The only DS cartridge that stopped working for me was my Pokemon diamond cart after nearly 4 years of playtime. The little ridges in the back seems to have broken off and that probably caused the DS to not recognize it anymore. Luckily, my ORAS game is digital. So, I don't have to worry about the cart not working.
My pearl stopped working a few years back but it was after my brother used a bunch of action replay codes on the game and seemed to corrupt the whole cart
This actually already happened once before. Part of the reason for the increase in the cost of Persona Q (mentioned in the video even) is the large failure rate of those carts, especially NTSC copies. The reports I’m hearing from people about ORAS sound EXACTLY like what I experienced with Persona Q.
Indeed both games got similar release time. The main difference between them is that PQ had a lower run print so there are less copies around and more likely to run on them. Also atlus said more likely most of the ntsc 1st runs have or will have that problem. ORAS got some patches so maybe thats another reasson why repports of deffective copies are lower.
Wether it was a bad batch or not, no one is going to fix my copy or give me a replacement without paying. I never even got to experience the delta episode
@@thenintendogamer1542 I don't think that law applies to every country, for example in the UK, "If the cartridge or the console is broken (ie, you can't play it at all), then it is illegal", "Emulators are legal; even though, they are almost always used to facilitate illegal ROM game playing. Now, ROMs are almost always illegal: only in the most rarest of cases are they not.".
@@flappetyflippers Interesting, I believe there’s a pretty important difference in the US. You’re allowed to back up your copies of media, and one of the primary purposes of doing so is in case the original stops working. As long as you don’t sell/get rid of the original then you’re fine using the backup you made.
@@pearspeedruns In Germany you are allowed to make a backup of a game yourself and do anything you want with it aslong it's a backup of your own physical media and you keep it. You aren't allowed to download them, because that's not clarified as a selfmade backup and it doesn't matter if you own the game or not, it's still piracy and illegal. Emulators are legal.
@@flappetyflippers yep I think for it to be legal you have to run backups of your own physical media! Which means dumping all of your own games and console bios... Not an easy task.
I live in the PAL region and even though my Omega Ruby is still working fine, I’m legitimately terrified because I still have my 2017 legends on that cartridge! I’m not gonna take any chances and am gonna renew my Pokemon bank subscription and transfer them.
My Omega Ruby actually died when I tested out 2 years ago. It was weird because I take care of my games and was also weird because my Pokemon Y works. My Omega Ruby always ends up freezing and crashing.
I got mine on all most on realease day and its stoped working somewhere down the road WHEN I NEVER TOUCHED IT and i wanted to replay it recently and broken and my X and Y works perfectly so i think a 3ds software update maybe just made it unable it launch the game correctly.
Transfer your save with CFW fast. My cartridge completely died (doesnt work anymore and doesnt even show up in the menu) and i have my save bc i have transfered my save to another cartridge.
I didnt even know cartridges 'die' or stop working over time. All my ds and 3ds cartridges work perfectly fine. I even accidentally put it into the wash and done other things that probably arent adviced, yet they still work 10+ years later. It's a bit disappointing that cartridges deteriorate I always preferred cartridges as the last longer than discs
@@Pacmanfan-po9rn Especially given that the 3DS was taken out of production in September, and how freaking easy it is. I literally just backed up my entire 3DS library to my microSD card along with their save data. Literally no reason not to at this point. For anyone interested, look up Modern Retro Gamer. He's a great source for console hacking/jailbreaking
@@maximumbeans9310 already is for me Was able to copy all physical 3ds games onto a 64 gb card and it's been fun and convenient having everything on the system
Well, last weekend I decided to buy Alpha Sapphire to remind me a little bit of my childhood. Bought one, kept on having "An error has occurred" black screen. Returned it, got money back, bought another one copy online from a different retailer. Well, I'm having this error again. It seems to be much bigger issue or at least I'm not the luckiest person
I had this issue with my own apha sapphire cartridge (well it belonged to my brother but he stopped playing it so I claimed it), it can only be fixed with a modded 3ds cartridge refresh and there is no guarantee it will work, but I saved mine like that.
Literally happened to me last week. I tried to load up alpha sapphire and nothing I did revived it. My wife has omega ruby and hers is still working. You can still transfer pokemon to pokemon bank even if it's not loading though.
I think it might affect some batches of the US release as well. My North American launch copy of Omega Ruby stopped working about 3 years ago. It still reads in Pokemon bank and allowed me to transfer my PC boxes to sun and moon though. My copy of alpha sapphire that I got around 2 years after launch still works and I've never had another 3ds game die on me besides OR.
Cartridges will never face an issue like disc rot, don't get confused. As long as they're kept in good condition, they will last for many, many lifetimes, enough to have been re-released multiple times. this ORAS issue also seems to be related to firmware.
This makes me feel better my physical copies of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are stored in their original cases and kept on a shelf I always look after my games and keep them in the cases they came in.
@@lordhighyoshi7292 I wish this was the case, but I’m pretty sure it saves to the cartridge because I lent my friend Ocarina of Time and when I got the cartridge back it had his save on it
I googled that topic not too long ago. People online said that the highest chances of DS/3DS cartridges dying is, when there has not been saved something onto them for a long time.
It's not specific to PAL. I'm US and have a similar issue. (Launch copy, happened last year sometime) Alpha Sapphire, the card doesn't load on the 3DS menu. I have three 3DSs and it won't load on any of them. However, I was able to dump all the Pokemon from the game to Bank, which oddly still recognizes the game even though I can't play it. (RIP party Pokemon though, obviously). Tried cleaning it and it didn't help. Omega Ruby still works OK, despite it being my primary version.
I also have a (Canadian, so NTSC) copy of Alpha Sapphire that stopped working... a couple years ago now? Either launch or very close to it. Mine isn't recognized by Bank, though, which means I've lost a bunch of super rare Pokemon that I couldn't get off it. (rip legit shiny rayquaza.) My card, though, didn't die all at once - my 3DS started struggling to recognize it a couple months before it went kaput, so I'd have to reinsert it a couple times before it would read properly. I'd advise anyone having trouble getting their card to read to get anything they want to save off it asap, just in case that's a sign that it's dying. (Maybe especially if they're early Alpha Sapphire cards...)
same. is there anything we can do to get a fresh copy? this is obviously a manufacturing issue and its not fair to us, the consumers, that nintendo is ignoring this.
