Topic: PSA: Do you own a physical copy of Persona Q (3DS)?

[ejamer]

So maybe this is common knowledge and I'm the only one who missed the news... but anyone who bought early copies of Persona Q on 3DS should take out their cartridge and see if it still works. For some reason, many copies of the game are no longer functional and just given an error when you try to start playing.

 Purely speculation, but I'm guessing there must be something from a 3DS system update that affects this, because my copy was tested upon arrival and worked fine and then safe stored in my collection until today... and now it can no longer start.

As someone who intentionally buy physical because I often don't play games right away and want them work across different pieces of hardware (we own 4 different 3DS units at home), and paid a premium in this case for those features, this is HUGELY disappointing. It also makes me nervous about other Atlus games - will my (mostly unplayed) copy of Etrian Odyssey Untold 2 suffer the same fate? Should I even bother buying Persona Q2?

I've contacted Atlus customer support to see what they say.

[Stratos]

You could always hack a 3DS and try to load old firmware in it to match what the game needs. Who knows, using a hacked system might allow you to play it somehow without changing the firmware.

[ejamer]

You could always hack a 3DS and try to load old firmware in it to match what the game needs. Who knows, using a hacked system might allow you to play it somehow without changing the firmware.

Actually had an old 3DS sitting around. Nope. No go - there must be something wrong inside the cartridge.
Note that this isn't just me. It's a real thing that's happening to people who own the first print run. Totally sucks.

[stevey]

Are there any other games with similar cart failures?

[ejamer]

Are there any other games with similar cart failures?

This is the only cartridge I've ever heard of having this kind of problem (which is why I assumed the problem was due to an underlying system update on the 3DS instead of the cartridge itself).

[SpiritMask]

Are there any other games with similar cart failures?

I had a physical copy of Puzzle and Dragons that locked up every time I got to the tutorial battle with the two goombas. I updated the game and the 3DS and it didn't change anything. I assume the cartridge memory had a defect because it worked fine when I tried another cartridge of the same game.

My own speculation is that there is a software bug if this problem is restricted to the first print of PQ. 3DS carts aren't made for any specific game. They are blanks that are programmed with ROMs and labeled with a sticker (probably). Something about the ROM is not right I'm guessing. It may not be related to the firmware version but to something less obvious like time/date or the presence of certain files or other software on the 3DS memory or SD card, or there could be a memory conflict in the RAM because of home screen themes or whatever. It would be nice to know exactly what the issue is.

[ejamer]

Are there any other games with similar cart failures?

... It would be nice to know exactly what the issue is.

Totally agree.
The fact that it DID work initially, and then just stopped working for no good reason is very curious.

I was sent an eShop download code as replacement after sending in the cartridge for verification, so they could confirm the cartridge was defective. However, there were mixed messages and tones from the different customer service reps before getting to this stage, and they also refused to answer any questions about why it just stopped working (despite the first rep admitting this was a known issue with the game).

Considering the cost of international shipping that met their requirements, I probably could have just waited for an eShop sale to purchase the digital version myself... The whole transaction left me feeling like they didn't trust me and/or were reluctant to admit and fault or take responsibility if they didn't have to. So not exactly a glowing commendation for the Atlus customer service team.

Still, at least I can play the game now - I'm thankful for that, even though I would STRONGLY prefer to have a working physical version.

[pokepal148]

The game is on sale now on the eshop so I picked it up. Thanks for the heads up on the physical version.