It is always bad news when a digital store for a console closes its doors because, in those first moments, users are scared of thinking that they will still be left without all the games they have been buying over the years. . And of course, nobody wants to come across something like this, so many times one understands that the digital format is not as hegemonic at this point in 2023 as it should be.
Imminent closure of eShops
Thus, next Monday, March 27, 2013, the two digital stores that sold the entire catalog of releases for the consoles that Nintendo developed in the early 2010s will close their stalls. Both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will see how all the references that were arriving in your catalog over time are no longer available.
Now, just because we can’t buy a game for those machines after March 27 doesn’t mean we can’t access and have a series of specific functions that will help us access our purchases . Which are what really makes us lose sleep and why we are here today, to explain that you have nothing to fear: your money and the purchases that are part of your history will remain (for the moment) available at any time. Without limits.
This is how Nintendo itself clarifies it in a FAQ that wants to ward off the ghosts of a fright on 3DS or Wii U, leaving users stranded along the way. So the first thing is to calm down and think that the most we are going to lose is the option to continue buying games in digital format.
What can we (and can’t we) do after the closure?
Although on March 27 those operations in the eShop will end, especially when it comes to buying games, which will no longer be possible, we will keep a good bunch of functions that will allow us to make sense of turning on our old consoles in the future. And it is all that we tell you below:
- You will be able to re-download content that you have already purchased.
- Download game updates that you have installed on your consoles.
- On Nintendo 3DS systems, you will be able to download “a small number of free themes from the Theme Store”.
However, the list of functions that are lost is even longer, since the functionality of both stores is going to be lost almost entirely. This is everything you will NOT be able to do from March 27, 2023:
- Purchase any paid content:
- On 3DS this includes games, matches, and passes in programs like StreetPass Mii Plaza , the Theme Store, Nintendo Badge Arcade, and Pokémon Bank.
- On Wii U consoles it has to do with passes for shows like Wii Sports Club .
- We will not be able to download trial versions , even in those cases of titles that were initially allowed to be played without paying.
- Redeem download codes.
- Add funds to the balance that we could accumulate in the Nintendo eShop.