Earlier today, my French Omega Ruby cartridge would not get passed the file select screen before soft locking the system, but then I tried it an hour ago and it worked fine... I transferred everything that remained on it, but that did still reminded me that every piece of media I own that isn't paper is going to disappear one day.
Thanks for the heads up. Imo the title would be better if it said Carts or Cartridges instead of cards because I initially thought this was about the TCG and almost didn’t watch. Going to -backup- check my save now.
Decided to check my copy of Omega Ruby, and everything seems to be okay. However, this is quite concerning for the future of some of these cartridges for both DS and 3DS.
I bought Alpha Sapphire at launch, but this year bought a used copy of Omega Ruby off Ebay and it would crash when you made a new game. I'm in the USA so this seems to be a global issue and not just PAL.
i would suggest homebrewing your 3ds and using a program called checkpoint, it'll let you backup your saves if you're really scared of your games dying
After a mini heart attack as it took 3 times for the 3ds to read it, I can confirm Brendan and my team are fine! Though this does make me worried about picking up another copy 2nd hand
My NTSC (North American) copy of Smash 3DS stopped working. I called Nintendo Support and they sent me a download code for the digital version. Sucks that I lost it all but unlocking everything gave me a reason to go back
My Omega Ruby cardridge stopped working a few months ago. Not sure if it's of special interest, but it's from the German steelbook version from launch. The 3DS detects what game it is on the home screen, but whenever I try to open the game it just shows the error message "This Game Card cannot be used". I've tried cleaning the contacts with alochol, didn't work. I also tried it on different systems (OG 3DS, N3DSXL, N2DSXL), didn't work. What apparently could work is transferring the save file to the internal storage. Didn't do it yet but as far as I could check without actually transferring the file it seemed to work. Didn't check Pokemon Bank yet though. I'm gonna try and contact the Nintendo support, maybe I'm lucky and they'll send over a digital copy or something. If you need it (for an article or anything) I could provide a screenshot / video (capture card goes brrr). Really sucks to have that issue since it was a 100% file that I put A LOT of hours into, lol.
I have to believe that we will eventually be able to make legal backups of these games at some point in time like we can do with nes, snes, n64, gb, and gba currently. Everdrives have been the safest way to preserve your library in my opinion.
When I was little (around 2 years old), I fed a PB&J sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk to my NES because I thought it might be hungry from working all day.
While all game storage media is inevitably transient (bound to eventually die), that doesn't mean game companies shouldn't try to make their storage media last. The Mask ROMs of cartridges from the NES era to N64, and GB to GBA, all are rated to last longer than Flash ROMs (used from DS onwards, though Switch seems to use a new technology rated to last longer). Enjoy them while they work, but at the same time, back them up and preserve them. There are ways to do it depending on the console. This is why preservation efforts are important. Physical games and digital games have their own pros and cons, but make no mistake that physical media cannot be made inaccessible at a company's whim by them taking down their online storefront. It's still yours to own. For those with digital copies of 3DS games, I'd recommend making a copy of all the contents of your SD card and storing that on your computer in case the SD card corrupts. You can do the same with your digital Switch games, but you have to insert the empty new SD card into the switch first so it can format it, then remove it and paste in the other SD card's contents. Oh, and cartridges can get their contacts dirty or corroded. It's best to clean them with things such as isopropyl alcohol before declaring your game dead. Sometimes it really is just bad electrical contacts. It can even be the console's own cartridge slot at fault rather than your game cartridge.
My US copy of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS stopped working. I hadn't played it in a while and I keep it in pristine condition. Went to boot it up one day and it wouldn't start.
My oras stopped working 2 years ago, not a pal copy either... seemed like I wasn't the only one at the time, and it's happening to more and more people now
I've had to replace a few OG gameboy games' batteries like Pokémon GSC and Donkey Kong '94 because of batteries dying. Silver was the most heartbreaking tbh because the batteries in those generation's cartridges burn out much quicker because of having to account for the real-time clock in the game that has to keep going even when the game is off.
This video was too long. Halfway through it, I got hungry so I left it playing and went to the kitchen to fix myself a sandwich. But then I found out that I'm out of mayonnaise so I went to a store. There, I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my whole life. But I'm a really shy person so I took up a three-year personality development course so I could introduce myself. She was very friendly and all, but unfortunately, she had a boyfriend. So I said, all good, I'm a mature person. I wanted the best for her and I harbored no illusion that I am the best person for her and she seemed happy with her boyfriend, so I didn't bother her anymore. But we kept in touch and we became friends and I got over my crush on her. Then she broke up with her boyfriend, we drank some alcohol because of it. I told her she'll be fine and I wished her well. I still think she's the most beautiful woman in the world, but like I said, I am over my crush on her. It was like five years already since I first saw her. Besides, I am quite happy with the friendship I developed with her. It was more important than a crush. So we kept hanging out, drinking, having coffee, and all. I had a girlfriend, she started dating other guys. My girlfriend wanted to live some other life without me in it, so I said, "Okay, I want the best for you and I want you to pursue your happiness." My lady friend and I drank alcohol about it, and she gave me the same advice I gave her when she was in that position and I became okay with the breakup immediately. But we were really drunk, so she spent the night in my apartment. I only have one bed, so you know what that means: She took the bed and I slept on the couch. But on the couch, I really can't sleep. Something was bothering me. So I tossed and turned for about three hours, then I finally couldn''t take it anymore, I stood up and went straight to my room where she's sleeping. I approached the bed, gently sat on it and I reached for her shoulder to pull her closer to me. She stirred and woke up. She asked what's up. I told her, "you know, the first time I saw you, I was watching a video and left it playing to get myself a sandwich then went to the store to get some mayo then I got so distracted by life that I forgot to finish the video." She said, "You know what, I've been wondering about a weird noise in your night drawer." So we opened that drawer, and lo and behold, there's my phone and this video still has two minutes of play time on it.
