Farewell, Nintendo Wii U & 3DS eshops.

Today, was a day we all knew was approaching a year in advance; the inevitable closure of the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS eShops. That occurred on: March 27th at 5pm PDT, March 27th at 8pm EDT, and March 28th at 1am GMT. With the previous console generation eShop's closed, there are many exclusive titles that will no longer be obtainable through legal means. If you were unable to pick-up a few of those titles prior to closure, I know how that feels. Because it's exactly what happened to me, but with the Wii eShop back in 2019. I still wish I could have picked up a couple of those Wiiware titles and classics that I naively reassured myself that they will, one day, be released on the Wii U eShop. Now, I'm just hoping they someday show up in the Switch Online Store. Which will probably lead me to hoping that they turn up on the succeeding console's eShop after the Switch... Alright, I'll stop.

Digital exclusives are a tricky business that almost always ends negatively. Sure, there are great experiences with new hardware and gimmicks that may or may not be fun long term. But ultimately, when father time calls, it becomes very difficult to be able to re-create that unique gameplay experience without the proprietary hardware. Porting 3DS games for example, is going to be a challange for Nintendo. Especially since so many titles built for that system are created with 3D in mind. Disabling the 3D is the easiest alternative but you lose that experience the game was primarily created for. I can't see that being anytime soon, considering how slowly ports from other consoles(hand-held or otherwise) are uploaded to the Switch Online Service.

Well, goodbye eShop. I did record the final eShop Music that is not included in our Wii U System Music video on YouTube. I'll try and upload that when I get a chance.