Wii U/3DS eshops closing in 2023. What to know beforehand

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Today it was announced that the 3DS and Wii U eshops are closing. Here's the important dates to know

• On May 23 2022, You won't be able to add funds to your account on 3DS or Wii U. HOWEVER, if your up to date nintendo account is on those systems, you can add funds via your Switch, then go back to the older systems and buy stuff with that money. There is no way to add money from Nintendo's website that I can see. 
  • Eshop cards will continue to be redeemable on a 3DS and Wii U until August 29 2022. After this date they must be redeemed from the Switch's eshop
• Unused download codes for 3DS and Wii U games should work until March 2023, provided they don't have their own expiration date to worry about.
• Late March 2023 (a precise date isn't specified) is when you won't be able to make any new purchases on these systems. 
  • After March 2023, you can still redownload any games purchased on that nintendo account, as well as access software updates for those games that haven't been downloaded yet. Believe it or not, this is still possible on the Wii as well. I did it as recently as 2021. So your digital libraries should be safe for a long time even if you don't have enough space to hold everything
• Pokemon Bank on the 3DS, according to the FAQ, is reportedly not going to allow you to buy another year's worth of playtime past march 2023. I don't know the full ramifications of this.
  • Update: Pokemon Bank will reportedly still run past March 2023, and will be free to use from then on. However, if you have never downloaded Pokemon Bank, it won't be linked to your account, so the service will remain lost to you as the eshop shuts down. So make sure you've downloaded it at least once.
• Online functionality for 3DS and Wii U games are not impacted by this news. They're on a game by game basis, and some have quietly shut down already over the years.

Now if you'll excuse me, I got to review the list of games I've marked down as considerations in light of this news...

Edited February 16, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn

[King Marth 64]

Oh dang, it looks like I might need to buy the remaining Wii U & Nintendo 3DS games that quick. I'm still think Nintendo should have given this more time to let any Wii U & Nintendo 3DS players to buy the remaining games like they did with the Wii Shop Channel. I might need to add stuff in my birthday list since my birthday is coming next month.

Edited February 16, 2022 by King Marth 64

[GlitchWarrior]

Sooooo in short, I have a little over one year to decide whether Rev is worth buying.

...Crap.

[vanguard333]

I see. I need to charge my 3DS and purchase Oracle of Ages then (I already bought Oracle of Seasons on my 3DS but not Ages a long time ago... but I haven't used my 3DS in years).

I figured something like this was going to happen; it's one reason I purchased the Metroid Prime Trilogy on the Wii U eshop a few months ago.

[FailWood]

I have recommendations as well.

3DS Recommendations:

Pokemon Yellow and Crystal Via VC

Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga DX

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D

Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds

Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D

Star Fox 64 3D

Kid Icarus Uprising

Dragon Quest VIII Journey of the Cursed King

Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia

Wario Land 3 Via VC

There's others that I haven't played, or hope someone else recommends.

Wii U Recommendations:

Donkey Kong 64 Via VC

Wario Land Shake It!! Via VC

Mario Strikers Charged Via VC

Metroid Fusion Via VC

Metroid Zero Mission Via VC

Mario Kart 64 Via VC

Wario Land 4 Via VC

Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD

Super Mario RPG Legend of the Seven Stars Via VC

Paper Mario 64 Via VC

Donkey Kong Country Trilogy Via VC

My Wii U recommendations was mostly Virtual Console stuff, but nearly all of the major Wii U releases either got a sequel or was ported to Switch.

[emazur]

I never owned a 3DS until recently (played Awakening so far). I also own Fates [Conquest] and Echos (physical copies) but not yet opened and originally planned to wait a few months to start playing. So this closure could effect me if I don't act in time. Can the Birthright campaign be purchased at the discounted price anytime after starting Conquest or do I have to wait until Chapter 6 (I think that's when you "choose sides") to buy at discount? And Revelation can be purchased anytime?

Edit: I started the game earlier than originally planned - Birthright can be purchased immediately upon starting the game

Edited February 18, 2022 by emazur

[FailWood]

In terms of decisions I still need to make, Majora's Mask 3D, Samus Returns, and some of the SNES Virtual Console games that made it to 3DS.

[Jedi]

This is going to have massive ramifications for the 3DS Fire Emblems, and those on the Wii U Eshop. All that DLC is going to just be gone too.

[Interdimensional Observer]

This was inevitable, we all know that. But like your 13-year-old dog, it still hurts to lose it. Video games are largely ephemeral entertainment, little is guaranteed to endure. I just futilely wish we had an online archive for all the little things we'll be (legally) losing access to.

