Random: "I'm Able To Trust Sony More Than Nintendo" - Japan Reacts To The Closure Of The Wii U And 3DS eShops

Wait, are you not able to play previously purchased games?

“I’m still playing the 3DS! Stop f**king with me!”

@StarPoint they shut down the Wii shop years ago and I can still play Smash and Paper Mario so I can't imagine this would be any different.

Some of these are particularly unhinged.

@StarPoint you are, but you better download all of them before march 2023 to make sure you have them

Given Nintendo’s track record of ignoring fan requests, I don’t think these rants will change their minds. See: Mother 3 and limited edition games like Super Mario 35 or SNES and NES mini…

“Okay, then make it possible to use the Virtual Console on the Switch"

Well I agree with that.

@StarPoint Nintendo claims you can

But they shoot themself in their foot few hours later with the following:

" Due to the discontinuation of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops, several games will make changes on how they handle DLC in the store. For Fire Emblem: Fates, all 3DS DLC (including maps and Revelation) will no longer appear in the shop after March 2023."

and

"All DLC for Fire Emblem: Fates will disappear from the Nintendo 3DS eShop in late March 2023, so you will need to download it onto your device before then."

So they opened the Pandora box very quickly... (I wonder what other games end up the same way as this one)

I mean I can talk all day what I hate about Sony, same Sony allows to re-download my previously bought PSP games for example, even after that store closed years ago.

Some of these complaints go a bit too far, as closing the shop would not prevent anybody from playing their previously owned games. It's just wise to make a copy of them on an external memory card.

Sounds like an okay from Nintendo to brick your 3DS and download the old library if you want to play them in the future.

As long as you have your games installed on your 3DS, you can keep playing them forever.

I get the disappointment especially considering how popular the 3DS was in Japan, but some of those comments seem like a bit of an overreaction.

This should be as big as sony with ps3... but its not going to happen, for some reason, nintendo's user base just accepts this kind of thing in general.

Wow, what a bunch of whiners. This decision really makes sense, they got to move on from there old consoles eventually folks.

That one person lost me with "I trust Sony more than Nintendo"- it's not like they're any better, slowly disabling the PS3 store by only allowing you to purchase items on it with pre-paid money rather than a credit card. They were actually going to get rid of the PS3 store entirely but backpedaled because of the backlash.

This is why I can never truly get into modern gaming. Seeing online stores shut down and remove access to tons of great games just breaks my heart.

I trust Xbox over the other two. Xbox would never do this. The backlash would be massive that it'll look like a suicide.

Nintendo fans are accepting of everything this company does. It's terrifying.

I could see why Nintendo end it so soon. These people are the same people that were not there when the Wii U and 3DS need support the most then when Nintendo says time to move on they cry and whine. All good things come to an end, not everything stays forever, even digital. I wouldn't worry too much though, somewhere in another server these games and UI will be archive anyways just like the Ouya and Wii.

@Jumping_Dead You don't have to wait long for that one.

I get why people complain, but I don't get why people have to defend it, there is no reason to defend it only to or complain or ignore.

I take the second route mostly, instead of complaining I just start getting the missing 3DS exclusives I still want, because the 3DS has a ton of system exclusives, some are already very expensive in EU and the prices will only rise because of this.

@MsJubilee never say never, there is no never because we can't look into the future.

Fact is Microsoft does it much better, that is true but that doesn't mean they will never take a different route.

It reminds me of "Nintendo will never stop censoring games" and "Sony will never censor games" statements from not so long ago (around 8 years back).

And look how those 2 tables turned...

@Jumping_Dead Does it look like we're accepting this good

Yeah let’s trust Sony more who censor games, port their first-party titles to PC and can’t stock enough PS5s to meet demand.

@StarPoint you are, but if you ever have to redownload, you’re Outta luck

@rogvc You can still download previous purchases!

@StarPoint For now, you can, you can still download your purchases.

But that still means that hundreds of games will be locked away from new customers, the only way to aquire them is from pirates.

And they can still close the download servers later.

@StarPoint In terms of digital games. If you already have it downloaded, then you can still keep playing them. You won't be able to buy anymore games.

Sill it's important to try and make backups of digital games. With my Wii and DSi, I have all my downloads backed up to SD cards. This way I can copy them back to my Wii or DSi as needed. No special trickery, it's a function within the Wii and DSi menu.

Similar to Wii U, I backed up most of my games to USB sticks, ready to be copied back to system memory or my hard drive (I use a HDD for Wii U digital, USB sticks are just for storage).

This also makes me appreciate stuff like GOG more, where games have no DRM on them. Let me back up my game and install it without internet connection. This is why I like buying PC games here more than Steam personally (I don't hate Steam either, this is just a preference I have).

@westman98 It’s almost like select comments picked from a pool of literally millions have been deliberately chosen to draw attention due to their reactionary nature.

While I hate the closure is happening, why is everyone suddenly defending the Wii U? You know, a console most people clearly had no problems throwing s*** to and were more than glad it lost its exclusives.