Happened to me with Zelda a link between worlds a few years back! Very likely because of misuse however 😅 Hopefully I managed to get a replacement copy shortly after :)
Some of my cartridges got dirty on the pins so i took some paper folded it up and put isopropyl alcohol in the paper to clean them and all my cartridges work fine hopefully this helps people out if your games don't read on your 3ds.
This is very scary, especially for DS games that don't have any digital releases, like Drawn to Life 1 & 2, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Legendary Starfy. There might be a future where these games cant work anymore and the only way to play them is by getting roms for them.
Yeah, my Omega Ruby Card died this January... :( i was lucky and after 50 trys to start the game i managed to put all my pokemon to pokemon bank 😅 the blackscreen first came instantly but after a while i got further and further into the game until I finally could reach the pc and put all my team pokemon onto the pc, later bought it digitally again and played it 100% My Alpha Saphire is absolutely fine though Tip: Pokemon Bank can still access the pc and you can transfer the pokemon there. To save your Pokemon in your party try putting the card into the fridge for a while, it worked for me and i was able to barely transfer them to the pc and save the game 😅
I don't know if it's related, but my brother's Omega Ruby save file was corrupted for no apparent reason back when the game was still new. It sucks because he had many Pokémon from older gens transferred over. (This was a North American version btw)
One of my friends had a copy of animal crossing started degrading (started getting glitchy and broken) and eventually broke. Idk if this is related either
Im heartbroken. This happened to my game. its unplayable, and its upsetting, because I spent to much time with this game, poured days into it, and playing it got me through some shit. I just wish I could do something. No sense buying a new game, if its gonna break again.
This isn’t the only batch of 3DS carts that has an issue with being unreadable. Persona Q physical copies have been having issues for a while, and it’s a well known issue with the game. Happened to me with my launch copy of the game and looking into it, the issue seems to be more common than just a fringe case sadly.
It's sad to see Oras is dying out now. My copy is fine, but it's sad to see what once to be the newest Pokemon game that had many, upon many online, only have a few hundred people play the game online now in 2023. It's pretty sad to see with me playing it all the time back in 2015.
2:15 I don't think he caught that Alex caught his lack of specifying the DS, not 3DS. 3DS is 10 years old, DS is 16 years old. Edit: ORAS is 6 years old.
I bought a used copy of Tomodachi Life that my 3DS had difficulty reading. I cleaned the cartridge contacts with some isopropyl alcohol and it seemed to work just fine after that. I have since resold it, so I don't know what's become of it.
If anyone’s really worried about losing their ORAS save data-there is one solution. There’s a 3DS app that I believe is called “save data transfer tool” (I can check if you want). What it does is allow you to move a save file from a physical copy to a digital one. So you could buy the digital copy of ORAS, move the data from the physical to the digital copy, then sell the original if you want.
I live in the US, but I've had this happen to me before with a launch copy of Y about a year after it came out. I just remember playing it one day after completing the National dex for the first time and then it just crashed on me and it wouldn't go past a black screen after trying to reload it. Couldn't even try to start a new game either.
I wonder if something like this happened to my copy of Kirby Planet Robobot tbh. I got the game as a gift back in 2017, but didn't get a chance to play it for a while until late last year when I was finally gonna jump into it, but nope. The card couldn't be read. My 3DS could identify the game on the home menu tho but when i went to play it, I'd get an error message saying it couldn't read the card. Was always in its case and I cleaned it as well as I could but unfortunately no go.
Well, that problem is known for quite some time, my bro's copy died around 3 years ago And my worked fine, last time I checked it. Cleaning the contacts doesn't help
7:38 Actually, it was Final Fantasy 8 that had its PS1 source code lost, not 7. The game infamously wasn't ported to modern consoles for quite a while when the other PS1 and PS2 Final Fantasy games were coming to the Switch and Xbox One.
This happened to my game cartridge of Alpha Sapphire a month ago! I had an urge to replay Alpha Sapphire and my 3DS was not reading the cartridge. This is the first time this happened to me. Did I panic? Yes. Am I disappointed, most definitely.
I don't know if it means anything, but I've put a handful-thousand hours in one Animal Crossing: New Leaf cartridge, and it's yet to stutter on me. If there's correlation between cartridge quality, then it's probably just a bad batch.
My copy of X has been beat up and tis really hard to get it to start, launch editon brought with me everywhere 800+ hours and went thought the wash at least twice.
Download a custom firmware on your computer, move your save, use citra emulator ( or gamechek. It is a Korean and Japansese emulator bit works fine on non region locked games. )
My Alpha Sapphire just doesn't even boot up. It just says "This game card cannot be used". Yet, I can still play my dog bitten Pokémon Black 2 from YEARS AGO.
I had bought Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire alongside each other years back now I bought them around the Ultra Sun/Moon era. I never actually got around to them. They were still in their original packaging and all. Tried booting up Omega Ruby won’t load at all, but Alpha Saphire works fine. Naturally I can’t even return the game since I purchased it years ago. Very frustrating
So now I'm going to wait a few months before buying any new 3DS games, just in case. I wasn't really looking at any to buy anyway, but better to be safe than sorry.
I have had recently had an issue with my 3ds XL refusing to boot Pokemon alpha sapphire, I checked alpha sapphire with my normal 3ds, and it still worked, but then I checked Pokemon y, which was in my normal 3ds, in the 3ds XL, and it also worked,.. I don't keep all my games or systems updated, and I got curious, so I deleted the update folder for Pokemon alpha sapphire and now it works fine again.. If nothing else check to see if it isn't an update issue.. I hope this helps.. God Bless..
I've had two 3DS games work on one 3DS and not on two others. The first one (TMNT: Danger of the Ooze) had bad contacts, and I thought that was the issue. The second (Need for Speed The Run) looked fine. But two systems refused to read the cart. The third system read no problem. So, I have no clue what the issue there was.
Backups need to be legal to create, own, and use. Digital content is easily available and can easily be copied and preserved. Laws need to serve people, not the other way around. I hope as Right to Repair builds up, it leads to a similar outcome for preserving digital content.
