PSA: It's The Final Countdown For 3DS And Wii U eShop Credit Card Payments (North America)

I mean that’s fine for me, as long as I can still use gift cards

They need to add a lot more sales to the 3ds eshop before it closes, the cost of physical cartridges has gone up so getting them digital before the deadline is a must for me.

Also for some reason on the UK eshop I can't find "the legend of legacy" game at all

Good thing I hacked my 3DS ages ago.
I recommend everyone else do the same thing.

@iLikeUrAttitude got any tips on how to do that? I have a 3ds but i think it may have been updated so that I cant do it anymore, but i could be wrong

@Nontendo_4DS Yes, you should be able to do that. That's the only way we can do so in the UK (other than gift cards, currently).

I'm covered thanks! Got my 3DS, Wii and Wii U hacked years ago. It's your best bet when the digital shops die if you don't wanna be screwed.

@nowthisisepic https://3ds.hacks.guide/

@nowthisisepic You can hack your 3ds regardless of what version you're on, it isn't the switch.

I learned how to homebrew mine on the nintendo homebrew
discord server where they have commands for the guides and a bunch of people that help you along if you're having trouble with it.

I would link you the direct guide I was using but I'm not sure if it's allowed.

Over the last few months my focus has been solely on these eShops save for Kirby and the Forgotten Land. Will continue like that except for the upcoming launch of Mario Strikers: Battle League.
All of this has resulted in me getting games I have to wonder why it took me so many years to get, particularly on the Virtual Console front: Super Mario Advance 4, Super Mario World, Metroid: Zero Mission, Drill Dozer, Pac-Man 2: The New Adventures, the Donkey Kong Land and Wario Land series, Donkey Kong 94,

Got most of what I really want, but I'm still missing the more expensive games I want, particularly on the 3DS.
Modding/hacking is not an option for any of my systems except maybe my Nintendo 64 (removed the tabs in the cartridge port, making it possible to play Japanese games) and my Wii, which may be needed if I want to restore my games in case I'm forced to do a factory reset due to its "corrupted files".

I'm sure others do this, but ...

I buy points cards off of Best Buy with a Capital One rewards card. So I get cash back from Capital One and earn BestBuy reward dollars. Win, win. And then Nintendo gives me Gold Coins, so it's a third win.

I don't care what anyone says. Nintendo sucks for this.

Like other people have said, hacking is definitely the best option this late into the 3DS lifecycle, its super easy and all you really need is a PC/laptop, and a big enough SD card. Once completed, you can download virtually all games with just a QR code, and also have the option to emulate many past Nintendo and Sega consoles.

I cannot merge my accounts since they obviously have to be in the same country. I have a UK in the Wii U because there was not a local e-shop then. Now I have a Switch account in my country and there is no way to change the country in the Wii U account.

Why can’t I find a New 3DS XL for a decent price? I know you can get the Japanese version cheaper but they’re all auction so at the last minute people keep jacking up the price from $50 to $130+ and that’s not including shipping. I REALLY want one and I’m thinking of installing CFW on it.

I've been ready for this for years, to be honest I pretty much wrapped up and finalized my 3DS collection back when the Switch came out and the last of the 2DS models were available. In the end I got 5 2/3DS's. An original ambassador model, an original XL, a New XL, and two of the standards 2DS's. Got them all loaded up with games, for the most part there's different titles on each of them, and I got the DLC/content I needed from any physical games I have that needed it.

So yeah, I'm set. Same deal with Wii U for the most part, I actually just finalized my collection there, couldn't get anything else without deleting some stuff or buying new storage, and I have always felt satisfied with the collection I had.

Whhhaaaattttt. This turn of events upsets me greatly.

@belmont I merged my Japanese 3DS ID with an account on my UK Switch.

@UltimateOtaku91 I believe Legacy was delisted a year ago from the UK eShop.

Thanks for the heads up. This pushed me to by VC Pokemon Crystal. ^^

@Bon_Kurei @iLikeUrAttitude
I don't.
I keep my All four 3DS XL machines stay Original.
No CFW, No hacking, just pure Original machines and games in cartridge.