Lot of misinformed people judging from those comments.

I gotta make a list of games I wanted off of it. It would be nice to see a fire sale next month. Even Nintendo first party could be 50% off.

Also, I’m not sure if it’s true today but I was able to redownload ALL of my Wii purchases AFTER the Wii eshop closed. I’m even seeing comments here of people believing that won’t be the case.

@rogvc There's so much misinformation here. All that's stopping in March 2023 is the ability to buy the games. You can still download anything you've bought beyond that date. But we are still at the mercy on that as well. This is why I go physical when possible.

What a huge overreaction, IMO.

Not only can you still play games that you've already downloaded, but you also have an entire year to download any titles that you still want... Were these fine folks expecting eShop to last forever or do they just want something to whine about?

Next month they'll be whining about Nintendo clinging to the past and taking too long to release a Switch Pro.

@Sunsy You CAN redownload them after the shutdown. You just can't buy new games.

I really hope there is a huge sale before shut down.
Doubt it will happen though.

@Damo You guys really need to post an article that makes it PLAIN what this shutdown means and doesn't mean.

I think Nintendo shut down stuff WAY too soon, but some of those reactions are ridiculous. It's not going to stop you playing your games.

Then again, this seems to happen a lot. I've seen loads of people think that Pokemon Bank shut down as they saw the story about them no longer accepting credit cards as payment.

Sony is better, but they're not great either. Xbox and Steam seem the only stores I feel truly confident are always going to be there, as Sony, like Nintendo, creating a new store for each console, so inevitably they will close at some stage.

I'm confused, many of those responses seem to not understand what is actually happening, and as such it's just spreading further misconception to post them here as is evident from the comments.

In the linked article it states that:
"While you'll still be able to redownload games and DLC, receive software updates and play online beyond this date, the ability to purchase games will "no longer be possible" and new content will no longer be released on these digital storefronts."

So you just can't buy anything new, you can still play the games and dlc you own and re-download them even. You just can't buy them new. And people saying how great Sony is for having their stores still open, yeah I love me some Playstation but their stores are only still open because they tried to do this and had a terrible fan backlash last year.

As pointed out by another user:

https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/01/reggie_fils-aime_briefly_addresses_topic_of_carrying_over_online_purchases_to_switch

Nintendo is not reliable.

The thing I appreciate is that you can still redownload bought games even on Wii (which I think had the first Nintendo eshop in the West) 16 years later. If I want new games, I can get them on Switch (why wouldn't I?), but I appreciate that Nintendo helps make sure you can keep your old games.

Some individual online-oriented games definitely lose some gameplay eventually (mario maker 1 on wii u), but for most games they remain fully playable essentially forever so far at least.

@hypercoyote Agreed. You just can’t buy new games. That’s it. You can still play what you bought, or redownload after it’s “shutdown” if needed.

"Okay, then make it possible to use the Virtual Console on the Switch".

This. With cross-play and not paying again for the same titles we have already purchased.

@Sunsy

Please do not spread misinformation like that. You can still download the games you bought previously.

They only closing down the possibility to buy games on the store.

Wii e-shop has been in this state for years. You can still download games there as well, that you bought previously.

@hypercoyote Agreed, they should.

Although, if they don't I completely understand. These comment sections are so reactionary, it's almost like a rage-culture. Certain users just want a platform to complain about the industry because they don't have anything intelligent say but want to feel important. Thus, they play the role of the poor victimized Nintendo gamer.

ask not what nintendo can do for you, ask what you can do for nintendo.

It sounds like you will still be able to download games after the shutdown. So, the panic might not be fully justified - but even that won't last forever.

Honestly, for reasons like this I always back up everything I've bought digitally and, where possible, remove the DRM (though that usually applies to Amazon/Comixology books etc. more than games). PC games are getting a bit too big to backup though (so hopefully Steam doesn't go away any time soon).

And once a console is 'dead', it is worth looking into installing homebrew. I can understand the arguments against that (and I'm not advocating for piracy) but it seems to be necessary in this age, where you don't really own anything and things you have paid for can be taken away (not that that is happening in this case yet).

With 3DS homebrew, you can backup your legally-bought games (physical and digital) as individual installable files, rather than backing up the full sd card.

It just means you have to REALLY take care of your 3DS, be careful with your data on the micro SD card, make a backup, back up that backup. if your 3DS dies, suck it up, Nintendo don't care because they got their money from you years ago.

@StarPoint Yeah you can play games you've already bought, and redownload them if needed if you've already paid for them.

They don't say for how long, only "for the foreseeable future," so likely a long time to come.

@hypercoyote @dres Then, my apologies. I didn't even know the Wii and DSi shops were still up for re-download. Actually, looking at the DSi shop now, so I will edit that out of my comment.

Still, it's a good idea to still backup digital purchases using system file management functions, just to be safe.

