Think I Need A New Copy

[MagicalCat590]

I've had my copy of ACNL for almost a year and I play it more than any other game I own. A while back, I noticed that the imagery in the game was starting to look more and more pixelated. I stopped playing the game for a while because I was afraid of it getting worse, but then I started playing again because it wasn't happening with any of my other games. Lately, though, it's been getting more and more noticeable, and twice I've seen long rows of black squares flash across my upper screen. I did some research online and apparently there are two causes to this: the in-game camera movement on the 3DS in ACNL or my game is glitched.
I don't really know what to do. I mean, if I went out and bought a new copy, wouldn't the same thing happen all over again? Or maybe I should just stop playing it? Idk.
What would you guys do?

 

[Xanarcah]

Do you know anyone else with a copy of ACNL who would let you borrow their cartridge to test whether it's the game in general or your specific cartridge?

 

[MagicalCat590]

Do you know anyone else with a copy of ACNL who would let you borrow their cartridge to test whether it's the game in general or your specific cartridge?

My husband has a catridge copy, and he would let me borrow it. I haven't told him about the issue with the game yet, though. I'll have to talk to him about it.

 

[Xanarcah]

My husband has a catridge copy, and he would let me borrow it. I haven't told him about the issue with the game yet, though. I'll have to talk to him about it.

I think that might be the best course of action at the moment. Because it will help narrow down the cause of the problem.

Good luck.

 

[MagicalCat590]

Thanks.

 

[Wholockian]

That sounds really weird...

 

[MagicalCat590]

Not really. I used to play a lot of PC games and what I described is exactly what would happen when my graphics card on my PC started to go. I assumed this was a similar problem, but since it's a different system, I wanted to do some research and get some advice on what to do.

 

[ginx1028]

Like others suggested, you need to try use your husband's game to see if same issues exists, and try your game on his system to see what happen. But I'm betting it's your 3ds's fault, you could report to nintendo customer service if all fails.

 

[MagicalCat590]

Hey, guys, sorry it took me so long to update. Just been busy with life.
Anyway, I played my husband's copy yesterday and noticed some pixelation in his game as well when I made a new character. But in his game, it was only noticeable on the train where I met Rover. This morning my husband tried out my game, he said noticed the pixelation in my game, but didn't think it was anything to worry about since ACNL didn't seem to put a huge amount of stock in graphics to begin with. Another friend of mine said that I'd worn out the game data and would probably want to look into buying a new copy. I also tried playing my copy on my husband's 3DS, but there was no change in appearance, although the black squares/dead pixels/whatever have yet to rear their heads again.
I don't really know what to do, so at the moment, I'm just not playing because I'm afraid of making it worse.

 

[Chibi.Hoshi]

Question? Are you able to take snapshots of the errors/glitches? You can take bottom screen snapshots using miiverse and upload them to a suitable site then delete them off miiverse.

 

[MagicalCat590]

I'd be able to if I were fast enough. Whenever the black squares appear, it's always on the upper screen and only lasts a few seconds. There are other minor glitches I can shots of like when my avatar's feet go through the ground on the island, but I'm not worried much about that one since it seems like it happens to a lot of people. I just don't think I'm fast enough to get shots of the blacked out pixels, though.

 

[MagicalCat590]

So my husband decided to try out my game again to just check on my town for me and stuff. He was only playing about twenty minutes when he went into Erik's house and saw a line of dead pixels. He told me about it and I told him to leave because maybe it was that house or something. It had happened once there before. So he did and he said he saw another line of dead pixels as soon as he got outside. That's twice in a twenty minute gaming session.
Right now, I'm convinced that the game is just worn out and may need replacing, but I'm not 100% sure I want to replace it since it's less than year old. I mean, what's to say this same thing won't happen with a new copy of the game three months from now? That's $30 down the drain. That's money we could use to pay our bills with.
I don't know what to do. I posted on FB, asking for opinions since I have friends there that play ACNL, but right now I'm just upset that my particular copy of ACNL seems to have been so poorly made, it didn't even last year. I seriously do not know what to do right now.

 

[Blaziken257]

I've never seen random black squares on my screen, but on rare occasions, I do see an odd blue or black line on the screen, and this depends on where I happen to be standing. Once I move, though, it disappears. It's probably a flaw in the way the game renders graphics. And again, it's rare for me to see this, and I don't even remember the last time that this has happened to me.

 

[MagicalCat590]

I've never seen random black squares on my screen, but on rare occasions, I do see an odd blue or black line on the screen, and this depends on where I happen to be standing. Once I move, though, it disappears. It's probably a flaw in the way the game renders graphics. And again, it's rare for me to see this, and I don't even remember the last time that this has happened to me.

Then I feel for you because according to what on a friend just told me that means the pixels are failing and the screen needs to be repaired/replaced for $90. I'm seriously about to just pawn my 3DS -_-

 

[LilyinAfayria]

Oh no ... why does it happen though?

 

[MagicalCat590]

From what I read on Nintendo's website, pixel failure is caused when the screen is scratched or damaged, most likely from being dropped or stepped on, etc.

 

[Reindeer]

I've never seen random black squares on my screen, but on rare occasions, I do see an odd blue or black line on the screen, and this depends on where I happen to be standing. Once I move, though, it disappears. It's probably a flaw in the way the game renders graphics. And again, it's rare for me to see this, and I don't even remember the last time that this has happened to me.

That's the game's rendering. Everybody has that problem.

@ElizaCat90: You might have a faulty copy, or it's something wrong in both the copy and the 3DS you're using. The pixelation and dead pixels happens on multiple systems, right?

 

[MagicalCat590]

@ElizaCat90: You might have a faulty copy, or it's something wrong in both the copy and the 3DS you're using. The pixelation and dead pixels happens on multiple systems, right?

I've seen minor pixelation on my husband's game, but it was only in the very beginning of the game (meeting Rover) and haven't seen the dead pixels on his 3DS yet. I'll probably play for a bit when I've calmed down just for a second check.

 

[Reindeer]

If you use your game on his 3DS and the dead pixels do not appear it's definitely your 3DS. In that case it's not too big of a problem, just send it in to get repaired.

If it's the actual game that does it, though, I don't think Nintendo will be able to replace it without having your entire town erased as well...

 

[MagicalCat590]

If you use your game on his 3DS and the dead pixels do not appear it's definitely your 3DS. In that case it's not too big of a problem, just send it in to get repaired.

If it's the actual game that does it, though, I don't think Nintendo will be able to replace it without having your entire town erased as well...

Actually, it kind of would be problem because I don't have $90 to drop monitor repairs for my 3DS. Not to mention what it would cost to ship it all the way to Nintendo. If it needs to be repaired, then I'll probably just give the thing to my husband's five-year-old sister and play on his 3DS while he's at work. Her parents can repair the thing.
Sorry if I come off as rude, but I'm pretty upset about this whole situation.