Nintendo Responds To Wii And DSi Shop Channel Outages

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!

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!

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

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."

@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.

... 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

I transferred all my account purchases to the Wii U from Wii in 2012. Can I still download my original purchases to the Wii?

@RupeeClock The real question is if it went with Wii U CDN, will it still be compatible with running GameCube games?

Quick, tell people to panic buy some more! It's been a few days since we were reminded you have 10 months to buy DS games!

Maintenance? More likely they have shut them down and called it maintenance to avoid backlash, how anti consumer can you be

It's been 'undergoing maintenance' for 2 months ? Must be super maintained when it's finished

@Would_you_kindly I don't think we're prepared for THIS level of stability

@blindsquarel This aged poorly.

Sony: PS3 & Vita have problems with the PlayStation store, fixes within the week despite now being considered legacy platforms.

Nintendo: Service has been "undergoing maintenance" for 2 months now. They should at least have the guts to tell their customers they're not bothering with it anymore. Nintendo fans will apologize for overreacting.

@RubyCarbuncle the difference being here, if I’m not mistaken, is that you can’t redownload your games if your current console dies. If the store is completely offline (not happening with 3ds or Wii U at this juncture) your purchases are no longer available to you unless you already have them downloaded on a console

Dude, regardless of how old these services are, if Nintendo are closing them down then the least they could do is just be upfront about it.
It's like their whole consumer-facing persona these days is just 'deal with it or f*** off'.

Revert the rights to marvel

@Joeynator3000 Wii Shop Channel only up so users can redownload stuff they bought in the past or transfer from Wii to Wii U but that to will eventually be shut down at a future date which they say here https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/27560/~/wii-shop-channel-discontinuation

They can't keep outdated sites going forever that cost money and labor. People over think these things. They have to move on and sites have to move on and adopt new hardware aka Switch Online.

I can’t be the only one who completely forgot about this.

How is it undergoing maintenance, it closed down two years ago ???

"GameXplain", not "GameExplain".

@YANDMAN It didn't close down, you're just unable to buy stuff but could still redownload stuff up until these outages started.

So an update on an article that Nintendo had nothing to announce, is now updated with a niche YouTube channel that reached out to them, and there was still noting to announce.... well that's cleared all that up then.

Meh, not worth complaining since my Wii is busted and needs to be fixed and my Nintendo DSi XL doesn't accept my current wifi.

This is why you have to do backups constantly.
Just a few weeks ago, I realized that among the stuff I have on my PC there's some Vault data (Photos, Replays and Custom Stages) from Super Smash Bros. Brawl all the way from 2008 when I thought I didn't have it anymore, this also includes the bin2jpg program (to convert the Photo.bin files into jpg to be viewed on any device) and a Stage Builder program (it lets you make Custom Stages on a PC).

I need to get a HDD to free some space on my PC and move everything that saves on an SD Card (Wii, DSi, 3DS, Wii U for Smash Bros., Mii Maker and Wii Mode, Switch).

Anyone who is genuinely upset by this deserves to feel that pain

@Don When you transferred your games to your Wii U, you transferred all of the purchases too, and lost the ability to redownload those games to your Wii. Additionally, you would have had to rebuy them on Wii to play them, which is no longer possible.

On Wii U, you could still redownload the games you transferred over if necessary until recently. While the ability to make purchases from the Virtual Wii Shop Channel was disabled years ago, the store was still open to redownload games if necessary. With the shop still under maintenance, this is currently not an option.

@Knuckles
Compared to Microsoft and Sony, it’s terrible how Nintendo handles purchased games carried to the next system. Basically if my Wii U dies everything not only from the Wii U but the Wii die with it. Nintendo’s competitors allow users to redownload purchased games on the next generation console without forcing the content on the previous console to be deleted. It’s unfortunate our purchases from the Wii U cannot be carried over to the Switch, basically typing all paid downloads to the fate of the console they were purchased on.

"GameExplain"

Heh, sure.

I dind it even more jarring that people are still confused about the closure/redownload difference.