Edit: I should point out the message in the DSi shop does say "for a limited time previous purchases can still be redownloaded," so keep in mind this option to re-download may not be forever. Personally, I didn't even know it was still up as shut down always means shut down in most cases.

@JasonLee99 I can confirm this still works on the Wii Shop at least in Australia. I actually re-downloaded a few titles last week. Had to replace the SD card.

@MegaMari0 Or you can just redownload the game from the eshop if you have to get a new 3DS. It’ll still be there.

I hope even with the store closed, you can redownload purchased games. That's how people have been dealing with storage problems on the Switch...delete digitally purchased games for space with the knowledge that you can get them again in the future.

All digital storefronts eventually shut down. If you expected this to be any different, it's on you, really.

Download what you can in the next year, and move on. The day that the servers go offline completely, that you can no longer re-downloaded purchased content, it will either be available on some new hardware, or you can simply turn to the legal grey area that is emulation.

Is it unfortunate? Absolutely.

But we also agree to these terms whenever we buy a game digitally, we just don't read it. And realistically we have had years to buy these games!
There are plenty of 3DS/Wii U titles I never had the time or money for and it hasn't been the end of the world.

"I’m able to trust Sony more than Nintendo" after Sony just completely offed PSP store and was that close to disabling purchases (as in, the ones still possible after the demise of associated webstore sections some of whose content was inexplicably never patched to show up on Vita PSS app) on two more platforms.

...Is something getting lost in translation here?

@FishyS @Ash1189 hol' up, I thought the whole drama around Wii shop was about the servers themselves (reportedly based on outdated third party infrastructure Nintendo no longer uses) following purchases into the west. Unlike with 3DS and Wii U announcements today, reassuring the safety of purchased content and patches in the "foreseeable future", the Wii/DS FAQ even openly phrased the redownload or Wii U transfer period as a rather limited time, all but urging users to hurry up with backups. The whole "you only rent digital stuff [in a universe where romsets clearly don't exist]" lament was at least somewhat understandable back then. And now you're telling me this stuff is actually STILL up for access in 2022???

I feel like the accurate complaints are very fair. Nintendo shouldn't do this, at all.

@Rayquaza2510 Where did you get that quote, if you don't mind me asking? I don't see it on their FAQ page.

I honestly can't even remember the last time I even picked up my 3DS or Wii U.

Xbox is loyal to their base, this is horseshit, I hope this backfires quickly.

What’s natural in paying a full retail price for a digital product which is sold to you to discover few years later it was a rental after all ? This is BS. Misleading information, false advertising and so on. I went 100% digital with 3ds and switch, because of the storage and environmental concerns.

@Royalblues That is really not acceptable in 2022 or beyond imo.

@Rayquaza2510 You can still download you wii games even if the store closed. I don't see why it would be different for 3DS.

@StarPoint As long as you download the games onto said device before the Store closes you're good to go otherwise no.

I mean, if you could still buy 3DS games on Switch, then it wouldn't be a problem at all. The fact that you can't IS a problem, though. They're going to lock the entire 3DS library for the next decade, like they did with almost any other console. Disney Vault approach, basically. I hope you're satisfied, Nintendo. Cause we aren't.

I’m on their side. The fact Nintendo has the audacity to do this while simultaneously flat out stating Nintendo switch online is the only way they plan to preserve legacy content is flat out unreasonable. Even in the DS/wii era this bullsh$t Nintendo has been doing would’ve been impractical. I’m even reconsidering getting forgotten lands now let alone using my switch still.

@glaemay I can't download WiiWare games I purchased after the Wii Shop closed down. I know some services like Steam you can still download a game you purchased even after it's removed from the Store but I'm not sure if downloading is possible if the Store for said service is closed down, more than likely it won't be. How do you download something from a Server that is no longer there?

@StarPoint Nintendo did clarify you can still play all your downloaded games. Some of those reactions are just out of place. Also, after the time has past, you can even redownload stuff you had already purchased. The main thing is Nintendo is not going to sell games anymore. They sent out a thorough message about this...

These comments are completely justified as this is nowhere an acceptable way to treat your past titles and hardware. If it wasn't for the fans that care about preservation, many games before the Wii U and PS4 era would have been long lost and forgotten. Even though I'm not a fan of the Xbox brand, at least Microsoft is continually keeping most of their digital stores open to the public.

Of course, there are die hard fanboys doing whatever they can to suck Nintendo's candy cane. I'm very close to dropping Nintendo and completely giving up on console gaming, but I don't want to do that because of how much I love their franchises. It pains me to see how greedy, selfish, and egotistical Nintendo has become since they released the Switch.

@Banjo- Reggie didn't lie. They made all the first party games available on the Switch, for slightly more than full price. We got those details soon enough.

While I agree the removal of digital storefronts often presents a problem, i feel like a good number of those comments in the article are an overreaction. If you have it on your hardware, you're fine. If your hardware taps out then you're SOL, but thats the nature of the beast. All of our video game media at some point will not be usable.

