What Notable Games Will Be Lost With the 3DS/Wii U eShop Closure?

[Moonface]

If you somehow haven't heard by now, the eShop's for 3DS and Wii U will be closing down on March 26th, which means you will no longer be able to digitally purchase any titles on those systems. As far as I'm aware, Internet Archive has managed to preserve all of the titles on both stores; meanwhile, YouTuber "The Completionist" has spent almost $23k purchasing every single title on both storefronts, although this is of course only useful for them and also relies on Nintendo not removing access to downloads of 3DS and Wii U titles at any point in the future.

While it's a small amount, some of the games on those systems have been ported to the Switch (or maybe other systems too, I don't know) in some fashion. However, there is a plethora of games that will probably become inaccessible once the 3DS and Wii U eShop's close that may not even get ported to another system. So what games are there that will go down with the ship that you wish were available or hope to see ported to other systems?


For me I think one of the biggest that Nintendo is doing dirty to is Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD. I know the latter isn't viewed fondly, but it sucks that Nintendo made a HD remaster of both of these games and are just going to let them die on the Wii U, especially when so many other first-party Wii U titles got a second life on Switch. 3DS is harder for me to think of off the top of my head because it had such a huge library of games, and any of the obvious ones like Pokémon will probably get re-released by Nintendo at some point because it's just such easy money.

[queenzelda]

For the 3ds I think games like: Fantasy Life, Ever Oasis, Dillon's Rolling Western series, & the 3ds line of pokemon games both mainline and mystery dungeon should be considered impo.

Quick edit: Dragon Quest 8 for the 3ds you can marry any girl in the game not just the horse princess. In the ps2 not so much. Also dragon quest 7 on the 3ds is an excellent game.

[Moonface]

...the 3ds line of pokemon games both mainline and mystery dungeon should be considered impo.

I'd be shocked if Nintendo didn't eventually start dumping these into NSO at a premium or something, because the money to be made by just re-releasing them is too high to not do it.

I think a big shame that I just realized is that Luigi's Mansion is going to become a hard-to-find game yet again because I forgot the remaster was for the 3DS and not the Switch. LM3 is going to be the only one that will remain easily accessible (I'm aware emulation exists but I don't consider that as a solution for the general populace).

Another thing I didn't consider is that physical copies aren't really going to be a viable way to get some of the games on either system because there's no way the price of those isn't going to shoot through the damn roof in the wake of this. 3DS Pokémon games are going to be like rocking horse shit if the cost of the physical copies on GBA and whatnot are anything to go by.

Still, on the bright side it's funny that in doing this Nintendo is going to encourage a lot of people to turn to piracy in order to get access to any Wii U/3DS games they can't get otherwise, when Nintendo is always super hot on keeping tabs on their stuff.

[queenzelda]

Well tbh it's not hard to get 'copies' of pokemon games by just doing a quick google search. Most games I've seen streamers like Jaden Animations play are usually randomized anyway and Nintendo doesn't seem to give two f*cks. More so since I've seen a TON of games being made from the og source and into whole new games. Its interesting to see impo.

Any way. I'm getting an eshop card for my birthday tomorrow and I'm going to see if anything stands out to me before the eshops of the 3ds and WiiU go away forever. From the Wii U I suggest getting Super Mario 3D World and I know there's a Switch version of Toad Treasure Tractor but the game is so weird, it's worth playing before the upgrade impo. Beyond that get all of the Zelda titles, more so since they have snes, nes, gba & gb titles purchase able on the system that you can own.

[Dragon Lord]

Fire Emblem Fates is probably the most notable loss from the closure, with how they handled the split routes. The Revelations branch is now completely inaccessible unless you buy the Birthright/Conquest double pack that had Revelations pre-downloaded on the cart, however that's currently selling on eBay for over $500 for used copies last I heard.

Even if you can find a cheap copy of Birthright or Conquest still, you'll be completely locked out of the other route AND Revelations, meaning you'll only ever be able to get 33% of the game (legally) from now on.

I don't think any other game, or not many at least, have had so much content made completely inaccessible as Fire Emblem Fates.

The worst part about it is that Nintendo actually cut off access to being able to get Revelations back on February 28th, so anyone who was unaware of that and purchased the game some time in March was still screwed out of being able to get any of it.

