Topic: DSiWare Save Data Cannot Be Transferred to 3DS, All Data Erased

Couldn't find any topic about this, a post on the front page, or any mention of it anywhere, so I thought I'd post it here. It's fairly big for some people since the update is coming in a few hours and it would be a shame if people didn't know what they're getting into before updating.

From Andrisang

Your DSi Ware save data and DSi Points cannot be transferred over. Save data will be deleted from the original DSi/XL system along with the DSi Ware game.

Official Source

You can individually select the ones you want to transfer or transfer them all at once. Either way, save data is lost if you transfer, though.

Games that aren't transferred are safe.

Eh, knowing how DSiWare data works, i think we all knew it was gonna be like this.
_{what if i have a copy of the game on a SD card?}

It's good of you to bring this up, as I'd bet that most users haven't even considered losing their save data.

I'm keeping my DSi anyhow, so I'll only transfer over a few items... mostly ones where (1) the save data doesn't matter, and (2) the badly-scaled graphics won't bother me. It should be only a handful, in the end.

Heh, the only save files i'll miss are the ones for 101 sharks and Plants Vs Zombies, the others i can let go without problem.

So it looks like I'll be keeping my DSi, at least until I finish Puzzle Quest and can give up losing my save files on certain games. Of course, for the ones that really matter (Aura-Aura Climber comes to mind), I'll wait for someone else to take the risk for me.

so there's no way in hell i'll be transferring over my copy of Boxlife, then. hmm... :/

Guess I won't be transferring Photo Dojo then. It was hell getting everyone into position and to get someone to help me do mine. I am NOT doing that again, not to mention the people I added were my family which are overseas.

i wonder... if you keep a copy of the game on your SD card and then transfer the game to the 3DS, will you be able to open the SD copy with your 3DS? (keeping your save file)

That really kind of sucks.....I have over 100 DSiWare titles and some of which (PiCTOBiTS, BOXLIFE, Mario vs Donkey Kong, Shantae, etc) would really hurt to lose the save file for. I'm still transferring all my stuff regardless of this major problem but I really REALLY hope Nintendo gets this kind of thing sorted out for the hopeful transfer of VC/WiiWare to the next console. DSiWare is one thing but it would REALLY suck to lose all VC/WiiWare save data!

I doubt it but maybe! That would be awesome if that was possible. I already transfered all DSiWare to SD card a month ago so I'm ready if we are able to do that

That sucks, I hope nintendo get this sorted with the wiivc and wiiware for the wii successor. Looks like I'll be keeping my dsi then. I'll transfer dr. Mario, Primrose and the Animal crossing and Mario clocks and calculators but I'll keep the rest so that I don't lose my save data.

Don't quote me on this, but I'm pretty sure that once you've transferred your games over, all evidence that you ever purchased them is gone (unless you linked to Club Nintendo). You'd have to re-purchase the game, meaning your system wouldn't recognize the save, etc.

We'll see soon, though.

@bboy
It's actually fairly likely that Nintendo will get it right with the Virtual Console and WiiWare saves. While the save system for DSi was flawed from the get-go (the ROM was linked to the save), VC and WW have their own separate save files and you can actually back them up.

i mean, on the 3DS, not the DSi.

Transffer them to the 3DS, and try to open your previously-copied-to-a-SD-card old file with your 3DS.

Ah. That seems very unlikely, but not...entirely implausible. I'll try that out when the update is here.

By the way guys, if you have multiple DSis, such as an XL and a regular, apparently you can transfer games from them both.

there might be another update that copies the files, not saves them! So now, when I get my 3ds, I will not sell my DSi or DSiXL... i wanted mah money back

Speaking of which, can anyone tell me the exact time of the update if it is known? I've read 6:00pm in the Western US time zone but I'm not sure.

It's at 6:00pm pacific time, but you can use a converter to see what it would be in your time zone. It's 9:00pm for me in Canada, but it could be the same for you depending on where you live in the states.

EDIT: Assuming I did the conversion right, and that Nintendo definitely releases the update at 6pm pacific, your time is Tuesday, June 7, 2011 at 01:00:00am, TeeJay.

All right, that's a bit of a dissapointment, but thanks.

I see. Then its the same for me. 9:00 seems really far away. This day is gonna drag on forever......