@Hero-of-WiiU both Microsoft and Sony have moved on from their old consoles too while not shutting their stores down, and also making their legacy content available normally and not part of a poorly designed bs online service, plus neither go after necessary for preservation emulation in a war they’ll never win.

On one hand, virtual consoles don’t seem all that straightforward to maintain in the age of the remaster, where 3rd parties are inclined to control the distribution of their own legacy content. Even so, I hope pressure continues to be put on Nintendo to properly address preservation of their own content. Did they somehow miss the enormous backlash towards PlayStation when they tried to pull a similar stunt?

@glaemay Just tried it (even while I know you can't) and nope, my Wii is not able to do that.

@RainbowGazelle https://www.siliconera.com/fire-emblem-fates-dlc-will-leave-nintendo-3ds-eshop-in-2023/

Here

https://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/1388706.html

And here

I tried to play a PS2 game the other day and it just won't load anymore. Disc has been kept in its case (at room temperature) all times when it wasn't in the PS2 itself, but the underside of the disc looks a little maybe... cloudy. Anyway, my point is that a digital game stored on an SD card or a console's internal memory may have as long a life as one stored on an optical disc. Sony aren't offering me a free replacement for my degraded PS2 game all these years later, so the idea that digital is somehow a super limited rental that can be taken away at the want of Nintendo et al and physical releases are all wonderful things that will live forever is a definite oversimplification.

Edit: Don't get me wrong though, I still play Master System games on cartridge and they all seem fine.

Stop giving money to this company for digital items. This is going to be particularly painful when they close the Switch eShop. Stop wasting hundreds of dollars on vapor-ware with this fly-by-night company.

I modded my wiiu i can back up all my wiiu stuff to play on PC.. even the saves... This is going to happen over and over again, which is why i have no problem playing on emulators.. unless Nintendo gives us a way to play legacy titles on modern systems

The music industry is the only one to get digital distribution right. I can buy any album I want in high quality formats unencumbered by DRM and free to use however I wish. I wish other industries were as forward thinking. Even digital books are crippled with DRM, and companies like Amazon and Barnes & Noble have been known to delete content from their customers' devices.

The idea that you don't actually own something you've paid for, and that access can be revoked at any time without warning, is something that too many people simply accept, and companies are happy to exploit that complacency.

But here's the truth: nothing is gone forever in the digital world. "Enterprising individuals" will always be able to acquire any digital product they've previously purchased.

I don't think this is good news but some very over the top reactions there.

I remember when this happened for Wii. I bought last few games I wanted but some stuff had quietly been delisted over the years from non nintendo, so seemed it was quietly dying for years.

When Sony did same with horribly short warning for its older systems I bought loads of PS3 games.
They backtracked but still killed the psp store I believe.
Now I don't think in all honesty I've played any of those ps3 downloads once since.

Microsoft do it much better but still few things that can't leave my 360 cause never supported them.

Course Steam is the gold standard but that's accross any kind of computer not one specific gaming device

@Fighting_Game_Loser Yes. This post is full of "Get used to it, digital things are like this", and "You can still download what you purchased, so its ok".

@glaemay Levingbehind the need of insulting... no, its not happening. Twitter and internet are happy with those "3ds memories", a people everywhere are taking it as normal. Read all the comments.

Such a shame.

Are people surprised the Wii Shop Channel no longer works either? How can this be a surprise?

@Hero-of-WiiU How about not abandon an entire library of gaming history across multiple consoles.

@Sunsy

Yes. Eventually these digital stores will shut down completely. Not even re-download of games will be possible then. But we do not know when that will be the case?

But until now, Nintendo has never abandoned any of there digital stores completely. Not yet. Everything that was bought digitally, can still be downloaded.

@Specter_of-the_OLED yeah for $50 bucks subscription

Sony isn't more trustworthy, but at least they can be bullied into doing the right thing. It's frustrating knowing Nintendo will forge ahead unimpeded, no matter the backlash.

@Rayquaza2510 Thanks for the links!

I understand that this isn’t a GOOD thing, but people who are concerned about their games going away or not being able to redownload the games they own are worrying/mad about nothing. There is absolutely no indication that we will not have access to the stuff we bought any time soon. Can’t you even still download Wii games you bought?

@Jumping_Dead Have you looked anywhere else though

Why are people getting so surprised and upset about this.
We all knew this was going to eventually happen.

If you want to keep playing all the games that you bought then just invest in large enough storage and download all your purchased games.

Then make sure to maintain backup of that storage, just in case.

You didn’t purchase the service of re-downloading the games forever.

A lot of these are in the same tone as the angry frothings in NintendoLife comment sections. I wonder if a Japanese website is translating our comments here.

Still have mine with me. My go-to when waiting for customers. Can't say I'm surprised by all this. It's cyclical you see. When a big console maker/publisher has major success they begin to think they're untouchable. They stop worrying about PR hits. Sony did it with the 600$ PS3 launch. Microsoft with the required Kinect 500$ bundle on XB1. Nintendo has done it multiple times. WiiU, new 3ds XL, oled Switch.

