The two previous consoles to the Nintendo Switch – Wii U and 3DS – had their own versions of the eShop. This allowed users to buy games in digital form and download them at any time.
On March 27th, owners of a Nintendo Wii U or a 3DS can buy games via the eShop one last time. After that, the company will finally close the digital sales platform for both consoles. It will then no longer be possible to buy games or expansions (DLCs) here.
Nintendo closes eShop on Tuesday morning
The shutdown should only take place at 2 a.m. on Monday night. If you still own a Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS XL (new and old models) or a Nintendo Wii U Deluxe or Wii U Basic, you still have time to buy games in the eShop.
Most games can still be used in physical form. However, the eShop also offered a whole range of titles that were only available in digital form, including, for example, “Dr. Luigi, Pokémon Rumble U, and Pokémon Link Battle. Also, the 3DS and Wii U had the Virtual Console, which worked similarly to how Nintendo’s Switch online service currently works. These were retro games that were only available as downloads. However, unlike Switch Online, users could buy these titles individually and didn’t have to subscribe to them. Also, hundreds of these retro titles are still unavailable through Switch Online to this day.
YouTuber “The Completionist” has therefore made it its task to buy all titles in the eShop for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. However, that was not easy at all, since payment only worked via credit cards. In addition, 1.2 terabytes of memory on the Wii U and 267 gigabytes on the 3DS were required – a lot of installing and uninstalling pre-programmed. “The Completionist” wants to donate all games to the Video Game History Foundation to preserve them for posterity.
What the shutdown means for users
All titles and DLCs purchased through the eShop will continue to be available after the shutdown. They are always available for download for the older consoles. Nintendo also wants to continue to provide software updates. Users who still have eShop credit for Wii U or 3DS can continue to use it for the Nintendo Switch eShop. To do this, they need to link the Nintendo ID on the old console to the Nintendo Account. If not present, the Nintendo ID can still be created on Wii U and 3DS. Even if you don’t have a Switch yet, you can still create a Nintendo Account and transfer the balance.