smash and Xenoblade 3D.

@UNSOLUTEDSALT
Deleting a game to make room is not comparable to putting a cartridge back in the box, on a shelf.
It's more like completely wiping the cartridge data, putting it back in the box, then renting a storage unit 15-60 minutes away from your home and putting all your games with no save data there.

There are several games on the eShop that are multiple GB in size. Getting Resident Evil: Revelations digitally means you will barely be able to fit one more game - if that - on the stock 4GB microSD.

@CB85 The Majora's Mask New 3DS XL doesn't actually come with the game pre-installed (you'll notice it's the same price as the standard models). I didn't realize this at first either. The bad news - you'll have to pay another $40 for the game. The good news - you won't have to worry about your system transfer issue. Hope this helps you!

@nacho_chicken Okay, thanks. I needed a new SD card, so I ordered a Micro so I wouldn't have to order a fourth when I upgraded. I was worried about the adapter, so thanks for letting me know!

@Dinos24SP
It comes with Majora's Mask preinstalled in Europe.

@nacho_chicken That makes more sense... sometimes I forget America isn't the only region in the world. @CB85 Forget what I said before!

Already bought 32GB micro from Amazon in preparation for next week. If for some reason it doesn't work...I'll be HELLA PISSED.

I've used for a year a Sandisk Micro SDXC 64Go (FAT32 formatted) without any problem as well ! So I doubt there'll be problems on the new 3DS.

You can use a 64 GB card, you just have to format it.

Wait, any Micro SDHC card for Sandisk brand won't work?

my XL runs with just a basic Sandisk 32 GB card. I wonder if basic Sandisk 32 GB Micro SDHC card will work.

@ThomasBW84 Just to be clear, there's a difference between SD and SDHC card?

I practically live by Sandisk for their Compactflash card on my DSLR so I went down the same route with a 32GB Extreme. Probably overkill but at least I feel peace of mind. Doubt I'll fill it up as I only ever filled up half of my previous 16GB SD card in almost 3-4 years.

Don't worry.
Been using a 64GB Samsung card in my imported Aus N3DS since Iaunch.
Works like a charm.
Remember to format it to FAT32 and you're good to go.

I have a class 10 Sandisk Ultra SDHC in my New 3DS and it works just fine.

I was probably going to choose SanDisk when I finally pick up my console(s) anyway, so this is just confirmation that I made a good decision.

@nacho_chicken good to know. I've got the MH4U edition coming.

I switched to a micro SD card in anticipation of the new 3ds. I got a 64 GB one and it has been no problem so far. I did format it to fat 32 like I was supposed to. This better work with the upcoming release, or I will be pissed.

How many gigs does the default card come with? 2? 8?

@JubilifeRival 4 gigs unfortunately.

I know I'm late to this post but I wanted to mention that I am currently using (from Amazon: SanDisk Ultra 32GB UHI-I/Class 10 Micro SDHC Memory Card Up to 48MB/s With Adapter- SDSDQUAN-032G-G4A [Newest Version]
) in my now-old red XL. I didn't format it and I merely copied the files from the old SD to this micro. It works fine! Not sure if this will change for the New XL but I don't suspect it will...

How come the new 3ds xl has 28000 blocks with it's 4gb micro sdhc card and the 2ds which i also own just has 15000 blocks, which also has a storage capacity of 4gb in it's included sdhc card?

@ericwithcheese2 I trust the cheapest brand sandisk is no better its all in the mind.