Rejoice, those who were kids (or young at heart) in the late ’00s! After abruptly becoming inaccessible in March due to what Nintendo vaguely described as “maintenance,” the Wii Shop Channel and DSi Shop are both up and operational! … And mostly functionless, as nobody’s been able to buy anything on them in years. Purchases on Wii ended in 2019 and on DSi even earlier, in 2017.
Now, it’s not as if the shops being up is purely for novelty or old times’ sake. People can now use them to redownload any titles that might have been deleted from their console in the interim, which is useful for those who have large existing libraries. That said, it’s a bit sad being reminded that nobody can acquire games on either storefront now, and that many a title has now been effectively rendered unplayable (outside of the seven seas, which doesn’t even include every little game on each service).
Of course, this fate is imminent for the Wii U and 3DS eShops as well, which are slated to enter a similar state in March 2023. You already can’t use credit cards for purchases in them (meaning you need an eShop gift card if you want to add funds). This is all despite much public outcry from fans, who hoped that Nintendo might reverse course and keep the shops up for the foreseeable future (much like Sony did with its own storefronts), but that seems rather unlikely. At least we can redownload old games now. Silver linings and all that.
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Written by Amelia Fruzzetti
A writer and Nintendo fan based in Seattle, Washington. When not working for NinWire, she can be found eating pasta, writing stories, and wondering about when Mother 3 is finally going to get an official localization.
