Want to save some money by buying a previously owned Wii U? Well saving money on the machine isn't the only place you'll save! According to NeoGAF user DSN2K, any games that the previous owner bought and downloaded are available to be downloaded again free of charge, even after wiping the memory and user account before the user returns the console to the store; it would seem that downloadable games are tied to the system, rather than accounts.

Nintendo, get your online shit together! Japan is affectionately called the country of the future for a reason, full of super smart people that make some crazy technology, and you let this slip your mind? Between the accounts being tied to the system, the ridiculous 100 friends limit just because it seems that's what Microsoft did, save profiles not being tied to accounts, and now this, it's clear that Nintendo still does not get online gaming, and still has quite a ways to go.

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This hardly seems to be a problem. If you're getting rid of the system, you don't want the games. The new owner benefits. Good for them.

@Koovaps

Might not be a problem for the one buying it but I seriously doubt this is what Nintendo intended. This is new users getting free games. Nintendo doesn't even allow games to be redownloaded on the same account.

@Koovaps @VofEscaflowne Yeah but now that I think about it, it's not that much different than selling a used console and leaving the games on it. Which is what I'd do if I sold a used console anyway (I mean, unless there is a way to transfer the games to a new console I have... but that's not what we're talking about here, is it?)

Brick said:

Japan is affectionately called the country of the future for a reason, full of super smart people that make some crazy technology, and you let this slip your mind?

Pffft. Being from Silicon Valley, quotes like this always make me laugh! Japan is good at making WEIRD shit, but rarely crazy innovative or world-changing stuff that you could classify as the future! (Aside from Nintendo with gaming-related stuff. And the internet is a series of pipes to them!)

That aside, this sounds like the best oversight ever! Why would you want Nintendo to get their shit together about THIS?

It's almost as if the world of digital gaming isn't the utopia people said it would be... why... it's almost as if there are advantages to owning physical copies of software alongside separate physical hardware.

*looks at bed-side table*

Don't worry, 3DS Game Card Case 18, you and me are gonna have years of convenient portable gaming together

@NinSage Indeed. Nothing more terrifying than possibly having a few free games. WHAT A FUCKING NIGHTMARE!

@Xbob42

.............. well yea obviously it's good for the second person. I was thinking mostly about the guy who bought those games in the first place.

@NinSage Ahh, you're referring to Nintendo not knowing what the purpose of an "account" is. That has nothing to do with digital distribution, and everything to do with Nintendo's online branch of their company ran by mouth-breathing idiots. Why the fuck do you even MAKE a Nintendo account? You can't even take your Mii to other Wii U consoles! It's the most ass-backwards system ever conceived. The vacuum of talent it must have taken to make something so absurdly ludicrous is staggering to consider.

And these people get paid good money as "professionals!"

EDIT: And how dare you go about scapegoating "digital distribution" after you just lectured me about "not supporting shady business" when this is just about as shady as it gets! What the hell, dude!

@NinSage But... is the original owner really at a loss here? Like I said, if I were selling a Wii U and not transferring the games, I'd just leave them on there. Why delete them all?! That's throwing away good games that the new user might like.

@Xbob42
Xbob, stop seeking conflict.

I expected Nintendo to make a few blunders with an Account based system but not like this. Fix this pronto Ninty or that eShop will be lonelier than a Dreamcast at Christmas.

@Pokefreak911 Ignorance and idiocy must be beaten away like a hungry hobo. It cannot be allowed to fester lest you wish to amputate your own brain.

@Xbob42
Then head over to MS HQ. That place should feed you for a lifetime.

I'm not entirely certain that Nintendo couldn't correct this oversight with a firmware update. Kind of hilarious if they couldn't, though.

This has been the case for a while, actually. The same thing happens with the 3DS. Any and all games that were downloaded on a 3DS can be re-downloaded again for free. Even if the memory has been "wiped."

My buddy got an Ocarina of Time LE 3DS, and was able to transfer an Ambassador 3DS he got from the local Gamestop (pre-played) and was able to not only get all the Ambassador games, but also Mario vs Donkey Kong: Minis March Again! and 3D Classics: Excitebike. All of which were previously downloaded by the original owner.

Wait, does that mean that if I did the transfer to the 3DS XL and gave away the 3DS to my girlfriend, she can download everything I had bought at that point!?

I wouldn't really call that a massive oversight. In fact, the silver lining is they might see that it's not the end of the world when people exploit loopholes like this and start letting people transfer games easily from one system to another with their account.

@Guillaume

I think so. After we did the transfer from the Ambassador 3DS to my buddy's Zelda 3DS, I went back to the eShop on the "pre-played" system, and saw that the Ambassador titles were still available for download.

Seemed as though once a 3DS is an Ambassador system, it is ALWAYS an Ambassador system. (!)

This is nothing new, this is how the Wii, the DSi, and the 3DS are. Nintendo consoles own games, not their users, it's the same ass-backwards set up they've always had. Wiping the consoles memory doesn't do anything to erase your download history, the only thing that can do that is a system transfer ala 3DS to 3DSXL, or Wii to Wii U.

@NinSage
Digital distribution works fine as long as the person who pays for the game owns it and not the machine it was downloaded to. Sony, MS, Valve, Apple, Google, practically everyone but Nintendo has a good account system in place that allows consumers reasonable control over the content they paid for.

@GameDadGrant
That's not the way it works, I can't access the ambassador games (or any eShop stuff) on my old 3DS, only my 3DSXL. Once your perform a system-transfer (with the little Pikmins, love those guys) your licenses are now on the new system and deleted from the old.

EDIT: just to make doubly-triply sure I'm not talking out my butt I just fired up my old 3DS and the download history in the store says: 0 downloads

@Zero
I've sold lots of consoles without wanting to sell all my games, like my old DSi. I transferred the games to my DSiXL and then sold the system blank. Selling a console doesn't always mean you're done with it, you might just be upgrading to a newer model.

@NinSage What would the person care if they're getting rid of their Wii U anyway? If they were just upgrading to another system, they'd do a system transfer.

Also, it doesn't look like I can download old games I purchased on my old 3DS. I went to check out DK94 and it just said I didn't have the funds to get it. I didn't see anywhere in the settings that I purchased anything else.

If you don't actually delete the shop account from the eShop itself, then the games are still there. The previous owner probably didn't do that, we'd need some proof that they did. Has there been anything else on this subject?