Last week, word quickly spread online that Nintendo's Wii and DSi Shop Channels had been offline since at least 16th March. Naturally, it sparked fears that this could potentially be the end of these digital stores, although Nintendo hadn't communicated this.
Fortunately, it appears there may not be anything to worry about - with the company now providing an official statement (via Kotaku). According to a representative, it's currently undergoing maintenance and an update will be provided in the near future.
“The Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop are currently undergoing maintenance. We will provide an update at a later date.”
As previously noted, although Nintendo stopped game sales on the Wii Shop and DSi Shop Channels some time ago, users of these platforms have still able to access the digital stores to re-download existing game purchases.
Some users have also reportedly been able to bypass the error codes - 290502 and 209601 - with third-party tools like NUSDownloader and access Nintendo's main server for these systems. Eurogamer further notes how it appears to be "just the frontend sites themselves that have been taken offline".
If we hear any other updates, we'll let you know.
[source eurogamer.net, via kotaku.com]
Comments (49)
Nintendo fans overreacting. No, that never happens.
For those who've never been on the customer service end of things, "Undergoing Maintenance" usually means, "It broke, and we're going to maintenance it until it works."
....Wait a second, why do these shops get to stay online but the 3DS and Wii U eShops are being axed?! >:c
Yes but will they address the Wii U and 3DS eShop outrage?
@Joeynator3000
They aren't being axed.
@westman98 They're being shut down next year.
@Joeynator3000 The Wii U I can understand - almost all first party games have been recreated on Switch and barely anyone even had a Wii U to begin with (Expect me once upon a time). That said, the 3DS store being taken down is a DAMN shame!
@Lemonyoshi Yeah I care more about the 3DS since I still have it, still weird that the original Wii and DS shops get to remain online while the newer systems are being taken down. :c
@Joeynator3000 It's for redownloading pre-purchased title. Not bying new ones.
@Joeynator3000 Purchases are being shut down on 3DS/Wii U. You'll still be able to redownload games.
DSi and Wii stores have been down for a while now.
@spyro202 ...Again, next year it's being shut down for good, you won't even be able to re-download titles.
@Ralizah You won't be able to redownload purchased titles next year.
@Joeynator3000 I don't know where you got this from but it isn't true. Redownloading is up for the forseeable future
@Joeynator3000 Takien directly from nintendo support site:
"Even after late March 2023, and for the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to redownload games and DLC, receive software updates and enjoy online play on Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems."
@Joeynator3000
Wrong.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/57847/~/wii-u-%26-nintendo-3ds-eshop-discontinuation
"Even after late March 2023, and for the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to redownload games and DLC, receive software updates and enjoy online play on Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems."
Can I post a link here for the page or is that forbidden?
@spyro202 lol ninja'd
@Ralizah With a Sonic voice: I'm too slow!
@blindsquarel Nintendo fans:
Apparently I misread something...then again it sounds like even that won't last for too long...
@blindsquarel and a Nintendo fan site likes to dump gas on a problem. No… that never happens
@Joeynator3000 Ah! Come on! Have a more optimistic attitude!
Everyone who says that the WiiU/3DS eShops will not be available for redownloads immediately after 2023 or, for those crazy tinfoil hat wearers, that your digital purchases will magically disappear, you really need to stop spreading misinformation!
That later date will be when the channels go out officially.
It's coming back. Hype responsibly.
So the Wii and DSi shops closed a long time ago, but they were still online so you could redownload anything you purchased. That was what went down.
The 3DS and WiiU shops are closing next year. But like with the Wii and DSi, you can still download what you purchased, and the shops will be kept online for that purpose.
So everybody only has a little while to buy things, but once they do, they can still redownload them for the foreseeable future.
'at a later date' isn't really very acceptable. Consumers cannot access their owned content to download
Something's a bit fishy about this tbh.
