Regardless of whether or not you register your new DSi XL to the same Club Nintendo account as your regular DSi, any downloads you purchased for your current DSi will not transfer to your new DSi XL. You’ll either be forced to re-pay and re-download them, or you’ll have to go without them.
This isn’t a new issue – just like if you were to buy a second Wii or a second DSi, Nintendo’s new DSi XL will be considered a completely separate unit. Friend codes and lists had to be reset, Virtual Console purchases had to be re-purchased. However, unlike the Wii, Nintendo’s handheld line seems to be getting a revision every single year now. If they expect gamers to keep buying DSes or at least DSiWare games for those DSes, they’re going to need to come up with a different system.
Even though Nintendo currently has no way of allowing users to transfer their purchases from one machine to another (and their manuals and EULAs explicitly state that downloads are for that single, particular unit), change may be on the way. A Nintendo representative confirmed:
“We’re looking into that specific topic, but we don’t have anything to announce at this time.”
Good. Apple, Microsoft, and Sony have some kind of way to transfer most content, simply because it’s all account-based. Seeing as I’ve currently got three different DSi units in this very room with a 3DS on the way, I’d like to see a similar system for all my Nintendo hardware.
