New 3DS Gamestop trades help solve the content transfer issue

Trade your 3DS for a New 3DS and keep all your content thanks to Gamestop's clever solution.

New 3DS owners are faced with a bit of a conundrum: the only way to get all your vanilla 3DS content onto the new handheld model is to hook both consoles up to a computer and move it all across manually.

That's a problem for those wanting to trade in, because you usually need to actually, you know, trade the old model for the new. While you could buy the new console and then later bring in your old one to sell for store credit, that usually doesn't net you as much of a saving as a direct trade.

Luckily, Gamestop has hatched a scheme to get around that problem. Here's how it's done, according to Polygon:

• Purchase a $200 New 3DS XL at Gamestop and be sure to keep the receipt
• Transfer your content from one system to the other
• Take both systems back to Gamestop
• Return your new system for a full refund of $200
• Make the trade for the New 3DS you just returned, chopping $100 credit off the price of a New 3DS

The $100 trade credit offer is only good through February 15.