3DS Not Reading Certain Game

snes_collector

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Hey everyone, I am having trouble with my 3DS reading a copy of Pokemon Ruby. I bought the game new a couple years ago but just decided to pop in it again. I am getting both of these screens depending on the boot:

8PdbJsX.jpg

HSpZ9rR.jpg


I've tried cleaning the game, the cartridge slot, and taking out the sd card but nothing has helped. Every other game I've tried on my 3DS works. I've tried googling this and have found a variety of responses from dead game/bad wifi/corrupt sd card/etc but nothing concrete. Any advise?

Thanks
 
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JoeAwesome

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I've heard the same kinds of stories about some 3DS games being dead. I've got no new ideas to add to cleaning the game and cart slot. Did you open up the cart to clean it?

Edit: Doesn't seem uncommon for this game to have issues.
 
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snes_collector

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I haven't opened the cart to clean it, but I've worked on the contacts a couple times. It is kinda concerning that it may be a dead game, that worries me for the future. You are right about others having the same issue, here is a couple interesting quotes:

https://pokemondb.net/pokebase/227550/my-or-game-wont-work
"I thought the game card was the problem, so I downloaded omega ruby from eShop so I could transfer the save file to it. However, when I started it up, it did the same thing as the physical copy. I searched for answers on google but found none."

So this person had the same problem and downloaded the game from the eShop and it STILL would not work. That is very strange. I don't understand how that could be possible? I've also read about other people trying the game and it working it another 3DS. I don't have an extra 3DS or game store (other than game stop) to try it on, but I may have to find a friend's in can test it out on.
 

Morden

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"I downloaded omega ruby from eShop so I could transfer the save file to it. However, when I started it up, it did the same thing as the physical copy. I searched for answers on google but found none."

So this person had the same problem and downloaded the game from the eShop and it STILL would not work. That is very strange. I don't understand how that could be possible? I've also read about other people trying the game and it working it another 3DS. I don't have an extra 3DS or game store (other than game stop) to try it on, but I may have to find a friend's in can test it out on.

Are save files transferable between digital and physical releases of the same game? I don't usually buy games twice, once physical and once digital, so I really wouldn't know. If they are, it would suggest some kind of data corruption, whether it be save data or something else the game has access to. Then again, if the save data is stored on the SD card, removing it should solve the problem. 3DS saves a bunch of information both in NAND and on the SD card, so it might be something in NAND.

Your best bet is to go down to GameStop and ask them to try it out. They must be able to it, since they're buying used games. If it doesn't work, you're out of luck. If it does ... it's either a system wipe or some maybe some type of homebrew solution to clean out any Pokemon data written to NAND.

A good place to ask would be GBAtemp forum. They're all about Nintendo's consoles and homebrew related things. Someone might even know how to solve your problem. Good luck!
 

snes_collector

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I'm not sure on that either, as I always go for the physical releases when possible. It does seem like something is corrupted somewhere. Thanks for the link, I will see if they can help.
 
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