@Anti-Matter Good for you I did.
And I'll continue to encourage people to hack it like I did.

@Anti-Matter To each their own, I can understand wanting to keep your consoles legit, I felt the same way about my original 3ds so I bought a 2nd one to hack

I only use eshop cards so no worries. Almost done with my purchases.

@Nontendo_4DS Its been how I've been doing it. Add funds via the Switch, funds are on my Wii U and 3DS eShop Acount as well.

I have a Wii U, played it a bit and thought it was a cool system. Though I never spent huge amounts of time with the system, but the fact that the eShop is closing makes me a bit emotional. There were tons of great games on there from years past. I love the Switch but I wish the Switch eShop was more like the Wii U eShop.

Normally, I wouldn't recommend modding a console, especially a Nintendo one, but...

Nintendo shut these down way too soon and are effectively removing the last reasonably priced options for legacy content for us to legally own, not rent.

We still need a guide or ranking of the best virtual console games on each system... hint hint nudge nudge...

Mod your old systems so you can back up all your games. If Nintendo closes store it’s no problem as you have your games backed up.

I’ll do the same with switch once the new system comes out

@starlac How did you do this; I get the error in Nintendo's website that you can't....

@PtM I emailed them and they said ot is not possible...

All good things must come to an end, it was a long run though.

@ModdedInkling,

11 years or so, too soon to shut down. ?

@johnvboy
Too soon. The Wii Shop Channel was given 13 years and it was not until Nintendo was two console generations ahead before they decided to shut it down. I feel like the Switch's successor should be released before they decide to shut down the 3DS/Wii U eShop.

A entertainment company taking away options for entertainment is pretty sad imo.

So it's not as dire as "before they're gone forever", like those egregiously misleading and polarizing article titles you link to while in the same breath saying, "it's actually not that bad, guys."

@McGruber anyone who would say otherwise is just a sycophant for a company that doesn't care about them, at all. This is a massively ***** anti-consumer move on Nintendo's part.

"The best option by far, though, is to link your Nintendo Account to the old Nintendo Network ID; that way all funds added to your Switch account will also be available on the Wii U and 3DS eShop."

This really should be signal boosted more. Everyone who had a 3DS/Wii U should also link those consoles to their Nintendo account. I've been sharing funds between platforms this whole generation without even thinking about it - whenever I add funds to buy a Switch game they're also available on my 3DS.

That's not to excuse Nintendo for shutting the storefronts down. But the workaround (for now) is really easy.

I need to finish up buying DLC and Virtual Console games. Remember to get Earthbound, Earthbound Beginning, Sin and Punishment, and Murasame Castle, guys. The latter 3 will be completely impossible to buy and own once the stores shut down in 2023. It's garbage of them to shut down credit card support a year before that.

@BlueGBAMicro People are "crying" over this because Nintendo won't let you buy and own these games anymore. The only way to actually buy and own them will be to buy very expensive cartridges off eBay. 3 games will be completely unobtainable. Two of them were never translated in physical form and one of which was never released outside of the Virtual Console. Good luck getting those once the store goes down if you don't have them by then.

Nintendo needs to do better and let us buy games outside of their subscription service.

@TheAbsol
I’m hoping Nintendo will learn from Sony and allow customers to buy titles offered in their subscription plan.

@TheAbsol I've bought a load of E-Shop Games on 3DS, most of which NEVER had a physical version.
If it did have one, I would've bought that version.
The "subscription service" is on the Switch, not the 3DS.

Even still, people had TEN. YEARS. to get the Games they wanted.
I cleared my list in 2020 and now solely focus the Switch. I have a Wishlist on this Console and I can GUARANTEE I'll have bought everything on it before the E-Shop closes.

I own a 2DS and a Wii U. My wallet can have a max of $250. If I load it up but end up not using it all, can I use what's left on the switch?