I have this problem myself and bought my copy from a supermarket at launch. To find it didn't work anymore really sucked as it's one of the best 3ds games. It seems to be a problem with one of the updates so DO NOT update your game if it's working. Hope this helps.
Yeah, I was recently reminded that this was a thing. Due to the 3DS eshop closure, I wanted to load up all 3DS cartridges on my latest 2DSXL and made sure it had all updates... All of it without problem, until I ran into my copy of Omega Ruby... and it basically "noped" out. Video intro works, and then it just says no. :-(
Welp, I found out that my OR copy was dead when all I wanted to do was to check what Pokémon was missing. It sucks since I spent the longest time in that game! LUCKILY though, PokeBank can still transfer all the Pokémon from it, which is great since I have the biggest collection of Pokémon in that game alone!
I’ve experienced something close to this once. I bought a copy of mk 7 of eBay a year ago and when it arrived it didn’t work in my 3ds, like the 3ds would recognize the cart but crash when it tried to open. Turns out it was just really dirty and I used a alcohol wipe and wiped where the little pins are on the back of the cart and it worked fine. Idk if people’s carts are actually dying or are just really dirty.
Well it is possible they could be dying though I agree people should try and clean their games contacts first to at least rule this out. Also those buying second hand to check legitimacy since pokemon games are prone to fakes in that market. Mine are all working so far. Though I know it's possible for things to die. Self destructing PSP memory sticks come to mind.=/
@@thatboi567 Your right there. I was thinking of the ds games and forgot that 3ds games haven't been bootlegged yet or at least if they have it's super rare and very unlikely to land one. Though with the 3ds wrapping up it's store and support not being as active from Nintendo, I can see people trying to crack it in the future so they can do it. Best to keep on alert regardless.
The battery inside my Pokémon silver cartridge died and my cartridge corrupted with a file of over 500 hours. Teenage me was heartbroken
Mine died too ;___;
I know how that feels.
Feel for ya. Not a heavily adored game, but my Kirby Canvas Curse no longer registers when I put it within the 3DS
I even had a shiny on mine 😔
That sucks...
Wtf cartridge have batteries in it ?????
The real pandemic would be if hg/ss cards started to die mysteriously
Had a pearl cartridge die on me for no reason. Exhibits the same symptoms.
NO NEVER PLEASE
They need to release all gens on Switch for digital download
@@Gzilla313 I'd buy them all ngl
@@Gzilla313 just Buy an R4.
"Eventually the entire universe is going to die."
Getting heavy on Nintendo Life these days
I was not expecting to be faced with existential terror during a Nintendo Life video.
"This video was brought to you by Darkrai!"
The only DS cartridge that stopped working for me was my Pokemon diamond cart after nearly 4 years of playtime. The little ridges in the back seems to have broken off and that probably caused the DS to not recognize it anymore. Luckily, my ORAS game is digital. So, I don't have to worry about the cart not working.
One of the corners of the shell on my brother's Pokemon Ruby are broken and it still works grand.
Haha same. The weird thing is that my diamond copy can't be read on my 3ds but on my old school DS, it just needs a blow of air.
@@estebanjofre4658 region lock?
My pearl stopped working a few years back but it was after my brother used a bunch of action replay codes on the game and seemed to corrupt the whole cart
This actually already happened once before. Part of the reason for the increase in the cost of Persona Q (mentioned in the video even) is the large failure rate of those carts, especially NTSC copies. The reports I’m hearing from people about ORAS sound EXACTLY like what I experienced with Persona Q.
Indeed both games got similar release time. The main difference between them is that PQ had a lower run print so there are less copies around and more likely to run on them. Also atlus said more likely most of the ntsc 1st runs have or will have that problem. ORAS got some patches so maybe thats another reasson why repports of deffective copies are lower.
It's a good thing Persona Q isnt that good of a game then lol
Wether it was a bad batch or not, no one is going to fix my copy or give me a replacement without paying. I never even got to experience the delta episode
You do own the game, so if you do have compatible pc specs, you could emulate it
@@thenintendogamer1542 I don't think that law applies to every country, for example in the UK, "If the cartridge or the console is broken (ie, you can't play it at all), then it is illegal", "Emulators are legal; even though, they are almost always used to facilitate illegal ROM game playing. Now, ROMs are almost always illegal: only in the most rarest of cases are they not.".
@@flappetyflippers Interesting, I believe there’s a pretty important difference in the US. You’re allowed to back up your copies of media, and one of the primary purposes of doing so is in case the original stops working. As long as you don’t sell/get rid of the original then you’re fine using the backup you made.
@@pearspeedruns In Germany you are allowed to make a backup of a game yourself and do anything you want with it aslong it's a backup of your own physical media and you keep it. You aren't allowed to download them, because that's not clarified as a selfmade backup and it doesn't matter if you own the game or not, it's still piracy and illegal. Emulators are legal.
@@flappetyflippers yep I think for it to be legal you have to run backups of your own physical media! Which means dumping all of your own games and console bios... Not an easy task.
I live in the PAL region and even though my Omega Ruby is still working fine, I’m legitimately terrified because I still have my 2017 legends on that cartridge! I’m not gonna take any chances and am gonna renew my Pokemon bank subscription and transfer them.
run 3DS CFW and backup with checkpoint
You could also backup your save file with Checkpoint, it's legal as long as you own the game you backed up
Just hack your 3DS, use checkpoint or JSKV to backup your saves.
Also with using checkpoint to back your save up, you can convert your cartridge into a legal digital download by using godmode9
My Omega Ruby actually died when I tested out 2 years ago. It was weird because I take care of my games and was also weird because my Pokemon Y works. My Omega Ruby always ends up freezing and crashing.
The same thing is happening with mine.
Same
I got mine on all most on realease day and its stoped working somewhere down the road WHEN I NEVER TOUCHED IT and i wanted to replay it recently and broken and my X and Y works perfectly so i think a 3ds software update maybe just made it unable it launch the game correctly.
Transfer your save with CFW fast. My cartridge completely died (doesnt work anymore and doesnt even show up in the menu) and i have my save bc i have transfered my save to another cartridge.
