Wii U/3DS eShop closure timeline announced. :(

[Atariboy]

The long expected closure how sadly has a date. 

 

May 23rd - Credit cards won't be able to be used to add funds.

August 29th - Adding funds via eShop cards will cease.

March 2023 - Purchases with eShop credit and the redemption of download codes will conclude.

 

The eShop will remain online afterwards for redownloading previously purchased content, with no announced final closing date (Much like the still online Wii Shop). Remaining funds in your account at the end will remain if you've linked it to your Switch account (Albeit only good for buying content off the Switch eShop, obviously).

 

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2022/02/nintendo-is-ending-3ds-and-wii-u-eshop-purchases-in-march-2023-north-america

Edited February 16, 2022 by Atariboy

[Tempest]

Wait, the Wii eshop is still online for things you've already downloaded?  I didn't know that, I assumed it all closed down.

[Atariboy]

I haven't checked in a few months, but it was still up and running late last summer. And I've not heard of that status having changed since then.

 

In other news, the 3DS/Wii U memories site that they've put up alongside today's discontinuance announcement is worth a look. Gives a summary of how many hours the user played each system, their top games by hours played, and their favorite genres based off their play statistics.

 

https://my-nintendo-3ds-wiiu-memories.nintendo.com/en-GB/index.html#top

 

Zelda games took the top spot for me in total playtime on both 3DS and Wii U.

Edited February 16, 2022 by Atariboy

[roots.genoa]

I should buy a few things while it's still time (especially 3D short movies), but my 16GB SD card is full and the 3DS is not compatible with 64GB+ cards iirc, so I would have to buy a 32GB card for that.

[Tempest]

11 hours ago, Atariboy said:

In other news, the 3DS/Wii U memories site that they've put up alongside today's discontinuance announcement is worth a look. Gives a summary of how many hours the user played each system, their top games by hours played, and their favorite genres based off their play statistics.

 

https://my-nintendo-3ds-wiiu-memories.nintendo.com/en-GB/index.html#top

 

Zelda games took the top spot for me in total playtime on both 3DS and Wii U.

Geez, I spent 119 hours on Xenoblade Chronicles X, 96 hours on Breath of the Wild, and 65 hours on FE Tokyo Mirage Sessions.  That sounds about right, those were my top games for the system.  In fact I think I'll go and play XBC X next.

[Asaki]

Very sad =( There's still a LOT of games and DLC that I wanted to get, but I don't have the money.

Guess I'll have to soft mod my WiiU... =/

 

 

 

I can't believe I wasted that much time grinding in Pokemon Rumble World >_<

Oh...the downloadable versions don't put the times in.

 

13 hours ago, Atariboy said:

May 23rd - Credit cards won't be able to be used to add funds.

August 29th - Adding funds via eShop cards will cease.

I'm not sure how that even works...WiiU, 3DS, and Switch eShop all share the same money?

[Tempest]

I checked this morning, yes you can still download Wii games you've already purchased from the Wii shop.

[Atariboy]

7 hours ago, Asaki said:

I'm not sure how that even works...WiiU, 3DS, and Switch eShop all share the same money?

You have to link your Nintendo Account (That's what they're called on the Switch) with your Nintendo Network account (The name for user accounts on 3DS/Wii U). Then both accounts will share one wallet. 

 

https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27841/~/how-to-link-a-nintendo-network-id-to-a-nintendo-account

 

While that's obviously the main point to doing this, it has one small side benefit that I've discovered. After linking your account, any of your Wii U/3DS friends that have their account also linked to a Switch account will be shown in your Switch profile under friend suggestions (with the option of sending them a friends invite). Simplifies the process of adding them to your Switch friends list instead of messing with friend codes.

 

Linking is also necessary if you want to check out Nintendo's memories site that I linked to in post #3.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Atariboy

[Atariboy]

Linking accounts will push out the date you'll be able to add funds.

 

"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."

 

I figured it would have to work that way, but nice to see confirmation.

[boog]

One year advance notice is fair... hopefully games don't get delisted before then. Still a few Wii U/3DS exclusives that I want but never got around to buying like Noitu Love and Mario vs DK Tipping Stars. I'm glad Fatal Frame: MoBW went multi-platform but there are a lot of other Wii U eshop exclusives that will no longer be available anywhere once the storefront closes:

 

https://www.gematsu.com/exclusives/wii-u

 

 

I'll probably also get Devil's Third digitally since the US retail release is $$$. Not a great game, but a Wii U exclusive that I'd like to try before $$$ or piracy are the only options.

[Austin]

5 hours ago, Atariboy said:

"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."

That's the interesting thing to me. I understand needing to remove credit card processing, but if the infrastructure is already there to share funds between accounts, why can't they just leave it up? It could just be a cost thing, or perhaps some other back-end technical issue I am not aware of.

 

FYI for pinball fans, I believe you can still get most of the Williams packs (that were delisted a long time ago on other platforms) in the Wii U version of Pinball Arcade. Do it before the store is shut down.

[Tempest]

So what are the best hidden gems in the Wii U shop?

[homerj]

Well neither of these is a hidden gem but i bought Devil’s Third a few weeks ago & Metroid Prime Trilogy today.  I’ve always wanted to try Devil’s Third despite the reviews & i have to say it’s not terrible at all.  It isn’t amazing either but it’s fairly enjoyable.  Feels a lot like an early 360 game.  As far as MPT, $20,00 for all 3 games is just an unbelievable deal. 

[Asaki]

9 hours ago, Atariboy said:

Linking accounts will push out the date you'll be able to add funds.

That's what I meant. I didn't understand how you wouldn't be able to add funds anymore when all three eShops share the same account.

  

3 hours ago, Tempest said:

So what are the best hidden gems in the Wii U shop?

