As the classic would say, “everything has an end”, and that of the Nintendo eShop for its 3DS and Wii U consoles will begin to arrive gradually in the coming months. Although if you are one of those who still use these machines, do not be scared, there is enough time ahead to take advantage of the possible offers that could appear and thus complete the collection of digital releases for the portable or the desktop console.
Goodbye to shopping in the eShop
Surely that is the worst of the faces of this decision that Nintendo has announced, since within the calendar that the Japanese have designed, we find three fundamental dates that explain the process that has just begun. The first is that of May 23 of this year, at which time credit cards (we understand that also debit cards) can no longer be used to add funds to our account within the eShop of both 3DS and Wii U.
The second will arrive in the summer, on August 29 of this year, at which time we will no longer be able to use Nintendo eShop cards to add funds to our account as available balance for future game purchases. In this way, the Japanese want that amount of money to disappear little by little until it reaches zero at the moment in which it is not even possible to use those amounts.
And finally, the third date, the definitive one, set for the end of March 2023 , at which time it will be impossible to redeem download codes from the eShop (to obtain games, downloadable content, etc.) and the activity of the store will remain closed. practically completed. Of course, those who have available funds that they have not consumed and want to continue using them, must link their 3DS and Wii U accounts with the Switch account to transfer those amounts to their store and keep them available for the case in which we want to buy anything .
And what about shopping?
Within the bad of the situation created by Nintendo (it is not the first company to make such a decision, and it will not be the last), users will continue to have the option of downloading their games on consoles once that deadline of the end of March 2023, so that everything we have spent will not be deleted, and will remain available to players for a long time in their respective ID. Nintendo hasn’t specified exactly how much, either, but so far it looks like 3DS and Wii U owners have saved match ball from continuing to use their purchases for years to come.
It is clear that with measures such as the one taken by the Japanese, the problem of the planned obsolescence of digital content that is linked to a company comes to the fore and that, as the years go by, it must bear the maintenance costs every ever larger just to allow their customers not to lose what they purchased. That is if there is not a problem that leads to the bottom of the company and all the support and service provided disappears from one day to the next . That is why, do you prefer the physical or digital format for your console games?