Even still, people had TEN. YEARS. to get the Games they wanted. I cleared my list in 2020 and now solely focus the Switch.

@BlueGBAMicro Good for you. What the hell is your point? I guess you had a time machine that let you buy games like Samus Returns and Ever Oasis, what, six years before they came out?

Furthermore, some of us have had things other than gaming to deal with in our lives. I didn't own a single modern game system before 2017. I didn't have time to look into games on systems I didn't yet own. And I certainly didn't expect that the majority of JRPGs would find their home on Nintendo's "outdated" and "underpowered" portable.

You seem to want to punish gamers who aren't plugged into this hobby and the gaming media all the time.

@CANOEberry Good for you. What the hell is your point? I guess you had a time machine that let you buy games like Samus Returns and Ever Oasis, what, six years before they came out?

I got 'Ever Oasis' in 2019 and still have it on Game Card and it was cheap, same with 'Metroid: SR' but I didn't like the latter so sold it, no TARDIS needed.

Personally, this is the real end for me. I’ve ended up buying everything I want by now because I just don’t want to mess with gift cards or putting my funds on the switch to use on 3ds. Credit card is most convenient. It’s been a good run. Now, time to tackle the massive backlog

@UltimateOtaku91 did you try nintendos actual website? Some games you can get but only off the website.

@Gryffin yes, all eshop currency is cross platform for WiiU ds and switch.

@BlueGBAMicro having ten years to clear the list of games people want is not at all long enough. Many people cannot spend hundreds on games every year and many were kids during this time and had no way to get that kind of money every year. Just because you are able to throw money away doesn’t mean others can.
Me, I buy what games are digital only, if there is a physical I get that in the original system it was made for and maybe some of the others.

@Nontendo_4DS exactly. Hoped they see there is still a good amount of traffic with the digital store and leave it open. I know hits hopeful wishing but.

wish I could hack my Wii U but I already bought so many games on it and don't want to lose them.

I've been wanting to use my auto clicker for something useful... Now I spam the gift cards into my cart, MUHAHAHAHA!

@belmont if you just wanted to make some last minute Wii U purchases, couldn't you make a UK Switch ID and link it? Obviously you wouldn't want to buy anything for your Switch with it. But since there's no crossover compatibility between the two, it shouldn't be much trouble, no?

@Kisame83 I tried but I ended up paying way inflated prices about one or two pounds more. I guess because my credit card is in euros, and I pay for the currency exchange. I bought only one or two games.

@wau I have a Switch and was one of the few people to get a Wii U. If you don’t have a Switch already, I recommend getting one. I’m going to keep trying to get a New 3DS XL, have a nice day.

@BlueGBAMicro What about newer players or people who just weren't able to buy Virtual Console games before? Nintendo isn't providing a good alternative to this. They never made an actual Virtual Console on Switch. All you can do is rent games. Do you not see why this is such a huge problem?

@Don I’m hoping Nintendo will learn from Sony and allow customers to buy titles offered in their subscription plan.

Exactly. I don't understand why it's so hard for some people to understand why shutting down the only way to legally or reasonably obtain some media is so bad. The only way to legally buy and own Earthbound Beginnings going forward will be to somehow buy one of the 2(?) existing prototype cartridges.

@TheAbsol Well, tough luck!

On that basis, Cinemas should keep films running forever because the future generations never got to see it on the Big Screen.

@BlueGBAMicro That's a terrible comparison. You can go out to any gas station and find a pile of movies that were released decades ago. No one's asking Nintendo to re-release their games in their original formats. Hell, I wish Nintendo would put their old games on Steam and mobile alongside Switch, and actually let you buy them.

Imagine if you could only watch Cinderella by buying all of the original theater equipment. Otherwise, you could only rent it. No disk release, no way to digitally buy it, nothing. It's rent or bust. Once the 3DS and Wii U eShop go down, the only way to own these games going forward will be to spend dozens to hundreds of dollars on original hardware, and hundreds to several hundreds on original cartridges.

Why is this so hard for you to understand?