@@jspantonio8807 pal or us copy?
I have lots of games 35 years old still working. If 3DS games die now, even in small batches that's still scary.
I didnt even know cartridges 'die' or stop working over time. All my ds and 3ds cartridges work perfectly fine. I even accidentally put it into the wash and done other things that probably arent adviced, yet they still work 10+ years later. It's a bit disappointing that cartridges deteriorate I always preferred cartridges as the last longer than discs
Mod your 3ds and backup your games and save files. That's what I did.
how do we even begin to do that?
lol
@@ShinyMew151 It's super easy, follow this guide: 3ds.hacks.guide/
CIA files: Allow us to introduce ourselves.
What DOESNT the goverment hide
@@maximumbeans9310 it's almost at the same stage as the PSP-there is no advantage to not hacking it.
@@Pacmanfan-po9rn Especially given that the 3DS was taken out of production in September, and how freaking easy it is. I literally just backed up my entire 3DS library to my microSD card along with their save data. Literally no reason not to at this point.
For anyone interested, look up Modern Retro Gamer. He's a great source for console hacking/jailbreaking
@@kaanyasin3733 it's not that, it's some CFW stuff.
@@maximumbeans9310 already is for me
Was able to copy all physical 3ds games onto a 64 gb card and it's been fun and convenient having everything on the system
I know they're trying to get us to listen to the Pokémon news but I'm just liking how good and evenly matched that Alex and Jon are at Smash.
Thank God we can know for sure that we'll always be able to play pocket pinhata
Well, last weekend I decided to buy Alpha Sapphire to remind me a little bit of my childhood. Bought one, kept on having "An error has occurred" black screen. Returned it, got money back, bought another one copy online from a different retailer. Well, I'm having this error again.
It seems to be much bigger issue or at least I'm not the luckiest person
I had this issue with my own apha sapphire cartridge (well it belonged to my brother but he stopped playing it so I claimed it), it can only be fixed with a modded 3ds cartridge refresh and there is no guarantee it will work, but I saved mine like that.
Literally happened to me last week. I tried to load up alpha sapphire and nothing I did revived it. My wife has omega ruby and hers is still working. You can still transfer pokemon to pokemon bank even if it's not loading though.
Same here... Did you have any important Pokemon in your party at the time? I think I lost a Mega Diancie this way...
@@Manuel012387 yeah my dream team that I put so much time into breeding
Mine won't even show up on the title screen
Was it a PAL copy?
Already checked both OR & AS cartridges. Both seem to work completely fine! Hearing many people’s copies not working gave me the worries.
When you said cards, I was confused. I honestly didn't know you meant cartridges until the first mention
Same
Same here. I was like ... Trading card game cards? 😆
@Dad_Shoes that's the definition of click bait
as an American i call the 3DS games either cards or cartridges.
@@percy16293ds and ds games are called gamecards by nintendo
I think it might affect some batches of the US release as well. My North American launch copy of Omega Ruby stopped working about 3 years ago. It still reads in Pokemon bank and allowed me to transfer my PC boxes to sun and moon though. My copy of alpha sapphire that I got around 2 years after launch still works and I've never had another 3ds game die on me besides OR.
you can mod the 3ds and use an app to create a digital copy of your physical games or backup your save file
Cartridges will never face an issue like disc rot, don't get confused.
As long as they're kept in good condition, they will last for many, many lifetimes, enough to have been re-released multiple times.
this ORAS issue also seems to be related to firmware.
This makes me feel better my physical copies of Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire are stored in their original cases and kept on a shelf I always look after my games and keep them in the cases they came in.
I've seen it's a physical issue, specifically with the ROM chip soldering.
im under the impression i kept my copy in pristine conditions. Is there anything i can do to fix it?
This happened to my Pokémon Y cartridge and I’m from the US. Very sad I lost all my Pokémon and save file
Dont 3ds games get their data saved to the sd card? If you buy a new cartridge, im under the impression that you could retrieve the data
@@lordhighyoshi7292 I wish this was the case, but I’m pretty sure it saves to the cartridge because I lent my friend Ocarina of Time and when I got the cartridge back it had his save on it
@@pmerks it does, but i heard it backs up the data to the sd card
@@lordhighyoshi7292 it doesn't
I googled that topic not too long ago. People online said that the highest chances of DS/3DS cartridges dying is, when there has not been saved something onto them for a long time.
Really? Yeesh.
just like SSD's
My tomodachi life died last week. 2 hours later after i backed up. Yay citra
@@sharedaccount991 What’s citra?
@@nautilume7114 Citra is a 3ds/nds emulator
“Your Wii is not thirsty, it does not want orange juice”
My bro fed grape jam to his wii u.
Still works fine-
@@sharedaccount991 as long as it’s not orange juice!
@@tfsoul6384 it already had its share of orange juice last year
It's not specific to PAL. I'm US and have a similar issue. (Launch copy, happened last year sometime)
Alpha Sapphire, the card doesn't load on the 3DS menu. I have three 3DSs and it won't load on any of them. However, I was able to dump all the Pokemon from the game to Bank, which oddly still recognizes the game even though I can't play it. (RIP party Pokemon though, obviously). Tried cleaning it and it didn't help.
Omega Ruby still works OK, despite it being my primary version.
I also have a (Canadian, so NTSC) copy of Alpha Sapphire that stopped working... a couple years ago now? Either launch or very close to it. Mine isn't recognized by Bank, though, which means I've lost a bunch of super rare Pokemon that I couldn't get off it. (rip legit shiny rayquaza.)
My card, though, didn't die all at once - my 3DS started struggling to recognize it a couple months before it went kaput, so I'd have to reinsert it a couple times before it would read properly. I'd advise anyone having trouble getting their card to read to get anything they want to save off it asap, just in case that's a sign that it's dying. (Maybe especially if they're early Alpha Sapphire cards...)
same. is there anything we can do to get a fresh copy? this is obviously a manufacturing issue and its not fair to us, the consumers, that nintendo is ignoring this.
I put my in and out of the slot several times. It reads it eventually.
@@kaitlynmaxwell3737 Mine used to be like that but now it never works.
