Nintendo might be considered to be a video game pioneer in so many ways, but that does not mean that they are always in the forefront of innovation. No sir, having endured their most horrendous financial quarter in eons, here we have word that Nintendo has finally seen the light of offering downloadable versions of games for the 3DS as well as upcoming Wii U (which has been confirmed not to be priced at the upcoming E3 event). This would mean Nintendo is playing catch up to its competition, but this move is hardly a surprising one considering how the success of digital distribution in the form of downloads have proved to be successful for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
Nintendo’s online eShop will carry the downloadable content from Nintendo, and the New Super Mario Bros. 2 title will be the first game for the 3DS that will come in both a physical card as well as a downloadable file when August rolls around. No idea on whether this would also appeal to third-party retail titles, but time will tell eventually.
There is a caveat when it comes to downloaded games though – you cannot swap it among machines as a standard game cart can. Iwata did specify that downloaded titles will remain tied to the specific 3DS system which they were first downloaded to.
Filed in . Read more about 3DS (Nintendo), Nintendo and Wii U.