Why I’m Always Sad About Buying Second-Hand 3DS Games Like Pokémon Sun

I’ve recently started to enjoy older console generations, turning to games I sadly missed out on the first time around, like Animal Crossing: New Leaf and Pokémon Sun. For the most part, it’s been a fun foray into games that surprisingly hold up and, in many cases, offer far better experiences than their more modern counterparts. The Nintendo 3DS especially has been host to some of my favorite gaming experiences this year, but also, bizarrely, some of my saddest.

I was naturally disappointed to discover that a lot of 3DS games are now incomplete thanks to the closure of the eShop, but for the most part, have been successful in finding new experiences to enjoy. These have been rewarding and enjoyable adventures that I have far too much to say about to a group of friends who enjoyed all of these games years ago. They just nod their heads while I talk. It’s fun. However, one aspect of my journey they’re all able to relate to is not a particularly fun one, and that’s, strangely, deleting save data.

Physical 3DS Games Keep The Previous Saves

Your Progress Is Saved Forever

Something that not a lot of people may know, especially if they’ve either never played a game on the 3DS or bought one second-hand, is that the save data is stored on the cartridge itself, and not the console. This isn’t particularly new for old console generations, at least handhelds, but newer consoles, including the Switch, all save locally to the console itself. I, unfortunately, learned this hard way, after purchasing the majority of my 3DS games second-hand.

I’m a late adopter of the 3DS, and as such, beyond my dwindling DS library, I didn’t have much for the console itself. Of course, now that Nintendo has ruined childhoods and prevented players from experiencing the entire package when it comes to certain games by shutting down the eShop, I couldn’t buy anything digitally. So, with just one quick trip to my local store, I found myself with all the essentials: Fire Emblem: Awakening, Pokémon Sun, Mario Kart 7, Animal Crossing: New Leaf; you name it, I probably bought it.

However, as I’ve alluded to, I suddenly found myself confronted with a surprising and rather upsetting problem. All of these cartridges I’d adopted from my local store had history. Every single one of them came with save data still locked within, some with completed campaigns, others with stories left unfinished. I had paid money and I wanted to enjoy these games for myself. However, here I was with the responsibility of essentially taping over someone else’s experience, and starting anew.

I Hate Deleting Other People’s 3DS Saves

To Start Again, Their Progress Must Be Wiped

One of the games I was the most excited to try out on the 3DS was Pokémon Sun. I was excited to decide which starter Pokémon was the best for me, to embark on a brand-new Pokémon journey I had inexplicably missed, and to see a whole new region. However, when I booted Pokémon Sun up for the first time, I met Hayden. He had existed for 75 hours, met over 100 Pokémon, ventured across the entire Alola region, and met so many people. He had lived a life within Pokémon Sun, made memories, and forged bonds.

I’m being a little dramatic, of course, but in many ways, that’s how it feels to play a game like Pokémon. I remember my first adventure with Fire Red and how deeply upset I was when a family friend deleted my save to start their own. I remember all the Pokémon teams I’ve had over the years and the many journeys I’ve embarked upon in Ruby, Pearl, and Black. Those are core memories for me, as I’m sure they are for so many others. That’s why deleting Hayden’s data hurt so much.

Of course, eventually, I would have to. I couldn’t have this completed Pokémon save sitting on the cartridge forever, never to be deleted. Pokémon Sun is meant to be one of the best Pokémon games, so I really wanted to try it. Players can also only have one save on most 3DS games, so it’s impossible to save these memories forever. I did delete Hayden, watching as he disappeared into the ether forever, locked only in his creator’s mind as fond, distant memories, and now, I suppose, this article. I’m sorry, Hayden.

Every 3DS Cartridge Is Filled With Memories

It’s Unlike Any Other Second-Hand Product

The thing is, it wasn’t just with Pokémon Sun that this happened. My Mario Kart 7 cartridge, for example, had a number of Cups already completed, with others left untouched. Bizarrely, there’s really no other form of second-hand media that has this effect. Of course, everything has memories associated with it, every scratch and smudge on a disc telling its own story. However, outside old video game cartridges and memory cards, nothing literally contains the previous owner’s history within it.

The closest to having this surreal and sad aspect of second-hand physical media are books, as the original owner can annotate them or write their name at the start. Even then, it isn’t quite the same. Now, my 3DS library is full of my saves, with all the original ones, or at least the ones of those who owned these cartridges before me, gone. Some day, I’m likely to pass them on again, only this time I’ll be sure to delete my saves before selling them on, sparing the next owner the hassle and potential heartbreak of deleting them.

Related

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This may not be the most pressing of issues for most players, especially as few people own a 3DS anymore, despite the console having some of the best games ever made. However, it is one that caught me off guard and made me reflect on not only the untold beauty of second-hand physical media, but also the fact that so many people share these wonderful experiences together, have their own memories from them, and, in some cases like with my Pokémon Sun copy, have them permanently ingrained into the media that brought them so much joy.

Source: Nintendo UK/YouTube

Pokémon Sun

Released

November 18, 2016

Developer(s)

Game Freak

Publisher(s)

Nintendo

Multiplayer

Local Multiplayer

Engine

Proprietary Engine

ESRB

E for Everyone

Metascore

87

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