It's the end of an era, as both the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS will be moving on to that great end-of-life cloud in the sky. Nintendo has put out a warning that they'll be winding down support both the eShop on both platforms. Starting May 23 of this year, credit cards will no longer be able to be used to add funds to the 3DS or Wii U eShop, with support for physical eShop cards going away on August 29th. Digital download codes will still work and will be redeemable until the final plug is pulled in March 2023.

As of late March 2023, it will no longer be possible to make purchases in Nintendo eShop for the Wii U system and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. It will also no longer be possible to download free content, including game demos. Furthermore, as this date draws closer, related services will cease to function:

• As of May 23, 2022, it will no longer be possible to use a credit card to add funds to an account in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
• As of August 29, 2022, 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 will still be possible to redeem download codes until late March 2023.

Users who link their Nintendo Network ID wallet (used with Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems) with their Nintendo Account wallet (used with the Nintendo Switch family of systems) can use the shared balance to purchase content on any of these systems until late March 2023. After that, the balance can only be used to purchase content for the Nintendo Switch family of systems.

In an FAQ released alongside the announcement, Nintendo clarified that this will not affect online play, and users will still be able to redownload games they have previously purchased.

If someone visits Nintendo eShop and wants to download something on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family systems after late March 2023, what will they able to do?

• On both platforms, users will still be able to:
  • Redownload content they own.
  • Download existing software updates.
• On both platforms, users will not be able to:
  • Purchase any content:
    • On Nintendo 3DS, this includes paid content, plays and passes in software such as StreetPass Mii Plaza, Theme Shop, Nintendo Badge Arcade and Pokémon Bank.
    • On Wii U, this includes passes in software such as Wii Sports Club.
  • Download demos.
  • Download free-to-start software.
  • Redeem a download code.
  • Add funds to their Nintendo eShop balance.
• On Nintendo 3DS family systems, users will still be able to:
  • Download a small number of free themes from Theme Shop.

Nintendo released the 3DS in March 2011, with multiple revisions to the handheld released throughout its lifetime. The Wii U came out in November 2012, and had a short life, being officially discontinued after the launch of the more successful Switch in 2017. The Virtual Console service was well known on either system, where classic games were sold individually, ranging from decades of Nintendo history. Nintendo chose to mention that they currently have no plans to continue the Virtual Console line, and will be focusing support on the Nintendo Switch Online classic library.

Source

 

[Plazorn]

OH NOO .. ::: Look at my 6tb drive::: Preservation !!!!

Lol, I think all the 3DS content combined is only 1.8 tb (according to HShop)

 

[diggeloid]

RIP 3DS. Even you were a better handheld than the Vita.

This is a sad event and all, but there's no need for blasphemy.

 

[MasterJ360]

This is a sad event and all, but there's no need for blasphemy.

What part of my comment was blasphemy? Every word in that sentence is pure fact

 

[regnad]

It’s been quite a while since I hacked my Wii U, but as I recall it required purchasing a game from the eShop. Will this put an end to that?

 

[Viri]

You know those people who buy like 10 12tb hard drives, and hoard data? Some people call them crazy! They're the reason your video games are preserved. Thank your internet hoarders from time to time!


And yes, this just further justifies hacking your Wii-U/3DS. I been actually trying to get my sister to find and give me her old Wii-U, as she doesn't want it anymore. I just want to play Ogre Battle 64 portably, and it doesn't run very well on Switch via Retro Arch. The sound fucks up. :/

 

[the_randomizer]

This is a sad event and all, but there's no need for blasphemy.

Vita would've sold better if Sony didn't use those shitty proprietary memory cards

 

[PrincessLillie]

We knew it was coming, but we didn't know when. Even though I haven't used the eShop on Wii U or 3DS in years (still use my 3DS almost daily though, and still use my Wii and Wii U often), this is still incredibly sad to see.
One thing I'm curious about is how this will affect CBHC users. I might end up being forced into using Tiramisu against my will, ironically by the very people against it.
I'm also curious how this will affect specific apps, like Nintendo Badge Arcade and StreetPass Mii Plaza. Like, for Badge Arcade, will plays be free from now or is Arcade Bunny really out of a job now? And for Mii Plaza, are the DLC games free from now or will they be rendered permanently inaccessible?

