Nintendo recently began pushing the 3DS eShop as a digital distribution platform, to the point of putting full retail releases on there for download. It’s too early to tell whether or not such a service can thrive on a platform that depends entirely on SD memory for storage, but there are some strong indications that Nintendo is at least taking the program seriously.
The strongest evidence thereof is, perhaps, their supposed development of a free eShop application that will facilitate save file transfers from a physical 3DS cart to the system’s memory, making them available to digital versions of that same title. It’s a nice touch, and might also serve as a legitimate means of backing up one’s save games, just in case the cartridge experiences an unexpected catastrophe.
That said, the application’s apparently going to take a while. It wouldn’t even hit the Japanese eShop until spring of next year. Further, the information has been sourced to a Twitter account that appears to no longer be active, making the entire reveal dubious at best.