Where does Animal Crossing New Leaf save?

[Paws]

I bought myself and my wife a couple of 3DS XLs and a copy of New leaf each, this is my first Nintendo system since the old Black and white game boy and Pokemon Blue/Yellow so i assumed they made some changes from their old cartirged (they saved on itself), i realized on my screen at night when i am near a light source (or fireworks flashing) i have a bit of a bright spot like there is pressure or tension on the screen, i just bought the unit yesterday so i'm going to drive back out to Gamestop to get it replaced, however i wanted to back my game up, to be sure i had to correct idea about where it saved i pulled out the SD card and loaded up the game, my file save is not on the SD card, so is it on the 3DS XL system or does it save on the game cartridge?

Thanks in advanced.

 

[BellGreen]

It is saved in the game cartridge. If you have a digital copy, it is saved on the SD card.

 

[Paws]

It is saved in the game cartridge. If you have a digital copy, it is saved on the SD card.

Ok, Much appreciated. I just didn't want to loose the progress i made so far, i will just pull out the cartridge and reset the system to factory before i return it (Mine is a physical copy)

 

[SpellCheckJoe]

Ok, Much appreciated. I just didn't want to loose the progress i made so far, i will just pull out the cartridge and reset the system to factory before i return it (Mine is a physical copy)

That's exactly what I'd do.