@Ralizah "Nintendo will forge ahead unimpeded, no matter the backlash."

That's because the backlash is only coming from the easily ignored vocal minority. The overwhelming majority of Nintendo's customers simply don't care, and most people who bought the 3DS have already moved on to the Switch or another system and never looked back. And even a lot of those complaining now will have stopped caring in a year.

Bottom line: Nintendo knows this won't hurt them.

Stop buying digital.

@Timptation Why? Games that I bought are still playable and downloadable. Games that had physical releases still have physical releases. Games that were digital only may not have even been released if digital only weren’t an option. I really don’t see how this news means people shouldn’t buy digital. If anything, it means people should go out of their way to buy digital games they have interest in.

This is like a yahoo article. They say someone or something gets slammed and then find like 20 Twitter comments as proof.

@StarPoint that’s what I’m wondering

Kotaku only spread misinformation and erronius headlines. Whoever takes them seriusly should consider a brain change.

Japan is ruthless.

@Mountain_Man Exaaactly, you're aboslutely on point. The vast majority of Nintendo users DON'T CARE, and already have a Switch, where a lot of those Wii U games are already in, and more will surely arrive.

@rogvc You can still download games you own after March, just can't purchase anything new after march 2023.

@Krambo42 Because they're only available FOR NOW. Ability to purchase new games is only the start. Support will end, and transferring licenses will become harder, if not impossible. If your favorite indie dev only releases digital, by all means support them. When Diablo 2 comes out digital only, we have a problem. If there's an option, go out of your way to buy physical.

Good to see this is also a thing in Japan. I mean, I wondered if Japanese people cared.

@Timptation I still don’t follow. They are available. Why does the fact that they will no longer be available eventually mean I shouldn’t buy them while they are?

Not to mention, not everybody is worried about the doomsday scenario you’re talking about. I do not anticipate that support will end for many years. When it does, either

a) my games will still be playable on the hardware I own

b) my console will break and I will either replace it or not. If I don’t, who cares. If I do, I have to decide how many of my old games have NEED to play again. Of those, many will likely be available on newer hardware. Others may have physical copies out there on eBay or something. If there are any that were digital only and are unavailable on other hardware, sure, I won’t be able to play them, but at least I had fun for years when I first got it. Maybe it’s more important to just enjoy games than to have access to every single thing you’ve ever played until the end of time.

Now this is interesting.

Time to move on. You can still re-download your purchases, just can’t make new ones. Sony did this with Vita. Honestly, I move on as I am too busy with Switch and PS5 at the moment, and someday I will move on to Switch 2 and PS6.

That's why I've modded both my 2DS and 2DS XL. My games and saves will always be safe in my backups and I will never need the eShop again. Unlocking the full potential of the consoles using CFW is a great plus too.

@Krambo42 Then you're free to move on with your life. Some people care about preservation. When your console breaks, you may not be able to transfer licenses. The availability on ebay will be PHYSICAL, IF people are buying physical to help preservation in the first place, and will likely have you spending at least as much as you would have if you bought it physically to begin with. If it matters so little to you, then there's no reason for you to be in this thread in the first place.

@HammerGalladeBro Maybe it's got something to do with the fact that the Wii U's Virtual Console knocks the Switch's subscription service out of the water. But what do I know.

@Timptation I am absolutely allowed to be in these comments and have an opinion. Like I said in another post, I know this isn’t a GOOD thing, but I also don’t think it’s worth freaking out over at this time. Nothing is changing to games that we purchased for the foreseeable future. Whether or not what happens if and when that time comes matters is up to each individual, but it’s not even what this article is about.

Your “stop buying digital” statement does not apply to everybody, and frankly, is based more on fear of what could happen (which may not even bother many people) than facts at this point.

Has there been new releases on those eshops? Are people upset that the ability to REDOWNLOAD games won't be an option? Have people been waiting for a sale, for that one game? I imagine the overhead to keep these stores and servers operating, isn't cheap. But Nintendo is a big corpo with vast sums of money.

@Banjo-
Going forward any digital games being released on multiple consoles I will buy them either on Playstation or Xbox because at least there’s a good chance they will be carried over to the next console. With Nintendo even if they do carry over to the next console they charge an upgrade fee like they did with virtual console. It’s unfortunate to not have the portability option by not getting it on the Switch but at least there’s less to worry about retaining a copy in the event the console dies and the download shop is closed.

@Krambo42 The people who are saying things like "who cares" and "the foreseeable future is fine" are the people who are helping the digital future come faster. If you know this isn't a good thing, then coming here to tell us all that "who cares, I'll be fine for the foreseeable future" isn't helping, it's hurting. Nobody is freaking out. Some of us CAN foresee the future where things go bad, and we're raising the flag. We've already lived through it. Games are lost. People are voicing their opinions about the topic. Pushing back on digital is a perfectly reasonable response to the lack of game preservation, and you complaining that there was no nuance in my three word response is wasting all our time. The world isn't binary. Stop thinking like it is. As someone who isn't bothered by a negative outcome, you're spending an awful lot of time on the subject, negatively impacting the outcome.

