Nintendo’s not making it easy to embrace the digital future on its New 3DS handheld.
The first New 3DS-exclusive title, Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, releases April 10, but the role-playing game only just fits on the standard microSDHC memory card included with the console. The digital game market is worth around $1 billion a month, and it makes sense for publishers to make buying digital as easy as possible — not least because it removes huge retail overheads. Unless you’ve got a replacement microSD card and a small screwdriver handy, though, you’ll have to sacrifice practically your entire memory card to play Xenoblade Chronicles, deleting all your other content.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":1683781,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":null,"ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"games,","session":"B"}']“Please note that this title will take up nearly 4GB of space on the New Nintendo 3DS XL system’s pre-installed 4GB microSDHC card,” says a note on Nintendo of America’s website. “You may need to upgrade to a larger memory card to ensure you’ll have room for this download and other Nintendo eShop purchases.”
The European website goes one step further, saying the game “does not fit” on the standard memory card. It’s possible that the download size is different between the two regions — maybe down to additional languages in the European version — or it could be that one site is just playing it safe. Either way, it’s not great news.
It’s a peculiar hurdle to place in the way of gamers so early into the New 3DS’ lifecycle. Xenoblade Chronicles 3D is only compatible with the updated New 3DS and New 3DS XL consoles — released last month in the U.S. and Europe — and it would have made sense for Nintendo to include a larger memory card as standard in these machines.
Still, if you do want to go digital with Xenoblade Chronicles 3D, you can always grab a size zero cross-head screwdriver and follow these instructions to replace the card.