The game company said some titles, initially those published by Nintendo, will be available in both traditional packaged and digital formats, with both versions sold through retailers. Consumers that purchase the digital version of a game will receive an activation code allowing them to download it to their 3DS, where it will be stored on a memory card.

As multiple games can be stored on a single memory card, it will mark a change in the traditional one-game-one-cartridge approach that Nintendo has followed for the 3DS.

The console's online "eShop" currently allows for purchases and downloads of mini-games and add-ons.

Unlike the app stores run by Apple and Google or Sony's online store for its PlayStation handhelds, Nintendo's system for digital content will leave retailers responsible for drawing customers, setting prices and handling payments. This eliminates a possible income stream, but also removes the cost and risks of running its own store.

President Satoru Iwata described the new system in about Nintendo's dire fiscal year results, which were released on Thursday. The company booked a net loss of ¥43.2 billion (US$533 million), its first annual loss since it began reporting group results in 1981, which Iwata called "the worst result since we went into business in the video game industry."