It really does seem like Nintendo wants us to start over on every new device.
So for the “Switch Next” it will be funny to see them trot out Super Mario Bros again.

…and this is why i’ll buy physical versions of any game that has one, although with the advent of day 1 updates, that doesn’t help much either: publishers can just decide “We don’t want to support this anymore”, and you’re hosed.

If this “Rent a game until we’re tired of supporting it”-scheme is the future of gaming, it’s a bleak future indeed…

Servers cost money and OPEX with little profit isn’t worth it. Neither system is in production. Users had years to buy games and are getting a year’s heads up to double down. This was gonna happen eventually.

@Timptation so people are allowed to voice their opinions as long as they share yours? And honestly, you seem like the one who sees the world as binary (“digital bad! Don’t buy!”, “you don’t see the problem? You’re wrong!”). I simply asked you what’s so bad about buying digital games when we have yet to see any negative outcome from doing so from Nintendo. I am aware of what could happen, but I’m still perfectly capable of weighing the pros and cons myself. It’s possible to see the potential for issues and still think it’s ok to make those purchases.

Whatever. We clearly don’t see eye to eye on many things, which is fine, but there’s no value in us continuing this conversation at this point.

@dres Indeed. Again, my apologies. Mostly this was from the last time I tried accessing the DSi shop. Last time I logged in, it didn't even connect. Today it did.

Makes me wonder, if they're still up for re-download, then why shut down said stores? Clearly the server is still hosting the games for download if that's the case. I can only guess the store ran on the same server, unless there's more behind the scenes stuff.

I still stand by the the idea to backup digital purchases via system settings. Even if it's just Wii U virtual console games on system memory, they could easily fit those onto a cheap USB stick, and be kept them in a safe spot.

These weirdos need to realize that they don't "own" physical media, either. All software is subject to the same EULA, so Nintendo has full power to revoke access to physical media at their own discretion. Which is super enforceable in the internet age. You're purchasing a license to have access, not the actual software itself smh

@KiddKurisu
I mean I’m sure a good 75% are available physical. That other 25% is a good point but that’s where people are overreacting. You have a reasonable deadline to get what you want.

Nintendo hates their fans.

@MysticX
Is there something I’m not understanding? If you purchase it digitally you can still play it as long as it’s on the console correct? How is this renting?

@Don That's the problem with Nintendo, software is removed, some DLC will no be available for re-download and what happens if your Wii U and 3DS break? The amount of money spent on software during a generation is huge and all that money is wasted because your purchases aren't carried over to future hardware. It's a shame because Nintendo has means to make games available, the 3DS/Wii U and Switch accounts can be merged. Their decision is absolutely anti-consumer.

@Krambo42 I gave you the nuance you were looking for. You haven't provided an opposing opinion. All you've done is say "Who cares, it isn't a problem yet." We've already seen it from Nintendo with Satelliview. You're right, there's no point in continuing.

This is why I use 3DS/DS emulators. My old system died and honestly trying to buy another at 3X the price just isn't worth it. I bought the same games I am emulating digitally anyhow so I just consider these my backups lol. I know it has to happen at some point, and I think going forward this will happen way less as the next Switch will play the current catalog so we should be good for a long time now going forward.

Oof, some real misinformation in these posts.. As long as you have the game, you can still play it and redownload it.

And trust Sony more than Nintendo, lol good one.

Cmon nintendo, just need a steam like account where all games are tied to your account, not your system, and make sure they're compatible going forward with all future systems. Even xbox is way better, i can still buy and play 360 arcade games, and many carry over to new hardware

@Roz1281 Did you know xbox and latest Gen is the same system. False equivalence is just that False.

@speedyb
Yeah, that comment really made no sense to me. I think Nintendo and Sony are equal in this way.

I do think they should have extended it a bit longer considering people are still buying the 3ds. Technically, anything non physical is a rental. These comments are really overboard.

thanks goodness all my 3DS games is physical media, but i understand why everyone is upset that will be unable to buy more 3DS games, DLC.

Well i don't trust Sony and never will... they are far worse than any other gaming company

If this really is the way the industry is going, games should be dropping in price, not rising. I think there should be some kind of regulation that makes sure you are always able to access your purchases.

All this has done, is make me glad I didn't buy into the digital option as heavily as others have. I suppose a subscription future potentially negates this issue, but they will still have the option to give and take away access to games as they see fit. Meh!

Good, drag them. An anti-consumer move if there ever was one.

@speedyb The PS3 came out in 2006, the 3DS in 2011 and the Wii U in 2012. The PS3 is comparable to the Wii and they already closed that store down. There really should be some consumer protections.