[Shadow Mir]

As someone who hasn't had a NNID for the 3DS, but has one for the Switch, what happens to the stuff I purchased prior (and my bank balance) if I link my Switch NNID to my 3DS?

Edited February 16, 2022 by Shadow Mir

[Zapp Branniglenn]

19 minutes ago, Interdimensional Observer said:

This was inevitable, we all know that. But like your 13-year-old dog, it still hurts to lose it. Video games are largely ephemeral entertainment, little is guaranteed to endure. I just futilely wish we had an online archive for all the little things we'll be (legally) losing access to.

I definitely wish 3DS hung on for longer, since it has so many more games that haven't (and mostly likely never will) appear on the Switch or any future Nintendo system because of how integral the dual screen and touch screen technology was compared to most Wii U releases. DS and 3DS emulation is also very hit or miss as of 2022, especially when the game doesn't have Pokemon or Mario in the title. Some people suggest that, like what happened to the PS3 and Vita stores last year, Nintendo will go back on this decision if enough people complain about it. Maybe? The only controversial thing I've ever seen Nintendo take back in recent memory is putting Pikmin 3 back onto the Wii U after it was delisted. Tropical Freeze was not so lucky.

3 minutes ago, Shadow Mir said:

As someone who hasn't had a NNID for the 3DS, but has one for the Switch, what happens to the stuff I purchased prior if I link my Switch NNID to my 3DS?

According to this, those downloads should be safe and still be redownloadable if you delete them in the future. So I recommend linking your account.

[FlyingKitsune]

Pokemon Bank is going to become free it appears.

 

[Zapp Branniglenn]

2 hours ago, FlyingKitsune said:

Pokemon Bank is going to become free it appears.

Hey that's pretty neat. I've got a mostly finished living pokedex back on Gen 6, made up of pokemon going as far back as the Gamecube pokemon games. I was worried I'd have to choose between evacuating them to Pokemon Home or keeping them permanently on my 3DS. 

So Nintendo put up a link to see your play activity from 2011 to 2020. It's not as in-depth a look as I would like (certainly not near the same level as the play activity apps on the systems themselves), but my Wii U top 3 gave me a good laugh. Smash, Netflix, and then in third place 229 hours of Metroid Other M. I love being reminded I was once one of the best Other M players on the planet. What a treat. My 3DS top 3 was an unsurprising Fire Emblem Fates, Pokemon Y and Fire Emblem Awakening.

[NegativeExponents-]

Why is like 70% of my Wii U lifetime just YouTube?! I honestly feel like that has to be wrong but then again I don't remember using it to play much.

I hate being reminded of my crippling Awakening addiction. I'm honestly surprised I have less playtime here than the Wii U. Like I still use my 3DS to play every now and then meanwhile I haven't touched my Wii U since like 2017 or earlier.

[King Marth 64]

10 hours ago, FlyingKitsune said:

Pokemon Bank is going to become free it appears.

 

That was unexpected that the Pokemon Company is doing this. I'm guessing that the Pokemon Company decided to change to free due to the future Nintendo eShop closure since any Nintendo 3DS players aren't going to come back to the Nintendo 3DS eShop anymore after March 2023?

Edited February 17, 2022 by King Marth 64

[Zapp Branniglenn]

On 2/16/2022 at 7:16 PM, King Marth 64 said:

That was unexpected that the Pokemon Company is doing this. I'm guessing that the Pokemon Company decided to change to free due to the future Nintendo eShop closure since any Nintendo 3DS players aren't going to come back to the Nintendo 3DS eShop anymore after March 2023?

I think the reason why Bank is becoming free is just that there's no way to theoretically monetize the app once players can no longer put money onto their 3DS. If Game Freak could keep charging people, they would. But their options are to either keep running it for free or take it offline. And the latter would be a big deal for players, since Gen 7 to 8 transfers would become impossible. The first total barrier of pokemon crossing since Gen 2 to 3. 

[henrymidfields]

At least they've gave us a good deal of notice in addition to a generous amount of time to enjoy even after the Switch's release. At least compared to the DS Wi-Fi shutdown. Speaking of, I need to get Radiant Historia.

Edited February 24, 2022 by henrymidfields

[avensis]

I was completely unaware of this news !

