Here's a little tip for international credit card holders...
So, like everyone else with a 3DS - I was eagerly awaiting the launch of the eShop, and all the nostalgic handheld possibilities that came within.
My 3DS was imported from America due to many reasons. Price, release dates, availability of games, not to mention my planned international travel over the next few years.
I'm booting up the newly-upgraded 3DS for the first time, and I'm greeted with an option, something about entering a zip code for purchase tax details. I resisted the temptation to just go with a zip code from a region without such taxes, and instead chose New York, as that's what I have my StreetPass Plaza profile set to. No big deal.
But then, I try to add funds to the shop account. What's this? "Please enter the zip code of your card's billing address". I get the extra security, but this poses a problem - my card was issued down here in Australia, where the postcodes (AU equivalent of zip codes) are only 4 digits. This thing wanted 5.
Not to be deterred by such things, I ventured to Amazon.com with the intention to simply purchase some prepaid cards for the system. No dice, they don't stock such things. Play Asia? No results found. I checked several others from my regular importing haunts, these cards were all but unheard of! What's a gamer to do!?
Distraught, I tried one more thing - I entered in my four-digit postcode into the card's billing information, and then added a 0 at the end, expecting it to say the details were incorrect and the FBI had been notified that I'd stolen some Australian guy's credit card.
Instead, I get a cheerful little ding sound, and the funds had been added!
So there you have it, anyone who was tempted to import their console from USA might want to try adding in a 0 to any blank fields, and hopefully it'll sort things out. I'd also tried adding a 0 to the start of the card's billing zip code, this didn't work, it only accepted the 0 at the end. I can't guarantee it'll work for everyone, and if you live in a country that has more than 5 digits in their postal codes, I'm not sure what you can do - hopefully Amazon will fix that soon enough.
As for me, I'm (finally) catching up with Shantae and her saucy antics from the DSiWare selection, which isn't available in Australia. I just might have a new favorite game character...