@@kaitlynmaxwell3737 well then your game doesnt have this issue. mine does. no matter how much you put it in it doesnt work anymore.
So it's a total coincidence that Star Wars The Bad Batch premiered yesterday...
I think not
@@borp6912 conspiracy theory time
Execute Order Generation III..
alex and jon sound so alike. It's like the same person playing two characters
I remember Jon as the deeper voice one lmao
Maybe it is. Have you ever seen them together in the same room (videos don't count because editing exists)?
#PabloLopez are you Asian or have East Asian ancestry you look like Filipinos or Chinese!
Earlier today, my French Omega Ruby cartridge would not get passed the file select screen before soft locking the system, but then I tried it an hour ago and it worked fine...
I transferred everything that remained on it, but that did still reminded me that every piece of media I own that isn't paper is going to disappear one day.
Paper burns.
"I'm sad but I'm also saying hi" -Jon
1:17 Alex that taunt to get bodied bro, you deserved all of that 😂😂😂
TRUE
meanwhile it is smash gameplay while talking about pokemon
@@Rebateman I mean to be fair, they are playing as Pokémon.
Yeah true lol.
@@vslazer6728 didn't even notice that detail
Thanks for the heads up. Imo the title would be better if it said Carts or Cartridges instead of cards because I initially thought this was about the TCG and almost didn’t watch. Going to -backup- check my save now.
Same
Decided to check my copy of Omega Ruby, and everything seems to be okay. However, this is quite concerning for the future of some of these cartridges for both DS and 3DS.
I bought Alpha Sapphire at launch, but this year bought a used copy of Omega Ruby off Ebay and it would crash when you made a new game. I'm in the USA so this seems to be a global issue and not just PAL.
I wont lie, when i first heard this I had a panic attack. Thank goodness mine werent affected
Same
For now, even mine weren't affected
Mine are so I'm worried
@@daniel18gamerdw I feel bad for you that it happened
i would suggest homebrewing your 3ds and using a program called checkpoint, it'll let you backup your saves if you're really scared of your games dying
8:02 "The entire universe is going to die". He is so optimistic :D
he does?
After a mini heart attack as it took 3 times for the 3ds to read it, I can confirm Brendan and my team are fine! Though this does make me worried about picking up another copy 2nd hand
My NTSC (North American) copy of Smash 3DS stopped working. I called Nintendo Support and they sent me a download code for the digital version. Sucks that I lost it all but unlocking everything gave me a reason to go back
My Omega Ruby cardridge stopped working a few months ago. Not sure if it's of special interest, but it's from the German steelbook version from launch. The 3DS detects what game it is on the home screen, but whenever I try to open the game it just shows the error message "This Game Card cannot be used". I've tried cleaning the contacts with alochol, didn't work. I also tried it on different systems (OG 3DS, N3DSXL, N2DSXL), didn't work. What apparently could work is transferring the save file to the internal storage. Didn't do it yet but as far as I could check without actually transferring the file it seemed to work. Didn't check Pokemon Bank yet though. I'm gonna try and contact the Nintendo support, maybe I'm lucky and they'll send over a digital copy or something.
If you need it (for an article or anything) I could provide a screenshot / video (capture card goes brrr). Really sucks to have that issue since it was a 100% file that I put A LOT of hours into, lol.
I have to believe that we will eventually be able to make legal backups of these games at some point in time like we can do with nes, snes, n64, gb, and gba currently. Everdrives have been the safest way to preserve your library in my opinion.
You have been able to dump 3DS games (and play the backups on PC or on the console itself) for many years now...
@@LunarShift since 2015 lol
I have had a few 360 game discs fall apart, but no big games I think it was just Deadliest Warrior (very fun and underrated fighting game)
When I was little (around 2 years old), I fed a PB&J sandwich and a glass of chocolate milk to my NES because I thought it might be hungry from working all day.
I did the same thing when I was young to a VCR, or so I'm told.
Gosh, that thumbnail scared me so bad! I put over 850 hours into that save file, lol.
Should probably get an action replay JUST TO USE THE BACKUP FEATURE lol
Just in case
While all game storage media is inevitably transient (bound to eventually die), that doesn't mean game companies shouldn't try to make their storage media last. The Mask ROMs of cartridges from the NES era to N64, and GB to GBA, all are rated to last longer than Flash ROMs (used from DS onwards, though Switch seems to use a new technology rated to last longer). Enjoy them while they work, but at the same time, back them up and preserve them. There are ways to do it depending on the console. This is why preservation efforts are important.
Physical games and digital games have their own pros and cons, but make no mistake that physical media cannot be made inaccessible at a company's whim by them taking down their online storefront. It's still yours to own. For those with digital copies of 3DS games, I'd recommend making a copy of all the contents of your SD card and storing that on your computer in case the SD card corrupts. You can do the same with your digital Switch games, but you have to insert the empty new SD card into the switch first so it can format it, then remove it and paste in the other SD card's contents.
Oh, and cartridges can get their contacts dirty or corroded. It's best to clean them with things such as isopropyl alcohol before declaring your game dead. Sometimes it really is just bad electrical contacts. It can even be the console's own cartridge slot at fault rather than your game cartridge.
My US copy of Super Smash Bros. for 3DS stopped working. I hadn't played it in a while and I keep it in pristine condition. Went to boot it up one day and it wouldn't start.
Same that happened to me too
Thank god my copy of viva piñata pocket paradise ALSO still works. Was worried there
My oras stopped working 2 years ago, not a pal copy either... seemed like I wasn't the only one at the time, and it's happening to more and more people now
Mine did this today and it’s a ntsc copy
My SSB3DS game stopped working 2 years ago :(
I've had to replace a few OG gameboy games' batteries like Pokémon GSC and Donkey Kong '94 because of batteries dying. Silver was the most heartbreaking tbh because the batteries in those generation's cartridges burn out much quicker because of having to account for the real-time clock in the game that has to keep going even when the game is off.