Move on people……play new games

Ya know, its feasible (not holding my breath on this) that they are genuinely working on the shop and that they will be back up and functioning at some point. I mean I doubt it, but I also kinda bet that all Nintendo's digital content to purchase and download are split up on different servers depending on the system. If Nintendo could get all that Wii and DSi stuff onto the same server as that which hosts all their Switch stuff, that could be quite the undertaking, especially in regards to ensuring software you paid for and downloaded before could be downloaded again at no extra charge.

Is that what they're doing? Probably not, but until they flat out state that the stores are permanently disconnected, it seems at least possible that such a move is at play here.

So an update that has no update?

@SwitchForce

They should grow up and make a reliable Online Store.
It is insane to think that when i buy Super Mario Bros. on the 3DS i can't accsess it on the Wii, Wii U or Switch.
When i buy a Game on Steam or Gog, i can play it on a 20 Year old Machine, my Laptop, my modern PC or even a Computer running a completly different OS as Linux.
The Example of the NES Game is emulated on Nintendo Systems from begin with, it shouldn't be a Problem, emulating different Architectures or making a Wrapper officialy is Thing nowadays.

@Don You just have to reach Nintendo Support by email or phone and ask them to relink your Nintendo Network ID to the new Wii U console you get.

Since the Wii U introduced the NNID, the purchases are linked to that account. Nintendo just needs to link the account to another console and that's it. Yeah, there's no way to do so without Nintendo's help.

@Olmectron
That’s good to know, but I guess that’s only good while we still are able to redownload our purchases. I really hope Nintendo will add a purchase option for retro games on their Switch Online subscription with the option to download our purchased games on older console for free like what Sony just announced. But given it’s Nintendo I have little expectation that they would do or even consider this.

@Joeynator3000 The problem is that Nintendo announced the calendar for the Wii U and 3DS shops to stop digital sales, but not a closure date for redownloads. What has everyone concerned is that the Wii eShop wasn't supposed to close for redownloads of digital purchases, it just went away with no notice. So for that reason people are concerned the same will happen with the Wii U and 3DS.
Ultimately the Shops will someday go away for redownloads but that should be announced so customers can plan and download any software they want to keep before it's gone. The digital future, it's bleak. That's why I try and get physical copies when possible. Though I do have many digital purchases across the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS among other consoles.

My uncle works for nintendo and he says they're rebuilding the shops to run on switch and you'll be able to able to download and play these games anytime anywhere, big direct coming start of June!

@Speedo if that turns out to be the case, hopefully this might mean that this is the beginning of a longer term infrastructure because it would seem a bit pointless otherwise, at this stage of the switch life cycle

@BigE I don't really have an uncle that works at nintendo I was just trying to look cool in front of the other kids

Maintenance doesn't last for two months. What is going on here?

@Speedo ha, class, you certainly achieved that, albeit short lived

Very unprofessional of Nintendo.

@ModdedInkling migrating all the titles to a different server might take that long, especially if every title then has to somehow be flagged again properly to ensure people that downloaded it on the original server are still entitled to download it again at no extra cost on the new server.

I don't know if that is the case in terms of what is happening, but something like that seems like it could be a months long process, if it requires manually adjusting every downloaded title in some way.

@EVIL-C
Yeah, that would be very welcome news.

@duffmmann
I get that. Some transparency would have been nice, though.

@Gamer83 @BongoBongo123 Haha, We can dream, everyone... 🙏😅😭

@BTB20 sorry, I now understand the distinction.

Would love to re download my games as my sd card was corrupted not so long ago

@ATaco
I mean Nintendo fans do overreact to everything.

@blindsquarel probably because there's a lot of things worth "overreacting" for. Nintendo aren't exactly saints and masters of good business practices.

@ATaco
I mean like how the game you wanted wasn’t at the direct. Stuff like that.

Leave a comment below for me because I like the Wiiu better that the Wii. Nintendo Wi-Fi was a big fan playing Mario kart Wii and DS and some warner bros game have been debuted like the bee movie video game and stuff like that.