Capcom issued the following statement:

'In Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, all mission progress is saved directly to the Nintendo 3DS cartridge, where it cannot be reset. The nature of the game invites high levels of replayability, encouraging fans to improve mission scores. The save mechanic ensures that both original and unlocked game content will be available to all users. Secondhand game sales were not a factor in this development decision, and we hope that all our consumers will be able to enjoy the entirety of the survival-action experiences that the game does offer. '

Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D consists of 30 time-based missions, through which the player unlocks skill upgrades as they progress through the game. Anyone purchasing a copy of the game secondhand would have access to all the missions and skills that the original owner unlocked, in addition to the content that was available to the original user.

Fans of iconic series will see their favorite heroes and villains come to life like never before with Nintendo’s breakthrough 3D technology. The announcement was made during the Nintendo Conference 2010 which took place in Japan earlier today.

Featuring Mercenaries missions from Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 5, now fully realized in stunning 3D, Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D will add brand new modes and well known characters from the series to enrich and extend the Mercenaries experience. Furthermore, the title will take advantage of the Nintendo 3DS’ WiFi Connectivity, allowing players from around the world to join forces in co-op gameplay, regardless of location.