This video was too long. Halfway through it, I got hungry so I left it playing and went to the kitchen to fix myself a sandwich. But then I found out that I'm out of mayonnaise so I went to a store. There, I saw the most beautiful woman I have ever seen in my whole life. But I'm a really shy person so I took up a three-year personality development course so I could introduce myself. She was very friendly and all, but unfortunately, she had a boyfriend. So I said, all good, I'm a mature person. I wanted the best for her and I harbored no illusion that I am the best person for her and she seemed happy with her boyfriend, so I didn't bother her anymore. But we kept in touch and we became friends and I got over my crush on her. Then she broke up with her boyfriend, we drank some alcohol because of it. I told her she'll be fine and I wished her well. I still think she's the most beautiful woman in the world, but like I said, I am over my crush on her. It was like five years already since I first saw her. Besides, I am quite happy with the friendship I developed with her. It was more important than a crush. So we kept hanging out, drinking, having coffee, and all. I had a girlfriend, she started dating other guys. My girlfriend wanted to live some other life without me in it, so I said, "Okay, I want the best for you and I want you to pursue your happiness." My lady friend and I drank alcohol about it, and she gave me the same advice I gave her when she was in that position and I became okay with the breakup immediately. But we were really drunk, so she spent the night in my apartment. I only have one bed, so you know what that means: She took the bed and I slept on the couch. But on the couch, I really can't sleep. Something was bothering me. So I tossed and turned for about three hours, then I finally couldn''t take it anymore, I stood up and went straight to my room where she's sleeping. I approached the bed, gently sat on it and I reached for her shoulder to pull her closer to me. She stirred and woke up. She asked what's up. I told her, "you know, the first time I saw you, I was watching a video and left it playing to get myself a sandwich then went to the store to get some mayo then I got so distracted by life that I forgot to finish the video." She said, "You know what, I've been wondering about a weird noise in your night drawer." So we opened that drawer, and lo and behold, there's my phone and this video still has two minutes of play time on it.
Happened to me with Zelda a link between worlds a few years back! Very likely because of misuse however 😅 Hopefully I managed to get a replacement copy shortly after :)
August 2022 both my OrAs games still run perfectly fine after years! And both with over 800 hours playing time (European version)
This is where Homebrew becomes more and more important. I always back up my pokemon cart saves. You can even back up gen 4/5 games.
PAL here, and both my copies work fortunately. I hope it won't change.
Mine as well
Some of my cartridges got dirty on the pins so i took some paper folded it up and put isopropyl alcohol in the paper to clean them and all my cartridges work fine hopefully this helps people out if your games don't read on your 3ds.
This is very scary, especially for DS games that don't have any digital releases, like Drawn to Life 1 & 2, Kirby Super Star Ultra, and Legendary Starfy. There might be a future where these games cant work anymore and the only way to play them is by getting roms for them.
To cias and roms it is
i forgot that drawn to life also is on the wii, so it wont be completely unplayable legally
Yeah, my Omega Ruby Card died this January... :( i was lucky and after 50 trys to start the game i managed to put all my pokemon to pokemon bank 😅 the blackscreen first came instantly but after a while i got further and further into the game until I finally could reach the pc and put all my team pokemon onto the pc, later bought it digitally again and played it 100%
My Alpha Saphire is absolutely fine though
Tip: Pokemon Bank can still access the pc and you can transfer the pokemon there. To save your Pokemon in your party try putting the card into the fridge for a while, it worked for me and i was able to barely transfer them to the pc and save the game 😅
I don't know if it's related, but my brother's Omega Ruby save file was corrupted for no apparent reason back when the game was still new. It sucks because he had many Pokémon from older gens transferred over. (This was a North American version btw)
One of my friends had a copy of animal crossing started degrading (started getting glitchy and broken) and eventually broke. Idk if this is related either
@@NCozy which ac game? new leaf or new horizons?
@@k.morris231 We're talking about 3ds games. New Leaf
@@NCozy Reason I asked was because apparently Nintendo is still using cheap components in switch cartridges, but that's not confirmed.
Im heartbroken. This happened to my game. its unplayable, and its upsetting, because I spent to much time with this game, poured days into it, and playing it got me through some shit. I just wish I could do something. No sense buying a new game, if its gonna break again.
Oh man I just checked mine and it's still working fine but man I'm so worried about it potentially breaking in the future
Install a custom firmware on your computer, move your save data, install citra. Boom. No more worries
My ORAS copies both still work. And I'm in PAL.
This isn’t the only batch of 3DS carts that has an issue with being unreadable. Persona Q physical copies have been having issues for a while, and it’s a well known issue with the game. Happened to me with my launch copy of the game and looking into it, the issue seems to be more common than just a fringe case sadly.
me who owns a physical copy of yo kai watch 3:
I am in control
You lucky duck. I got yokai watch late so three is a bit hard to come by lol.
There was a third one?????
@@gerbywerbs6740 yup. For the 3ds. It's kind of a pain to get ahold of physically.
It's sad to see Oras is dying out now. My copy is fine, but it's sad to see what once to be the newest Pokemon game that had many, upon many online, only have a few hundred people play the game online now in 2023. It's pretty sad to see with me playing it all the time back in 2015.
omega ruby with a funny eyes Alex from Nintendo life, this is good video.
2:15 I don't think he caught that Alex caught his lack of specifying the DS, not 3DS. 3DS is 10 years old, DS is 16 years old.
Edit: ORAS is 6 years old.
Yes my Alpha Sapphire does not work anymore. I have realised that a few weeks ago.
My Smash 3DS copy stopped working a while back. Truly sad to see my hours of save data gone. I hope no one else experience it. :(
I bought a used copy of Tomodachi Life that my 3DS had difficulty reading. I cleaned the cartridge contacts with some isopropyl alcohol and it seemed to work just fine after that. I have since resold it, so I don't know what's become of it.
If anyone’s really worried about losing their ORAS save data-there is one solution. There’s a 3DS app that I believe is called “save data transfer tool” (I can check if you want). What it does is allow you to move a save file from a physical copy to a digital one. So you could buy the digital copy of ORAS, move the data from the physical to the digital copy, then sell the original if you want.