Edited December 26, 2022 by avensis

[Zapp Branniglenn]

The Shuttering of these Eshops has been a news story I've been mentally preparing for since 2017 - when we got the announcement for the Wii's shopping channel. So I guess that's why I'm mentally drained from wanting to talk about it. There's too much to say. About the art that will become inaccessible, about game design that future developers can't be inspired by or deconstruct, about skyrocketing prices for used games and used systems loaded with these delisted games, about the death of Virtual Console, about how specifically Fire Emblem, Zelda, and Metroid have so much history that's about to disappear, about how the Wii U/3DS generation's emphasis on gimmicks makes those games extremely unlikely to have faithful ports of on future hardware, about Nintendo's backward-thinking shop design that would lead to these shops even needing to be taken offline in the first place.

I guess the one new thought I have is this: The word Monopoly has been thrown around quite casually in 2022. It's such a non-sensical term regarding video games, because the existence of third party digital storefronts like Steam, or a blossoming Indie development space fly in the face of the very concept. We're further away from monopoly than we've ever been since the mid 80s with Nintendo's infamous Seal of Approval ensuring that indie games as we know them today would have been illegal back on the NES. And yet, when you lay out what a monopoly would look like, you talk about a company that exclusively owns content and decides not only which parts of it you are allowed to enjoy, but on what format you are allowed to enjoy it, how long you can enjoy it, and sets outrageous prices since they're the only gang in town that gets to make that call. Wow, that IS Nintendo. Their Switch Online subscription service alone checks all of those boxes. What are Nintendo's biggest scandals of the last 48 hours? Removing Smash from EVO and DMCA striking videos showing Nintendo emulation on the Steam Deck. Nintendo's insistence that emulation is illegal (it's not) has led them to taking down ROM sites that are filled with thousands of games they do not factually own, and hundreds more that they have no interest in ever selling again. The same ROM sites they downloaded ROMs from and then sold on the Wii's Virtual Console. ROM sites were never a threat to Nintendo's financial bottom line, but they were a threat to their exclusive ownership facade.

During the Wii era, I would have bought the notion that emulation hurts the industry. I liked the existence of ROM hacks and fan translations but I was also committed to owning legal copies of all my games. The one time I broke this rule was with Earthbound, but I made a vow that if it ever appeared on Virtual Console I'd buy it day one. This trailer is the moment I decided to purchase a Wii U. I didn't see at the time that Earthbound's (relatively) early release on the Wii U was a tactical choice. An existing classic game that people have been asking for for years but needed to buy the new hardware to play. That's the Disney Vault release methodology that explains everything from the NES/SNES Classic systems to the limited release Mario 3D All Stars and Fire Emblem, to the NSO Expansion Pak. I'm old enough now that I generally agree with the idea that "there is no such thing as ethical consumption under capitalism". But at the same time, giving Nintendo money feels thoroughly un-ethical anyway. Like hearing that a restaurant chain you ordered food from for years is the chief donor to the most evil politicians you've heard of. Except in that case, there are plenty of other restaurants to choose from, nearly the same food. Nintendo is the only one that serves Kirby, Smash Bros, and Metroid. 

So that's why I haven't bought anything off these eshops in light of this terrible news. I'm not sure whether I will or won't. There are DS/3DS games I want to play, but their reliance on touch screen and dual screen functionality raises many questions about whether emulation could ever serve a decent substitute. Plus 95% of the games I've been looking at are third party, thus Nintendo won't make most of that money - God I must live a carefree life to have moral brain teasers about stuff like this. Basically, I want to play Kirby Canvas Curse on my Wii U gamepad, and it's the hardest game purchase I've had to justify in recent memory. 

Edited March 5, 2022 by Zapp Branniglenn

[Shadow Mir]

On 2/15/2022 at 10:32 PM, Zapp Branniglenn said:

According to this, those downloads should be safe and still be redownloadable if you delete them in the future. So I recommend linking your account.

I tried to link my Switch NNID to my 3DS, but it didn't work.

[Shanty Pete's 1st Mate]

13 hours ago, Shadow Mir said:

I tried to link my Switch NNID to my 3DS, but it didn't work.

Per this source, the Switch can only be associated with a Nintendo Account, while the 3DS has an NNID. You need to link the two (Nintendo account and NNID) in order to share funds between the two systems.

[Shadow Mir]

41 minutes ago, Shanty Pete's 1st Mate said:

Per this source, the Switch can only be associated with a Nintendo Account, while the 3DS has an NNID. You need to link the two (Nintendo account and NNID) in order to share funds between the two systems.

Oh... Now I see the problem.