Also the worry going forwards is all these physical games with day one updates fixing all bugs etc and adding in some cases double the content to a game will no longer exist. So physical games are not immune from this problem either. E.G You buy a physical 3DS game in a few years that needed patching upon release to make it playable, the patch won't be downloadable making the physical copy basically unplayable (possibly) Worst case scenario...
Not a good future.
Another example, Mario Golf on Switch, the updated courses via download and extra modes litrally double the games content. Once the Switch shop goes offline in a few years buying that game physically you will only get the courses on the cartridge, none of the updates or additional modes added will be available at this point.
It literally devalues any physical game in the long run with day one updates (which is virtually every physical game) by removing the updated content which is then no longer available.

It's good to know it's not just us upset about this.

@Rayquaza2510 So I guess download the games I want before shutdown and copied them in the PC just in case since I won't be able to re-download

Recently a brand of popular (extremely) ice-cream bars in Japan, faced with a ton of supply side problems and with reduced production capacity thanks to COVID made a price increase from 60 yen to 64 yen (which is about 60 cents to 64 cents USD). They stressed the increase was temporary.

To announce this they paid for a TV spot that had every member of the HUGE conglomerate that makes the bar gather together in a wide shot. Text explaining the change scrolled by, followed by the executives and COE apologising, and everyone bowing their heads to a level that generally indicates not just an apology by shame at your own actions, in complete silence, for 53 seconds. Despite that, the outrage was on par with DC announcing Super Man is being recast as a feminist activist played by a Black trans woman from Iran.

TL:DR

Customer service expectations in Japan are ... extreme. This level of outrage is nothing.

If you guys think this is bad, just wait until they are all in on streaming....

This Gives me Some Hope, I see so many Nintendo Fans either trying to justify Nintendo's Actions or have a defeatist attitude towards the situation. To see a heavy outcry against Nintendo in Japan, Gives me some hope. Please, criticize Nintendo for them shutting these services as much as possible. We might be able to save these services. It happened with Sony And the PS3 it could happen here we just need to Try.

@Saturn589 Sony kept the PS3 PSN up, Unlike what Nintendo is doing. Criticize them as much as possible. That's how fans convinced sony.

@Modsandsods1 I got A question Why Don't everyone criticize Nintendo, as people did with Sony?

@626b Emulation isn't Legal in Japan unless it's official as is modding Consoles.

@LutraEnHydris Just because it is illegal doesn't mean it should be

This is how it happened.

This is how Wii U and 3DS died.

@speedyb so Nintendo is going to change their minds? If not Sony backtracking IS factually better.

The shop is closing. This is expected for dead systems.
You can still download your purchases. Though Nintendo will likely shut that down too at some point, but that's not what this is.
That's something the consoles need to catch up to PC with for digital purchases. Shut down the storefront, whatever, just let me redownload my purchased games if I need to.

There's always a handful of whingers with these announcements, and I'm not sure why they're given commensurately so much exposure compared to their tiny representation. Some of the comments are bonkers, if not sheer ignorant. Fact is if you haven't bought any games off these shops by now (or by the end of March 2023), you never will. These are dead, unsupported systems, and decisions like this are the way of the world in this digital/online world.

@BionicDodo If your PS2 disc looks cloudy it gathers humidity in the case, I have a large DVD collection and with films you view them less then games even, But I have also had a few games get cloudy. You go to eBay or amazon who ever you prefer. Buy CD/DVD cleaner and restore kit , you get for like under a tenner. Ones a liquid cleaner and the others like a fine paste. Use small amounts of the paste on the disc in up and down motions pushing quite firmly on a flat surface and it will remove that cloud, then clean it with the liquid , again in up and down motions , no circles.
That disc should be fine. I have done about forty or fifty dvd's and games so far with this stuff, also clean inside the dvd/ ps2 case. your see where it got a film on it, use soap and water or a antibacterial spray and dry it off.
When it comes to games and DVD, Blurays in plastic boxes they get miost in temperture changes, I now check my cases every few months , do ten at a time when i have a spare minute.
We gotta save these discs , there be like gold in years to come..

So the original comment,

“OMG look at all the REACTIONS from all the numerous PEOPLE there is clearly a DEPTH and BREDTH of FEELING that clearly RESONATES with OTHER people REACTING SIMILARLY
shocked Toad picture”

Was deleted for not being ‘useful’ enough.

With respect, I’m not sure what sort of a comment could be considered ‘useful’ when the entire premise of this ‘Japan Reacts’ article is so absurd. The 3DS has sold close to twenty millions units in Japan, and attempting to summarise ~ twenty million people’s response with a handful of very liberally translated quotes pulled from god-knows where is not constructive to anything but courting controversy. There’s no other reason for articles like this to exist other than to elicit reactions to these reactions and instigate a big reactionary mess.

It seems ironic that “OMG OVERREACTS TO OVERREACTIONS” is deemed inappropriate given that it’s exactly the sort of comment this article is written to attract.

@Modsandsods1 Actually This is my first account here, I always read NintendoLife articles but never made an account before, I did have some stuff I wanted to talk about so I thought now was the best time to make an account.