I live in the US, but I've had this happen to me before with a launch copy of Y about a year after it came out. I just remember playing it one day after completing the National dex for the first time and then it just crashed on me and it wouldn't go past a black screen after trying to reload it. Couldn't even try to start a new game either.
Too much water causes it.
It's cool they're showing footage of the game while talking about it
I wonder if something like this happened to my copy of Kirby Planet Robobot tbh. I got the game as a gift back in 2017, but didn't get a chance to play it for a while until late last year when I was finally gonna jump into it, but nope. The card couldn't be read. My 3DS could identify the game on the home menu tho but when i went to play it, I'd get an error message saying it couldn't read the card. Was always in its case and I cleaned it as well as I could but unfortunately no go.
You say don’t worry but I’m worried and I don’t even own a copy 🙆♂️🥴
My version of Alpha Sapphire (American) is completely done. Its not just PAL regions
Well, that problem is known for quite some time, my bro's copy died around 3 years ago
And my worked fine, last time I checked it.
Cleaning the contacts doesn't help
I was a bit sad that you didn't use any Pokémon footage for this video, then I noticed it's Pokémon fighting in Smash :D
7:38 Actually, it was Final Fantasy 8 that had its PS1 source code lost, not 7. The game infamously wasn't ported to modern consoles for quite a while when the other PS1 and PS2 Final Fantasy games were coming to the Switch and Xbox One.
This happened to my game cartridge of Alpha Sapphire a month ago! I had an urge to replay Alpha Sapphire and my 3DS was not reading the cartridge. This is the first time this happened to me. Did I panic? Yes. Am I disappointed, most definitely.
I don't know if it means anything, but I've put a handful-thousand hours in one Animal Crossing: New Leaf cartridge, and it's yet to stutter on me.
If there's correlation between cartridge quality, then it's probably just a bad batch.
My copy of X has been beat up and tis really hard to get it to start, launch editon brought with me everywhere 800+ hours and went thought the wash at least twice.
Download a custom firmware on your computer, move your save, use citra emulator ( or gamechek. It is a Korean and Japansese emulator bit works fine on non region locked games. )
This reminds me of when my copy of AS corrupted back in October of 2019. It’s been years and I’m still sad about it.
My Alpha Sapphire just doesn't even boot up. It just says "This game card cannot be used".
Yet, I can still play my dog bitten Pokémon Black 2 from YEARS AGO.
I had bought Omega Ruby and Alpha Saphire alongside each other years back now I bought them around the Ultra Sun/Moon era. I never actually got around to them. They were still in their original packaging and all. Tried booting up Omega Ruby won’t load at all, but Alpha Saphire works fine. Naturally I can’t even return the game since I purchased it years ago. Very frustrating
So now I'm going to wait a few months before buying any new 3DS games, just in case. I wasn't really looking at any to buy anyway, but better to be safe than sorry.
I have had recently had an issue with my 3ds XL refusing to boot Pokemon alpha sapphire, I checked alpha sapphire with my normal 3ds, and it still worked, but then I checked Pokemon y, which was in my normal 3ds, in the 3ds XL, and it also worked,.. I don't keep all my games or systems updated, and I got curious, so I deleted the update folder for Pokemon alpha sapphire and now it works fine again.. If nothing else check to see if it isn't an update issue.. I hope this helps.. God Bless..
I've had two 3DS games work on one 3DS and not on two others. The first one (TMNT: Danger of the Ooze) had bad contacts, and I thought that was the issue. The second (Need for Speed The Run) looked fine. But two systems refused to read the cart. The third system read no problem. So, I have no clue what the issue there was.
That's why I'm getting digital copies tomorrow when my new 3ds arrives after I had to sell my 3ds and my 3ds pokemon games
Backups need to be legal to create, own, and use. Digital content is easily available and can easily be copied and preserved. Laws need to serve people, not the other way around. I hope as Right to Repair builds up, it leads to a similar outcome for preserving digital content.
Backups are legal to create own and use… you just can’t share them
I live in Ntsc and this happened to a friend's copy of ORAS.
Oh noooo, Jon's brainnnn - Zion
hi man
I haven't played the game in a while, worried to do so again😰
It's all nonsense clickbait mate
I have this problem myself and bought my copy from a supermarket at launch. To find it didn't work anymore really sucked as it's one of the best 3ds games. It seems to be a problem with one of the updates so DO NOT update your game if it's working. Hope this helps.
Yeah, I was recently reminded that this was a thing. Due to the 3DS eshop closure, I wanted to load up all 3DS cartridges on my latest 2DSXL and made sure it had all updates...
All of it without problem, until I ran into my copy of Omega Ruby... and it basically "noped" out. Video intro works, and then it just says no. :-(
Welp, I found out that my OR copy was dead when all I wanted to do was to check what Pokémon was missing. It sucks since I spent the longest time in that game!
LUCKILY though, PokeBank can still transfer all the Pokémon from it, which is great since I have the biggest collection of Pokémon in that game alone!
a modded 3ds can be used to fix the cartridge in that case
My copy of Alpha Sapphire doesn’t work and I really need a solution to fix it😢
I’ve experienced something close to this once. I bought a copy of mk 7 of eBay a year ago and when it arrived it didn’t work in my 3ds, like the 3ds would recognize the cart but crash when it tried to open. Turns out it was just really dirty and I used a alcohol wipe and wiped where the little pins are on the back of the cart and it worked fine. Idk if people’s carts are actually dying or are just really dirty.
Well it is possible they could be dying though I agree people should try and clean their games contacts first to at least rule this out. Also those buying second hand to check legitimacy since pokemon games are prone to fakes in that market.
Mine are all working so far. Though I know it's possible for things to die. Self destructing PSP memory sticks come to mind.=/
@@Shinepikavee Wait there are no 3ds fake games.
@@thatboi567 Your right there. I was thinking of the ds games and forgot that 3ds games haven't been bootlegged yet or at least if they have it's super rare and very unlikely to land one.
Though with the 3ds wrapping up it's store and support not being as active from Nintendo, I can see people trying to crack it in the future so they can do it. Best to keep on alert regardless.
Eventually all flash memory will just erase itself.
Just as long as my Mario Kart 7 game card works, I'm fine.