Nintendo eShop for Wii U & 3DS is being discontinued next year, funds can't be added starting next month
The end of an era...
Unfortunately, the Wii U and 3DS eShop pages will soon see their demise. Starting on March 27th, 2023, you will no longer be able to make new digital purchases on the last-generation consoles. The ability to add eShop funds will end even sooner, with the feature set to be unavailable as of next month, on August 28th, 2022.
Fire Emblem Fates in particular is getting an individual shut down time, February 28th, 2023, one month before the entire eShop goes kablooey. Its DLC will be available until March 27th, 2023 though, as with the rest of the software on the eShop. Make sure to download any digital-only games and DLC you want before then, and prepare for the prices of physical Wii U and 3DS games to skyrocket.
Of course, all previously made purchases from the Wii U and 3DS eShops, including any games and DLC, can be redownloaded at any time, even after the closure of the service. Software updates and online play will continue to be available as well.
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mike_intellivision
1+ y agoIf I understand correctly, those with a linked Nintendo account can still use shared funds until the February shutdown.
Correct. So you can still get your funds from the Switch and use that to buy 3DS games.
Anyways...didn't Nintendo inform of this earlier?
Yes. This is not new information. This was all announced earlier this year. Not sure why it was reported as new news.
This is just a reiteration of the same info. The only thing that’s changed is we’ve now passed the first ‘milestone’ in May 2022 where you can’t add funds with a credit card anymore.
ninjablaze
1+ y agoThe most damning thing out of all this is that in the press release from Nintendo of Japan they said they'd eventually remove the ability for you to download games you already officially purchased, which is just...not illegal, but honestly maybe looking forward we should be looking at making it illegal.
Source please? Never I have seen that news before and if it is..then its most likely a mistranslation.
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/support/information/2022/0216.html
it's mentioned in two different places:
"You can continue to download updated data and re-download purchased software and additional content. These services will be terminated in the future. We will inform you again as soon as the specific schedule is decided."
"Q2. Will I not be able to re-download purchased download software or additional content?
A2. Purchased download software and additional content can be re-downloaded. The re-download service will be terminated in the future."
I used Google translate for that text, but fluent Japanese speakers on Twitter and Japanese focused or based sites like Siliconera also say the same thing.
I think it is just legalese that at some point in the future, those servers will no longer be on-line, so you won't be able to redownload your games then.
But unlike some companies -- which announce the end of service for titles after it occured -- Nintendo has given plenty of notice of its intentions herein.
The bigger issue I see is the inability to move content between consoles -- especially when consoles are no longer serviced by Nintendo. (I am thinking of my investment on Wii software, for example).
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