Mostly just Virtual Console, I think. Most of the other games you can get elsewhere, or in physical form (but a lot of them might be cheaper in digital). Being able to play DS games on the TV is probably pretty neat.

 

There is a lot of DLC though. I know Mario Kart 8, BotW, Pikmin 3, and Hyrule Warriors all have DLC (but all of those games are also on Switch).

I knew I should've grabbed the Pikmin 3 DLC when they had it for coins at MyNintendo, but I didn't own the game at the time. I've already got the MK8 and BotW DLCs, the rest I'm just going to have to see if I can afford...

 

The SteamWorld games are really good, if you don't already have them on other platforms. And they're all on sale right now.
Axiom Verge is on sale, too.
Xenoblade Chronicles is supposed to be really good, and the digital version is only $20 (I can't imagine the Wii disc is very cheap).
 

I'm pretty sure the 3DS is going to suffer from this a lot more than the WiiU...TONS of great digital-exclusive content there. I still have plenty of games sitting on my wish list.

[Atariboy]

It's overlooked, but one of my first purchases in these closing months will be the DLC for New Super Mario Bros. 2. It got 10 different level packs featuring stuff such as retro courses and extremely difficult levels for $20. I don't think many people bought these, judging by the complete lack of discussion that I've ever seen about them at the forums I visit.

 

I never got around to Breath of the Wild's DLC or Pikmin 3. I think at this point I'll skip the Zelda DLC and just buy it on Switch. I've played the main game twice on Wii U and I've already decided the next time around will be on the Switch. As for Pikmin 3, it might be way too late. The game was relisted after its controversial removal when the Switch port came out, but I've heard suggestions that the DLC never was.

 

I'll pop Pikmin 3 in later and check (You can't buy the DLC in the eShop; Rather, you have to do it in-game).

 

2 hours ago, Asaki said:

That's what I meant. I didn't understand how you wouldn't be able to add funds anymore when all three eShops share the same account.

Sorry about that. Managed to get it completely backwards.

 

At least I inadvertently provided an answer to what you actually were wondering about, lol.

Edited February 17, 2022 by Atariboy

[Tempest]

13 minutes ago, Atariboy said:

It's overlooked, but one of my first purchases in these closing months will be the DLC for New Super Mario Bros. 2. It got 10 different level packs featuring stuff such as retro courses and extremely difficult levels for $20. I don't think many people bought these, judging by the complete lack of discussion that I've ever seen about them at the forums I visit.

Are those different than the Super Luigi U levels?

[Atariboy]

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is the 3DS game that came out a few months before NSMBU on the Wii U. The main game and the DLC is completely different than the Wii U entry, despite their release dates being I think the same year. 

 

I cheated a bit by mentioning it in here since this is the Wii/Wii U forum, but with this closure notice obviously impacting both platforms, it's hard to limit the discussion just to the Wii U. 

 

But speaking of New Super Luigi U, if none of you bought it digitally and want to have it on your Wii U, I highly recommend it. The most fun I had with the New Super Mario Bros. franchise was playing through that one. It's also available physically on Wii U (Unsure if it's expensive these days) and is of course bundled with the base game on the Switch. 

Edited February 17, 2022 by Atariboy

[Tempest]

Is there a way to browse the Wii U store online?  All I see are the Switch and 3DS stores.  Browsing in the Wii U is so dang slooooow.

[Atariboy]

A couple of days ago when the news broke I was able to look up Wii U games at Nintendo's site, see prices, and have the option of buying. But now nothing I type in their search box shows up past Switch and 3DS games.

 

I don't know if it's a fluke and they'll be back after some sort of website maintenance is finished, or if they've already pulled all those listings permanently off their website. 

 

[Asaki]

On 2/17/2022 at 8:35 PM, Tempest said:

Browsing in the Wii U is so dang slooooow.

Is it? It's always been pretty smooth for me. Not like on the Switch.

 

Also, here's that list you wanted: https://www.nintendolife.com/features/23-best-wii-u-eshop-games-you-should-get-before-theyre-gone-forever

Edited February 19, 2022 by Asaki

[+slx]

I‘ll probably get Affordable Space Adventures as it reportedly makes good use of the Wii U‘s ability for asymmetric multiplayer gaming. Any other recommendations for good family local multiplayer games are welcome.

 

I also thought about Shantae but unlike the Switch version it never gets a discount for Wii U.

[+jgkspsx]

When will the eshop cards stop being sold? Or will they? If I read it right, it said you won’t be able to use them on the 3DS or Wii U after August 29 but it seems like if you have your Nintendo Account wallet linked you can add money to that and keep doing so until February.

[Atariboy]

I would assume it won't impact the availability of cards, since you can redeem them on the Switch eShop as well. They weren't exclusive to just the Wii U and 3DS eShop, or places like Walmart would've stopped stocking them a few years ago I'm sure.

 

In other news since the Wii Shop remaining active saw some discussion earlier in this thread, the Wii and DSi Shop are again online for redownloading past purchases. They had been offline since the end of last winter or thereabouts (not long after it was mentioned in this topic how the Wii Shop was still online), with Nintendo's official response being that they were undergoing maintenance.

 

When the months started to add up with them still offline, I don't think anyone expected them to ever come back online. But they did within the past week or two. So if anyone is reading this and somehow neglected all these years to prepare for the shop fully closing one of these days, you can now rectify that situation.

 

I'm sure a few people would just delete and redownload games, managing the limited internal storage space of both systems rather than just inserting an SD card to expand their storage space. So now's your last chance to pop in a SD card into your Wii or DSi finally and get everything downloaded and installed that you had purchased.

 

Or if your Wii is getting flaky and your Wii U is fine, you can do a very belated system transfer to move over your digital purchases thanks to the Wii Shop coming back online.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Atariboy