[queenzelda]

Good thing I bought both Fire Emblem games: Birthright/Conquest, I figured I'd need both.

Another 3DS title of note is Fantasy Life since you can learn to become a paladin, witch, seamstress, etc. I spent HOURS playing the game and trying to beat certain bosses or just getting to the next lvl.

[Moonface]

Fire Emblem Fates is probably the most notable loss from the closure, with how they handled the split routes. The Revelations branch is now completely inaccessible unless you buy the Birthright/Conquest double pack that had Revelations pre-downloaded on the cart, however that's currently selling on eBay for over $500 for used copies last I heard.

Even if you can find a cheap copy of Birthright or Conquest still, you'll be completely locked out of the other route AND Revelations, meaning you'll only ever be able to get 33% of the game (legally) from now on.

I don't think any other game, or not many at least, have had so much content made completely inaccessible as Fire Emblem Fates.

The worst part about it is that Nintendo actually cut off access to being able to get Revelations back on February 28th, so anyone who was unaware of that and purchased the game some time in March was still screwed out of being able to get any of it.

Yeah, this game might be the one to take the biggest hit from the closure, particularly because anyone who didn't grab the third route from the eShop in time has ended up with a game that in a sense is incomplete.

It actually makes me wonder if and when Nintendo (or any other company) might take down the patches for any of their older titles. If they don't want to keep the eShop up when that was something that could make money from being used, I can't imagine the idea of keeping patches up on a server for those same games at a constant monetary loss is going to remain appealing forever. I dunno if it would impact a lot of 3DS and Wii U titles overall since Nintendo doesn't seem to rely on patches as heavily as Xbox or PlayStation does, at least not for titles on those systems anyway (since I know Switch games tend to get patches and updates frequently).

[Moonface]

So someone has been putting together a video series that covers all of the things that will be lost on 3DS and Wii U when Nintendo closes their respective eShop's in April: 3DS and Wii U eShop Closure Losses

There's a lot of stuff being covered, but their most recent video mentions the following stuff will be lost:

Losses That Impact Completionists

• Fire Emblem Fates (stages, weapons, enemy duels, characters)
  
• SMT Devil Survivor 2 (some exclusive Demon Fusions, other fusions already are unobtainable)
  
• Mario Maker (All fanmade and some Nintendo made levels, mystery mushroom costumes)
  
• Samurai Warrior's chronicles (Gaiden stages)
  
• Culdcept Revolt (Daily log in cards, Evo parts, and GP. Some are exclusive, so if you want them better start logging in every day starting right now until the servers go down.)
  
• Tetris Axis (3 new fever items)
  
• Nintendo Badge Arcade (The entire game, can no longer swap badges in and out)
  
• Streetpass Mii Plaza (puzzle swap minigame)
  
• Tomodachi Life (schoolgirl outfit, other outfits already are unobtainable)
  
• Kirby Battle Royale (sleep and mirror transformations)
  
• Jump Trials Extreme (extra stages)
  
• Xenoblade chronicles X (side quests for the best items are "borderline impossible" in single player, will take a long time investment to get to these quests)
  
• Mario Kart 7 (Nintendo time trial ghosts)
  
• Smash Bros 3DS and Wii U (milestone achievements from online)
  
• Splatoon (all progress tied to online multiplayer with many levels and unlockables)
  
• Animal Crossing New Leaf (medals for visiting 500 towns)
  
• Mario Tennis open (Costumes from playing online)
  
• Yokai Watch Blasters (final boss is unlocked by playing multiplayer)
  
• Yokai Watch 1,2,3 (Trading and battling)
  
• Pokémon games (Trading and battling)
  
• Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon (Exclusive ghosts in skyscraper matches to complete the ghost compendium)
  
• Resident Evil Revelations (Infection Mission on raid mode)
  
• Zelda Tri force heroes (Much more fun in multiplayer than singleplayer, PvP has materials for the best costumes)
  
• Kid Icarus Uprising (multiplayer gives exclusive weapons, items, idols and progress symbol)
  

Anything in italics is a game where the content can only be obtained via local multiplayer once the online servers go offline.

Definitely some rough losses in this list. Mario Maker would by far be the worst one, but I know there have been efforts to get all of the community levels exported off the servers and I would assume they're being hosted somewhere for download or something.