 

[KleinesSinchen]

It’s been quite a while since I hacked my Wii U, but as I recall it required purchasing a game from the eShop. Will this put an end to that?

Thankfully no. With the new "Tiramisu"-method, no DS game is needed anymore. Happy reading:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/release-tiramisu-environment-free-cbhc.605381/
https://wiiu.hacks.guide/#/

[…]
One thing I'm curious about is how this will affect CBHC users. I might end up being forced into using Tiramisu against my will, ironically by the very people against it.
I'm also curious how this will affect specific apps, like Nintendo Badge Arcade and StreetPass Mii Plaza. Like, for Badge Arcade, will plays be free from now or is Arcade Bunny really out of a job now? And for Mii Plaza, are the DLC games free from now or will they be rendered permanently inaccessible?

Doesn't affect your installation. And doesn't affect your possibility to re-download the purchased game if you do this:
Uninstall CBHC, remove DS game, reinstall from eShop, reinstall Haxchi and CBHC
===========

"Let's close the 3DS and Wii U eShop! The consoles are old. Don't need this anymore. Wanna buy a Switch?"
What's the point? They still have the servers running for re-downloading purchased games. A few purchases would surely be made if they left it as it is. What do they fear? Costs for support requests?

I'll have to go through the two shops to make sure I didn't miss anything of interest.

Hey, Nintendo, how about a big closing out sale? You could get quite some money from that. Who am I kidding? As if they would ever do something sensible.

 

[eriol33]

how about the spotpass service? let's say I am playing fire emblem awakening with a new save, I couldn't download all the spotpass free items after this service ends?

 

[newo]

Which reminds me that i should buy a n3ds or should i skip it and just get a switch?

 

[Glyptofane]

Edit: Sorry, I just saw this was already posted.

Here's the part about classic games Nintendo already deleted from their Q&A:

 

[RichardTheKing]

Goodbye, Virtual Console.
Also this will suck for Fire Emblem Fates, considering how much of that game is paid DLC...also Awakening, to a smaller extent.

This is gonna suuuuuck...so many games just impossible to obtain legitimately, after this - hell, for one example, Ace Attorney was download-only on the system. Also indies.

 

[Glyptofane]

Microsoft has done really with their accessibility and backwards compatibility. Shame they all can't be like that.

Exactly. For anyone with the option, buying multiplatform games on Xbox is probably the most forward thinking choice.

 

[Stealphie]

This just makes me sad. I knew it was coming but man... Most of these games have already been preserved online through TOTALLY LEGITIMATE MEASURES, which is a good thing but that still sucks. It's only a matter of time before the online gets shut down too, so we might see something like Wimmfi, but for 3DS and WiiU games.

It’s been quite a while since I hacked my Wii U, but as I recall it required purchasing a game from the eShop. Will this put an end to that?

There's been another exploit that doesn't require an eShop game I believe.

 

[SonyUSA]

That is what I was insinuating
People like Gary Bowser played no role in the effort of preservation...
Its not very preservatory to charge access to hacking tools and archival content like that (Lets be honest if Gary Bowser ran his own romsite he would do this)

Why do people keep forgetting SXOS was free >_>;; you only needed the license for the .xci loader... you could make cart images (archival) and run homebrew all day long for free

 

[fst312]

This just makes me sad. I knew it was coming but man... Most of these games have already been preserved online through TOTALLY LEGITIMATE MEASURES, which is a good thing but that still sucks. It's only a matter of time before the online gets shut down too, so we might see something like Wimmfi, but for 3DS and WiiU games.

There's been another exploit that doesn't require an eShop game I believe.

Hopefully online doesn’t get shut down, since 3ds and wiiu use a nintendo id and the switch uses that too, I haven’t really looked at what servers online uses but I would think they use the same online servers for each system. If anything pretendo will be the way to play online. I haven’t really tried it yet but I think it’s on beta right now.

 

[LoggerMan]

Don't we need an official eShop purchase for one of the WiiU hacks?

 

[Tsukiru]

Don't we need an official eShop purchase for one of the WiiU hacks?

Two of them but as mentioned earlier, there was a recent new exploit that's free.

 

[matthi321]

we can still install games on the 3ds and wii u after this right?

 

[ds34]

no. this just can't be. someone's cutting onions here