• Nintendo has stopped the ability for players to purchase new games on the eShop of Wii U and Nintendo 3DS families of devices as of Monday.
• Users who still have funds on wallets linked to older Nintendo devices have until March 2024 to merge them with wallets for the Nintendo Switch.
• The 3DS and the Wii U launched over a decade ago so the company has been quite generous with players over the shuttering of the eShop on these platforms.

As part of its plan to begin winding down services to its older devices, Nintendo has shuttered its eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS devices as of Monday, 27th March.

According to an FAQ from Nintendo of America, as of Monday “…it is no longer possible to make purchases in Nintendo eShop for the Wii U system and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems. It is also no longer possible to download free content, including game demos.”

This applies to the New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS, Wii U Deluxe, Wii U Basic.

“This is part of the natural lifecycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time,” it explains.

Nintendo has also said that it will be stopping the usage of credit cards to add funds to accounts in Nintendo eShop on Wii U or the Nintendo 3DS family of systems from 23rd May. From 29th August, it will no longer be possible to use an eShop Card to add funds to an account in the above devices.

Users who still have funds within their wallets linked to these older devices should merge them with the new Nintendo Account Wallets (used with the Nintendo Switch family of devices.) The ability to merge the older Nintendo Network ID wallets with the new wallets will be available until March 2024.

So the company is giving ample time for users to make the move and use their old funds on the Switch store.

Importantly, players who are still on the 3DS and Wii U will still be able to redownload and play already-purchased games from the eShop, but will not be able to purchase new ones.

Nintendo winding downs its services for older devices is an industry standard. Companies will eventually begin removing live features and networking from older consoles in order to save on costs, especially when players move on to newer technology.

For these devices, the Wii U was released in 2012, and the 3DS in 2011. So Nintendo has been quite generous with the length of time it has given players to migrate to the Switch, its most popular console yet.

It was recently revealed that the Switch is the third-best-selling gaming system ever at over 122 million units, surpassed only by the Gameboy DS and the PlayStation 2.

Nintendo’s about-face towards making titles that generous enormous amounts of buzz from its largest IPs has been a monumental success for the Japanese publisher. Last year it saw its online eShop sales on the Switch close in on one billion units shipped.

[Image – Felipe Vieira on Unsplash]