Countdown to Shut Down: Last Minute Recommendations Before the Wii U/3DS eShop Closes

With the eShop shutting down March 27th, 2023, I figure now might be a good time to call on any weirdos that still have a Wii U hooked up to a television, or a 3DS laying around, and see how you might be spending the last two weeks.

I've been spending my time combing through the stores for any last purchases I want to secure. I've only really gotten around to the Wii U stuff so far. A lot of it is looking through the virtual console catalogue. Looking through sales. Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate is currently on sale for $3. I'm not really a Monster Hunter guy, but for $3, why not. Some of the SteamWorld stuff is on sale too, which I've just never got around to checking out. Xenoblade Chronicles X is the big ticket purchase I've been eyeing. It's still $60 on the eShop, but that's cheaper than most physical copies of the game.

Anyone else doing anything in these last two weeks? Got any game recommendations?

EDIT: Digging into to what's on sale currently, it seems like Capcom is selling most of their games across both consoles for $3 each. Resident Evil, Monster Hunter, Pheonix Wright. You could get most of the Ace Attorney series on 3DS for about $12 total, which seems like a pretty good deal for anyone interested.

A lot of WayForward's stuff is on sale too for similar prices. I picked up the Mighty Switch Force games myself since I already own all the Shantae stuff.

To me, it's up to you to choose which game and DLCs you want to purchase but please take your time.

Radiant Historia Perfect Chronicle is a remake of an obscure and VERY expensive DS game, which only came out in the West on the e-shop. If you ever want to play a decent RPG on the 3DS with a surprisingly compelling cast of characters, check it out - this is literally your last chance to own this game if you don't speak Japanese and don't have a couple hundred bucks sitting around.

@gtxforza: The whole point here is people can't take their time. The store is being shuttered very very soon. If you want something on the Nintendo 3DS/Wii e-shop, you have literal days to get it.

@broshmosh: Radiant Historia was another one I was eyeing that's still sitting at full price on the eShop. I'm kind of hoping more sales start popping up because paying full price for some of these more obscure RPGs that are going to be tough to find is going to get expensive quick.

Scrolling through the 3DS eShop, I'm reminded that Keiji Inafune made a game about WWII nazis being shrunk down and having to fight bugs.

@brian_: With Radiant Historia it really is a case of expensive now, extortionate later.

@broshmosh: Yeah. And I imagine the prices are going to jump even more when the digital versions are gone. There's just a number of full-price games on that store, that are all going to be pretty tough to find, and now I've found myself playing the "will this ever get a re-release" guessing game, because I can't afford them all right now.

This is how I find out I've been sitting on a relatively expensive game (unfortunately pre-owned so without the case) that I got for like, $15 bucks about five years ago.

@peanutbuttersadness: Go looking for a box/instruction manual on eBay and you'll have yourself a nice little set there. Well worth it if you're interested in re-sale at some point. Otherwise it's just a decent game to have, so nice find!

I've put together a list of my favorite stuff that I purchased on the eShops if anyone's looking for some recommendations as we approach the final week.

The eShop Is Closing. Here Are My Favorite Games That I Purchased Digitally On Wii U & 3DS.

If anyone has the slightest interest in music production / sketching ideas – I highly recommend purchasing KORG M01D.

Never got a physical release in the West. It's incredibly rich and limiting at the same time. A really unique piece of software.

@picto_obscure: I think this was superceded by Korg Gadget on Switch, though amittedly not much use if you don't own a Switch.

@broshmosh:

Do you have an opinion about playing the original vs Perfect Chronicle? I have the cart, but I know there are some differences in how they play.

@dhutch: I was never lucky enough to play the DS original. I'm fairly certain though that the only differences are in art, rather than gameplay/story. Many people don't like that the female lead's art was changed from shrot hair to more traditional long hair.

We're in the last two days now. I've been holding out to see if there were going to be any more sales but doesn't look like that's going happen at this point. A reminder that if you have any of the My Nintendo Platinum reward points sitting around, there's a Zelda Picross 3DS game you can buy with those on the Nintendo Rewards website.

Here's what I've got on my wish list right now. If anyone sees something I should make sure I get, let me know.