I really want to find a way to convince Nintendo not to do this. It's ***** up lol. People always say just buy physical hyuck hyuck. Steam at least works on PC and it'll work as long as PC exists. Like why am I spending money on download games? This is very asinine and disappointing. The 3ds has a lot of masterpieces and it's a travesty to lose them.

@Bydlak Sound advice, but as someone who repairs consoles in his spare time, its not that simple. I just restored my very well taken care of SNES. It not only yellowed with age, but some of the capacitors replaced. It was causing my video to come out in black and white over composite cables. Though I've since upgraded to a component cable for RGB through a Retrotink 5x I'm sure the other caps would have gone too soon. My Saturn I got second hand off ebay isn't in the best of shape either and I'm waiting for a 10pin din connector from a less than reputable source to help fix one of the many things that needed fixing.

Point of this story is, that these machines are as mortal as their owners. Who knows what kind of DRM nintendo has on Wii U and 3DS, but once those systems die, that backup becomes useless. Granted by time that happens we'll likely be turning the hardware into units that have the entire library on them, but even now its not exactly a strong skill set with most people. People get skittish installing a fenrir in a Saturn, it's literally unplugging 2 to 3 cables and plugging them into the fenrir. That isn't getting into the cost of such components. Though I have a feeling the Wii U and 3DS have less of an issue unless USB drive cease being a thing or become incompatible with that standard for Wii U and MicroSD cards get phased out for M.2 SSDs (which is a very real possibility). Those MicroSDs will eventually fail too. I have a stack of dead ones that can speak to that.

@KITG_GROUP Thanks for the detailed advice, but I've tried disc cleaner unfortunately. Cloudy probably isn't the right word but it looks like it's under the surface, not on top of it.

Aww, that last comment.

“It would be good if they kept it going forever. Endings feel so lonely.”

I feel you, friend.

As expected. Tons of blind nintendo fans defending them and gaslighting other people who do not agree with these decisions.

Nintendo thinks they can get away with this (and they will) because they are at the top. And when they are at the top they act like garbage. Then something happens that bring them crashing down and they appeal to fans begging for help and adapt their anti-consumer policies. I guess we'll see how this plays out. One thing's for sure: one of my 3DS will become a pirate's console 🤷‍♂️ same for my only WiiU

@NotSoCryptic

That's truly melancholic!

@StarPoint yes you are, you will not be able to buy new stuff, but everything you bought already will be available to be download anytime you want.

@BionicDodo its not just a cleaner, It looks like a haze in the disc doesn't it?
Its not the celaner that does it it a paste which is a restorer. , you also if your in the UK, You could take it to CEX, as they have disc resurfacers and Im sure for a couple quid they would resurface it for you. Dont know if you use Twitter but if you look me up on there I can post a couple pictures of the stuff I use.

I really don't get it: You still have more than a year do buy more games and even after that you will still be able to download purchased games. But maybe people will start to understand, that physical version are just better.

if you run a digital storefront, you have the ethical and artistic responsibility to make sure the games on your store remain available.

What Nintendo doing is anti-consumer and anti-preservation and anti-developer. This should not be an acceptable action to take unless everything is back comp on another console

Nintendo not having a unified account system across all systems is a problem. Hopefully this current Nintendo account is built to last.

“I’m able to trust Sony more than Nintendo."

...I stopped and will never trust Sony after their awful stunts they've pulled in more recent years. I just don't support that sort of shenaniganry nonsense! Hopefully, Sony will someday clean up their awful act and focus on hopefully creating and putting out awesome games! Even if that day is not really that close. ^^;

I thought you were suppossed to defend Nintendo, why are you showing this...?

These… are total overreactions. Yes, some games are 3ds exclusives and could definitely be lost to time, but the 3ds has been alive for a pretty long time. I was surprised Nintendo didn’t do it earlier, the switch has had much more success and the Wii U side was probably 90% power waste. However, everyone knew that this day would come, so I don’t know why everyone is suddenly complaining after they had over a decade to play the games they wanted to. They won’t take away the games you own, most of the games are available elsewhere or have newer installments on other platforms, and Nintendo isn’t going to go to your house and burn your 3ds. Just sit down, buy that last game you were on the fence about, and just let it happen.

I read those quotes and thought it sounds just like Nintendolife.

Sony's not better in terms of censorship, so i guess it depends what u value when "trusting" any of these companies (I don't trust any of them)... Also, Sony was about to do the exact same thing, so trust all u want. Nintendo still may change it's mind, FWIW. I am not biased towards any of them, as i love all the big 3 & get all 3 each generation (taking longer this time, obviously, unless you want to pay at least double, which i will never do).

@setezerocinco for now. That will end eventually, too. Read the article from a former Nintendo employee on this site that even confirms this (tho we didn't need that verification, we know it will happen).

Could we get bowser out of jail and make his team whip up a nice 3DS hack for when this is all shutdown?