Resetting 2nd hand 3ds 25 February 2017 at 3:40AM in Gaming MoneySaving 5 replies 4.9K views

targaid

I have just bought a 2nd hand New 3ds, Animal Crossing Home Designer edition, which has been sent to us with the nintendo online id of the previous owner still on it. I was going to use the wipe all function to clear it, but this resets all licences and deletes a lot of info other than just the id. Since the game is not hard-wired into the system I'm worried it would be deleted, too.

On a Nintendo forum trying to get a straight answer I've just been told that the game cannot be passed on. Could this be the case? Surely it is the same as any second-hand video game and can be resold?

Has anyone else had this issue and resolved it? All the responses I'm getting are either for the older model or refer to transferring and account from another machine.

Lumstorm

Yes it will delete the game as it's a downloaded game they typically can't be resold. If you buy a second hand console any download games that the seller includes can be discounted. If you want to make your own online id, you would reset the machine and buy your own copy of the game.

I would recommend you buy a physical copy of the game over download as they can be sold on without any problems and shopping around they can often be cheaper.

targaid

See, this is why I'm confused. It isn't a download. It's pre-installed on the SD card, it's just not hard-wired into the device.

targaid

So, after a while with Nintendo mii service agents it seems that a simple factory reset was all that's needed. The game can then be reloaded for free. (If anyone has to do this note that the estore will list the game at full price but when you go into the listing it will have a button to allow reloads)
For something so simple it took a lot of clearing up with Nintendo.
Oh, apparently using the option of deleting the original nnid would not work which seems a bit odd to me, but I'm not arguing about it.

neoless

Here there is a case of copyright protection for the game. If you acquired it from the former owner by legal means, then use his ID. If not, then you have to throw it away.

targaid

Not according to Nintendo there isn't. The console is sold with the game preinstalled and, essentially, part of the device. I get the impression that Nintendo have more of an issue with using someone else's id, which is wrong in any circumstances.