Difference between digital and physical copies of ACNL?

[Titi]

I'm wondering if there are any differences quality/safety wise between having a digital copy and a physical copy of the game.
I Plan on purchasing a 2nd copy only to start my game over and sell my first copy (physical) once I've transferred all my villagers to my new one, but I don't know if I should buy a digital or physical.

 

[Xanarcah]

I've heard that apparently it's easier for digital copies to corrupt. But it's also apparent that some cartridges can be faulty. It's also possible to corrupt a town by accidentally ejecting the cartridge while the game is playing.


I have two cartridges and a digital and I MUCH prefer having digital. No worrying about where my game is, no switching/carrying more cartridges around when I travel, etc. I've had it since just after the release with no issues.

 

[Melyora]

I think that there are both pros and cons for either choice.

I myself have a digital copy, mainly because of the Nintendo promotion that if someone bought ACNL, he would receive a downloadcode to give to a friend, who had to register a new 3DS on the Nintendo site in a certain amount of time afterwards, to download ACNL for free. So that's how I got a ACNL digital copy.

Here's my experience:

Pros:
- No forgetting: No need to switch cartridges, so less chance of forgetting to switch or losing it (never happened with my other cartridges, but still)
- Streetpass: You can Streetpass someone for multiple games. Currently I also have Bravely Default as a cartridge in my 3DS, and when I streetpassed people on a Sunday, I got hits for both games (which in Bravely Default is good to build your town and with ACNL I get HHA showcases.)

Cons:
- Streetpass: What I mentioned in the pros can also be a disadvantage. If you want to keep your 10th space open for a dreamy, you need to shut down Streetpass in ACNL itself before your go out with wireless on if you want to try streetpass for your other games.
- No selling: If you get tired of ACNL and want to sell it, it's easy to sell a cartridge. Tbh I don't know if it's even possible to sell a digital copy...

Eeeeh, cannot really think of other things... I'm happy with my digital copy, especially for the Streetpass feature and the fact that I will always have my ACNL with me during traveling. But I do know, and I somehow feel the same, that it is also very nice to have a physical copy. Just the satisfaction of entering your cartridge into the slot to play... I do feel that with my other 3DS games, already anticipating playing the game just by putting the game into the 3DS...

Hope this helps you in your decision =) It's entirely my own opinion.

 

[Carole]

Be sure to check the prices, too, before you decide. When I got my second copy, a new cartridge copy was $5 cheaper than the digital download. To me, that was the deciding factor.

 

[libby2999]

I prefer physical. My friends have Pokemon x/y as digital and theirs got corrupted at least twice and lost tons of good Pokemon. I'm sitting here like, I got mine all safe. But it is easier to loose a tiny tiny square.

 

[Reindeer]

- Streetpass: You can Streetpass someone for multiple games. Currently I also have Bravely Default as a cartridge in my 3DS, and when I streetpassed people on a Sunday, I got hits for both games (which in Bravely Default is good to build your town and with ACNL I get HHA showcases.)

Just a heads up: the 3DS saves StreetPass data for up to 12 titles. It doesn't matter if it's currently in the system or not, it'll collect SP data regardless.

ACNL is cheaper as a cartridge here, but I think that the digital copy would have faster loading. I prefer digital downloads, now that I slammed a 32GB SD into my 3DS, but I bought two cartridge games instead (one for each system). I rarely take ACNL out of my main 3DS, and never take it out of my secondary, since I only use that one for cycling.