IndustryGamers - Informing the Games Industry

DSi XL Offers No DSiWare Transfer

Posted March 29, 2010 by David Radd

While the DSi XL plays all the same DSiWare games that a regular DSi plays, transfering games from one system to another is not possible. Kotaku confirmed with Nintendo that the DSi XL will not recognize prior purchases of DSiWare games.

Currently, the PS3, Xbox 360 and iPhone all offer some way to transfer downloaded data from one system to another (with certain restrictions). Still, a Nintendo respresentitive did indicate that Nintendo is aware of the issue, saying, "We're looking into that specific topic, but we don't have anything to announce at this time."

The DSi does not have a purchaser ID system for their DSiWare shop that might recognize purchases on multiple DSi units. Indeed, the DSi XL hardware manual states that downloads are software licenses, not purchases, and that all DSiWare downloads "are for use only on a single Nintendo DSi."

David Radd has worked as a gaming journalist since 2004 at sites such as GamerFeed, Gigex and GameDaily Biz.