I wish "undergoing maintenance" was code word for "we're in the process of reviving the virtual console". 😭 😭
I think they should just reopen the shop…there’s still some games I “need” to get. 😉
I get the principal of the matter, but the sometimes it just sounds like people are hearing some news, then bolting up to their attics to dust their Wii's off, rummaging around for a cable that will actually connect it to their modern TV, and then acting like they're actually effected by this. Even if it redownload were gone for good.
The easiest way to redownload your DSi and Wii Shop purchases is to head on over to archive.org.
Already kinda covered by a comment or two, but I would be shocked if the situation weren't something along the lines of:
1. All maintenance for Wii shop infrastructure put on bottom of priority stack constantly
2. Ops folks warn management that this could go down at any time and they aren't prepared to bring it back up. They get sympathetic nods and no support to improve the situation.
3. Infrastructure predictably breaks, this becomes a fire drill for a few folks who can't give any estimate on recovery because of utter lack of maintenance or analysis of the systems, and there are probably a small number of grumpy folks who even remember how it's put together.
(This projection brought to you by an ops person, yes, but I have a feeling on this one)
The worst thing that ever got axed is MiiVerse. It was fantastic.
"Miyamoto-san spilt a coffee over the server containing the Wii and DSi store information by accident. Please wait while we dust off the back up disc."
@masterLEON it isn't their fault, unfortunately several articles on other websites are spreading the same misinformation too.
@Joeynator3000 Nintendo will have precise data on the usage of each online store, it's not done randomly.
Given the userbase of the Wii vs the Wii U, for example (and the explosion of the Wii again at the start of the pandemic) it wouldn't surprise me at all if the Wii shop is significantly busier in terms of daily traffic than the Wii U shop.
Read: "full closure is imminent, we announce it soon"
Its over guys.
Really feels like it's going to be fully over for 7th gen consoles as a whole this year, a shame.
As much as I like retro games, it's hardly the end of the world if these digital stores close, more than enough new games to play, and all those retro games to play on the Online service, and older classics to buy on the e-Shop too.
@Minfinity
To be fair the wii and wiiu do have a good amount of virtual console games and is a good place to play a lot of those games especially considering Nintendo mentioned that they have no plans to bring back the service.
for me i keep the wiiu handy since you can use wii mode and is a lot easier to set up on modern TVs due to having HDMI output and with things like the VC you dont need to worry about setting up the sensor bar.
@blindsquarel
Not really that often no.
especially in cases like this where the ability to redownload games can affect access to peoples games (since quite a few virtual console games didn't make it to wiiu and the switch not supporting the service plus the wiiware had some great games like konamis rebirth series which iirc weren't ported to newer systems) it feels that naturally people would be concerned.
personally hoping for the best in this situation
@Mgalens oh for sure, and I still have my Wii U hooked up too. I was referring to the Wii shop and DSi shop specifically since that's what this article is addressing.
I'm more sympathetic about the Wii U/3DS situation, and certainly see the principal of the issue as unfortunate and problematic. That said, I don't think many would deny that those eShops have gotten significantly more attention/sales in the last couple months than they have the last few years
It can’t be maintenance. WHY would they be doing maintenance on stores that closed a while ago? It’s kinda……. sus.
@Minfinity
for the case of the wii shop channel its mainly due to the VC games only available through it and the wiiware.
I hadnt really checked the dsi store since i had a dslite so unsure how many games are lost with that.
@EVIL-C Really wish this was the case too. I have some stone cold classics on my Wii. Just need to download Chrono Trigger, F-Zero X, and maybe some obscure Megadrive rpg.
Online infrastructure sometimes breaks down. Last years the Nintendo Switch updates also were broken a few days. Nintendo probably needs to replace a wire or a fuse and reboot the server. I don´t think there is more to it. They would have announced it.
... How long will the maintenance be?
@Joeynator3000 I thought I read somewhere that the software that powers online play and eshop for WiiU and 3DS was actually licensed from a third party and that the license is basically expiring. Not sure how true this is
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