3DS Games

• Weapon Shop de Omasse
• Aero Porter
• Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
• Crimson Shroud
• Crashmo
• Pushmo
• Yo-kai Watch
• Yo-kai Watch 2
• Yo-kai Watch 3
• Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy
• Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask
• Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright
• Yumi's Odd Odyssey
• Boxboy
• Boxboxboy
• Bye-bye Boxboy
• Monster Hunter Stories
• HarmoKnight
• Kid Icarus: Uprising
• Rhythm Heaven Megamix
• Metriod: Samus Returns
• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between worlds
• Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronology
• Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia
• Etrian Odyssey 2 Untold
• Etrian Odyssey IV
• Etrian Odyssey V
• Etrian Odyssey Nexus
• 7th Dragon III Code: VFD

Wii U Games

• Pushmo World
• Pikman 3
• Devil's Third
• Kirby and the Rainbow Curse
• The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess HD
• Xenoblade Chronicles X
• Sonic Lost World

Virtual Console Games

• Rhythm Heaven Fever
• Pikman 2
• Pikman
• Kirby's Epic Yarn
• Kirby's Return to Dream Land
• Kirby's Squeak Squad
• Kirby's Mass Attack
• Kirby's Canvas Curse
• Kirby 64
• Drill Dozer
• Sin & Punishment
• Sin & Punishment 2
• Metriod: Other M
• Metriod Prime: Trilogy
• Metriod Fusion
• Metriod: Zero Mission
• Advance Wars: Dual Strike
• The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
• The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap
• Klonoa
• Klonoa 2
• Golden Sun
• Golden Sun: The Lost Age

Bye-bye Boxboy indeed :(

Well, I've finished my final day of shopping. Here's everything I picked up.

Wii U Games

• Xenoblade Chronicles X
• Sonic Lost Worlds
• Mighty Switch Force! Hyper Drive Edition
• Might Switch Force! 2
• SteamWorld Dig
• SteamWorld Heist
• Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate

Virtual Console

• Metroid Prime Trilogy

3DS Games

• Radiant Historia: Perfect Chronolgy
• Crimson Shroud
• Weapon Shop de Omasse
• Attack of the Friday Monsters! A Tokyo Tale
• SteamWorld Dig 2
• Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate
• Monster Hunter Generations
• My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess
• Culdcept Revolt

Anyone else come away with anything?

The eShops are officially closed for good. A fond farewell to all the video games now lost to time.

Farewell to another digital marketplace. My last purchase was Donkey Kong '94 on the Game Boy Virtual Console. Grubb was right. That game goes places.

Honestly this sucks absolute balls. Can previously-purchased titles even be downloaded anymore?

@broshmosh: At least for now, yes. Nintendo is allowing you to redownload stuff.

Personally I never had a Wii U and I kind of hated the 3DS as a device (I generally don't like hand-helds, though the 3DS obviously has an amazing library and I did enjoy some games on it like Mario 3D land and Animal Crossing) but I think this definitely sucks. I have no idea how many people are still buying 3DS games or Wii U games at this point but I can't imagine keeping the shops up would have been that expensive, and leaving shops up makes people more confident about their purchases.

The PS3 shop is still up (I know they tried to close it buy they didn't) and that thing came out in 2006. The Xbox 360 shop is still up (there have been some delistings) and that came out in 2005 almost 20 years ago. Nintendo again leads the way in crappy online stuff.

Here is a song that I would like to put up as well.

RIP to the honestly very solid 3DS digital library, and the spottier Wii U digital library.

Apparently the last things I bought were Ace Attorney 5 and 6 on the 3DS, and the Breath of the Wild DLC on the Wii U.

Pretty wack that some great digital-only games can’t be legitimately obtained at all, not to mention the DLC for certain games that there’s no way to get if you didn’t already purchase it (notably, Fire Emblem Fates has an entire third campaign that is DLC-only and no longer purchasable). At least the majority of Wii U heavy hitters have been ported to Switch.

I would bet that Nintendo will do a good job keeping that available. A couple years ago I had a Wii die on me, so I bought a replacement. I called Nintendo about trying to transfer the account over and a couple questions later, I was able to download my 2 dozen or so digital purchases on my new Wii. It was honestly a fantastic interaction for something that they could have easily done nothing for.

I ended up getting NES Remix, Inazuma 11, all three campaigns for FE Fates, Tomodachi Life, Rhythm Heaven Megamix, Zelda: OOT and MM, and a backup digital copy od Persona Q, since I don't know if I have a cart with the terrible bug in it or not. I did buy a bunch of Atlus stuff last year when they had a big sale after the closure was announced, as well. I already have regrets about not picking up the DQ games along with the rest of it, but I know that I probably won't end up playing any of these other games either. I'll just keep going back to Pocket Card Jockey any time I actually open the 3DS up.

Damn. I forgot about Pocket Card Jockey. I totally meant to put it on my wish list before the stores closed and just completely forgot about it.