It's time to get your Nintendo Wii U and 3DS downloads squared away for good, as the eShop for those platforms will be going offline soon, in certain regions. On July 31st, users in 42 different countries across Latin America and the Caribbean will no longer be able to use the 3DS or Wii U eShop. It should be noted that these regions never had a typical Nintendo eShop, as they were referred to as "Limited Nintendo eShops", only offering game voucher redemptions as opposed to other regions where the eShop is a full digital storefront. This means that after the aforementioned date, redeeming download codes for Nintendo titles will no longer be an option, nor will downloading updates for games or system software, or even redownloading games you already own.

Nintendo recommends that you download all software and updates that you wish to keep prior to the deactivation date on July 31, and that you redeem your leftover game codes before it's too late. The following countries are the ones affected by this announcement: Anguilla, Antigua/Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cost Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent/Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Those in Mexico or Brazil will not be affected and are an exception, as they offer their own regular Nintendo eShop service and not a "limited" version.

In certain Latin American and Caribbean countries, limited Nintendo eShops for the Wii U system and Nintendo 3DS family of systems have provided a few basic functions, such as game code redemption. Those limited Nintendo eShops will close on July 31, 2020 and users in the affected regions will no longer be able to access them to redeem a download code, redownload software or update software, so we encourage users to take any such actions before the closure date. Also, any software that requires the limited Nintendo eShops to operate may cease to function. (Note that Mexico and Brazil will not be affected.) We thank everyone for using the limited Nintendo eShops and for being such great fans of Nintendo.

What to do
We recommend that you take the following action on your Nintendo 3DS or Wii U before the closure date of July 31, 2020:

• Redownload any previously-downloaded software from the Nintendo eShop
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • Wii U
• Check the Nintendo eShop for any available updates to software you own
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • Wii U
• Redeem any download codes you have that have not yet been redeemed
  • Nintendo 3DS
  • Wii U

FAQ

• What do I do with any codes I haven't yet redeemed?
• Why are the limited Nintendo eShops closing?
• Which regions are affected by this?
• Why aren’t Mexico and Brazil affected?
• Will you also be closing any limited Nintendo eShops for the Nintendo Switch system?
• Do you plan to open full Nintendo eShops for any Nintendo systems in the affected regions?

What do I do with any codes I haven't yet redeemed?
We encourage anyone with unredeemed codes to redeem them before the limited Nintendo eShops close on July 31, 2020. After that, it will not be possible to redeem any codes.

Why are the limited Nintendo eShops closing?
We constantly re-evaluate our business and make decisions based on a variety of factors.

Which regions are affected by this?
The following regions will be affected by this: Anguilla, Antigua/Barbuda, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Cost Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Montserrat, Netherlands Antilles, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent/Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, US Virgin Islands, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Why aren’t Mexico and Brazil affected?
Mexico has a full Nintendo eShop, and those are not affected by the closure of limited Nintendo eShops. Brazil has a full Nintendo eShop for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems and has neither a full nor limited Nintendo eShop for the Wii U system.

Will you also be closing any limited Nintendo eShops for the Nintendo Switch system?
The closures only affect limited Nintendo eShops for the Wii U system and Nintendo 3DS family of systems in the affected regions. No limited or full Nintendo eShops for the Nintendo Switch system will be affected.

Do you plan to open full Nintendo eShops for any Nintendo systems in the affected regions?
We have nothing to announce on this topic.

Source

 

[Alexander1970]

There is a boot1 exploit from hexkyz. But here is the catch, it is not so useful because the wii u isn't the fastest console.

As you can see,it starts already....
https://gbatemp.net/threads/guide-community-noob-guide-to-wii-u-hacking.451297/page-153#post-9034115

 

[Kwyjor]

Spoiler, the """Nintendo""" Wi-Fi Connection was owned and operated by GameSpy, who folded a few years after selling out to IGN

More accurately, Glu Mobile shut down WFC. IGN, or more specifically Ziff-Davis, only owned the website, as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameSpy .

 

[ZachyCatGames]

The rest of the world is sure to follow suit.
The question is what will happen to online gaming on Wii U. :/

No. Nothing will be happening to the eShop in most other regions anytime in the near future.

 

[SANIC]

No one is actually talking about what was actually on the limited eShop and what it meant. In specific territories, you could change your country and get the normal full eShop which a bunch of people did. Therefore it makes no sense to keep it up. The normal 3DS and Wii U eshops aren't going anywhere anytime soon

 

[FAST6191]

Downloadable games are the future. You would not want to stand in the way of progress now would you?

 

[eriol33]

This is what I'm worried about on my PS4... I have a lot of $$$ invested in digital games (blame it on the sales) what is going to happen 20 years from now to my stuff.... this is why I don't buy digital anymore. Also what about Destiny and Need for Speed (games that require internet)

I guess for the guys on 3DS just put CFW on it and call it a day

assuming sony will keep repeating PS4 formula, I like to assume that they will keep using the same architecture to ensure high BC so your software still can be used in PS5, PS6, or PS7 even. we have witnessed that with nintendo's systems at least (wii u can play gamecube games natively with nintendont, and 3ds can run GBA vc games), and I think sony is going that way.

We probably will already have a working ps4 emulator by that time though.