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.

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[64bitmodels]

RIP to this era of nintendo

 

[raxadian]

I am amazed they are waiting a whole year. Still this is just more motivation to hack these things.

 

[SG854]

Hackers are very important for moments like this. Back up and Preservation of these games.

 

[CeeDee]

NO PLAY. ONLY REMEMBER

 

[Shubshub]

People like Gary Bowser was very important for moments like this. Back up and Preservation of these games.

People like Gary Bowser?
You mean the people that profit and steal the efforts of community members that do this for free?

EDIT: Love how you edited your post in response to this

 

[Flame]

is the 3ds stable tho?

 

[sley]

Man that's sad, but at least online play is still active. The e-Shop was the best with the Music changing daily.

Also they did something cool: https://my-nintendo-3ds-wiiu-memories.nintendo.com/

 

[Tsukiru]

People like Gary Bowser?
You mean the people that profit and steal the efforts of community members that do this for free?

Preservation efforts would've carried on with or without that bozo.

Still, unfortunately inevitable (considering Nintendo, anyways). But I'm glad I had my N3DS usable and modded not too long ago.

 

[SG854]

is the 3ds stable tho?

100% Guaranteed Nintendo will release stability updates long after the E-Shop is closed

 

[Shubshub]

Preservation efforts would've carried on with or without that bozo.

Still, unfortunately inevitable (considering Nintendo, anyways). But I'm glad I had my N3DS usable and modded not too long ago.

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)

 

[Tsukiru]

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)

I'm aware, I probably should've quoted the other person. My bad.

 

[64bitmodels]

quick reminder that with this, the experience of browsing the eshop with that funky, changing with the seasons music will be gone. forever. lost to the sands of time. couldn't even replicate it on the switch
cherish that shit, go to the 3ds eshop and just browse, soak that experience in. in a year it'll be gone.

 

[Tsukiru]

quick reminder that with this, the experience of browsing the eshop with that funky, changing with the seasons music will be gone. forever. lost to the sands of time. couldn't even replicate it on the switch
cherish that shit, to to the 3ds eshop and just browse, soak that experience in. in a year it'll be gone.

That's another thing, we're going to be stuck with the Switch's barebones UI and vibes. All these years and still not as useful as the 3DS' home menu.

 

[SG854]

That is what I was insinuating

Yeah that's true

 

[wolf-snake]

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)

Isn't everything that needed to be preserved is already preserved? People preserved god damn Meme Run.

 

[Tsukiru]

Isn't everything that needed to be preserved is already preserved? People preserved god damn Meme Run.

I wouldn't be 100% certain about that. Likelihood of missing some tech demos or whatever that's super obscure.

 

[Hanafuda]

If the people at Nintendo had real business skills, they know this was an opportunity like no other. The Wii U in particular ... sales for games on that console have I'm sure been all but dead now for 3-4 years at least. For the last 3 months that the e-shop is running, or some time frame like that, Nintendo could drop the price on all their 1st party releases for Wii U to ... $15, give or take. Only on the e-shop, i.e. only digital downloads. If they did that, people would fire up those dusty Wii U's, update them, and buy games at a great price, while they could still be bought. And since we're only talking digital downloads, it'd be pure profit. Pure profit, 100% sales that otherwise would never happen.


They'll never do it of course. They'd commit harakiri first.

 

[64bitmodels]

I wouldn't be 100% certain about that. Likelihood of missing some tech demos or whatever that's super obscure.

also- no one has preserved the eshop music in a lossless 24/96 flac format, which is important since most of those tunes rock
you can listen to them on YT but they won't be as clear

 

[stanleyopar2000]

good thing piracy enables preservation!