Feb 22, 2022
Nintendo shutting down the eShop for the Wii U and the 3DS in late March 2023
Nintendo will close the online stores for the 3DS handheld and the Wii U console in late March 2023, the company announced today. The company attempted to answer that in the FAQ posted alongside the support notice, saying, “This is part of the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time.” After those stores, called the Nintendo eShop, shut down, it will no longer be possible to make digital purchases for the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
This also means no more Yo-kai Watch trilogy (along with Blasters) on the 3DS eShop, though the Yo-kai Watch games did not sell very well physically in the west following the toy line being discontinued in 2017, along with the changing of voice actors for the anime’s third season due to budgeting issues and low ratings on Disney XD before it got removed from its lineup in April 2019 and again in August 2020. The anime series was later removed from Netflix in April of last year, though other regions, including other streaming services such as Apple TV and Hulu, have yet to follow suit.
The Wii U (which I didn’t own physically) was discontinued in early 2017 as it was a commercial failure, and the 3DS was discontinued in September 2020. On May 23, Nintendo will end support for adding funds to a Nintendo eShop account on Wii U and 3DS using a credit or debit card, and on August 29, it will no longer be possible to use a Nintendo eShop Card to add funds to an account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. However, it is still possible to redeem download codes before late March 2023. The YouTube app for the Wii was shut down in 2017, the Wii Shop Channel was closed in 2019, and ended support for Super Mario Maker on Wii U in 2021. I do have memories for the Wii U and the 3DS.
Though Yo-kai Watch 4 will still be stuck in Japan following the closure of Level-5’s North American branch in October 2020, it’s time for you to preserve your past gaming content before you lose certain games’ certain features, such as Pokémon Bank. Polygon has prepared a handy guide to walk you through the process of grabbing Pokémon from as far back as Ruby and Sapphire.
What memories do YOU have of your Wii U and your 3DS? Leave your responses here. Samurai Cory out.
