Current Events > PSA to All 3DS, Switch and PS Vita owners

(+) Yeah! (+)

Make sure you turn on your consoles and boot up every game you own since the cartridges (and Memory cards in the case of Vita) are prone to corruption and rely on the consoles doing error correction while powered on. If not you can end up with a completely unusable cartridge.

I have already lost my copy of Persona Q due to this problem.

Also apparently the Switch itself needs to be powered on every so often or it can become bricked.

I think Vita became a brick :(.

The biggest issue with the vita is that the battery is not swappable, you gotta occasionally check to see if the battery swelled or if the charge still holds.
Well that and proprietary micro sd card is prone to failing... already had one 8gb memory card fail on me

Homeless_Waifu posted...

The biggest issue with the vita is that the battery is not swappable, you gotta occasionally check to see if the battery swelled or if the charge still holds.
Well that and proprietary micro sd card is prone to failing... already had one 8gb memory card fail on me

Is it the memory stick? Mine is still fine month ago I might check it out to be sure.

That might explain why my copy of Engage is suddenly having sound syncing issues on cutscenes that it never had before.

DB_Insider posted...

Is it the memory stick? Mine is still fine month ago I might check it out to be sure.

Yeah it's those memory sticks.
Surprisingly, my psp memory cards still work...
Despite not using them for some 10 years or so

Luckily, I went all-digital with the Switch (aside from ARMS, which came with it), and my library has been moved to the Switch 2.

But yeah, this is a problem for my 3DS. I read that the Pokemon games and Smash 3DS are also huge victims to this.

kee forgetting to do so for my 3ds games. Thanks for the reminder.

Digital wins again.

My GBA and DS carts still work fine without touching them for over a decade

LordYeezus posted...

My GBA and DS carts still work fine without touching them for over a decade

Specifically 3DS and Switch, don't know if there is any degredation for GBA and NDS

All of my 3DS/Switch games are digital (the only physical game I still own is my old copy of Pokemon Soul Silver, a DS game) and I play each system fairly regularly, so I'm good.

Oh dang I got 265 switch cartridges

Huh, I have never heard of it before, not that I don't believe it's a thing.

Does anyone have a good source for info about what is happening to the games that I can read/watch to learn about it? <_<

Error1355 posted...

Huh, I have never heard of it before, not that I don't believe it's a thing.

Does anyone have a good source for info about what is happening to the games that I can read/watch to learn about it? <_<

I've definitely heard about this issue with ORAS

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/does_your_copy_of_pokemon_omega_ruby_and_alpha_sapphire_still_work

My Alpha Sapphire stopped working. Ever since I found out, I boot up all my 3DS games once a year. I only have digital games for Switch, so no problem there.

Is it recommended to boot up DS games, too?

Puglia77 posted...

I've definitely heard about this issue with ORAS

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2021/05/does_your_copy_of_pokemon_omega_ruby_and_alpha_sapphire_still_work

huh

well I haven't booted up any of my 3DS games for easily 5+ years so hopefully that's not a common thing lol

I guess I have a project tonight.

I think its only some certain 3DS games that have this problem. I know ORAS and FE Echoes do.

[LFAQs-redacted-quote]

A microsd is sorta like a cartridge

Well, that's annoying, specifically for 3DS. I only own two physical Switch games and don't own a Vita. But all of my 3DS games are packed up in boxes at the moment, and I don't really feel like digging through said boxes to find all of them. Hopefully it won't be an issue in the meantime.

Doubt.

I have several 3DSes + jailbroke them all. None of them have ever encountered issues booting. I turn them off for long periods of time all the time.

Never heard of the NAND rot issue on 3DS or Vita, only Wii U.

What you SHOULD be checking for instead are bulging batteries + remove/replace them as you see them.

doshindude posted...

Doubt.

I have several 3DSes - I jailbroke them all. None of them have issues booting.

Never heard of the NAND rot issue on 3DS or Vita, only Wii U.

Did you even read the first post? The apparent issue is with the game cards, not the systems.

yet my NES is going strong almost 40 years old.

i dont plan to invest anything else into video game hardware. ill keep a gaming pc for the rest of my life tho.

I've looked into this, and there is absolutely a bad run of certain games (iirc includes some copies of Persona Q, Pokemon ORAS, Smash 3DS) that will lose their data. It's bad enough that if yours is affected, it's probably already dead.

Otherwise it's unclear.
The type of data used in 3DS and Switch cartridges is definitely a different type than other, older carts. The theory is that it's a more volatile type that could die off if not powered on periodically (like, at least once a decade or so, maybe a little more).
But I couldn't get a straight answer on whether such carts would actually die eventually or not.

Speaking of, I've heard similar about the Wii U as well. That if it's left unused for too long, it bricks.
Once again, I don't know how true it is or isn't.

Okay, my Vita was charging, but when I tried to start it up, it just displayed the low power sign. And I just charge it for like three hours.

Relm_Arrowny_87 posted...

Speaking of, I've heard similar about the Wii U as well. That if it's left unused for too long, it bricks.

Mine is going on 11 years without being turned on. I bet that fucker's dead.

Least used console I've ever had. If it wasn't for Forza my Series X would be it lol.

Relm_Arrowny_87 posted...

I've looked into this, and there is absolutely a bad run of certain games (iirc includes some copies of Persona Q, Pokemon ORAS, Smash 3DS) that will lose their data. It's bad enough that if yours is affected, it's probably already dead.

Otherwise it's unclear.
The type of data used in 3DS and Switch cartridges is definitely a different type than other, older carts. The theory is that it's a more volatile type that could die off if not powered on periodically (like, at least once a decade or so, maybe a little more).
But I couldn't get a straight answer on whether such carts would actually die eventually or not.

Speaking of, I've heard similar about the Wii U as well. That if it's left unused for too long, it bricks.
Once again, I don't know how true it is or isn't.

Apparently the Wii U issue doesn't happen if you softmod it, which I have done and mine works fine, but I also use it periodically, so it very well might be fine regardless.

I have over 30 3DS games. This is going to be one hell of a project. Come back in a few years to do another PSA so I don't forget then too haha

how often

My 3ds turned entirely digital after the shop shut down and I was uh... in the mood for new games.

My vita is also entirely digital since I modded it to read off a large micro SD card.

I own some cartridges for the above two, but I won't be sad if any of them died. My vita has been in sleep mode for probably years, always plugged in to the wall. I always wondered how I was affecting its battery like that...

I have a handful of switch cartridges, some I haven't even opened from the box yet, but mostly digital. Guess I could plug those in from time to time.

My 3DS hasn't been powered on in years. My stuff is probably long gone.
I lost the charger and never replaced it.

rick_alverado posted...

Did you even read the first post? The apparent issue is with the game cards, not the systems.

Doesn't matter. The point is, there is no issue.

And do away with the snark.