RIP Wii Shop Channel to end service on January 31, 2019!

[CharlieR]

https://retronauts.com/article/602/16-g ... s-too-late

There are other lists like this around, and as far as NES, it looks like Doremi fantasy is only available in the U.S. via the wii vc. I would think most wiiware games are exclusive to wii, if they are not on 3ds or any other system. I think the Konami rebirth ones are.

I have the 1000 points on the "virtual" Wii that is on the Wii menu within my Wii u. I added the points after I did the Wii to Wii U transfer. I have the backwards compatible Wii in my room, that I play a lot. I rarely play the Wii u that I have the 1000 points on.

I am still deciding on a game, I was thinking n64, or something that would use up all the points. Not a dealbreaker if I find a game I like that leaves points left that I can never use, but I'd like to use them all.

[ptdebate]

A reminder that the shop will close next week! sad to see it go.

I still have 1000 points that I need to spend, possibly on an n64 or wiiware game. I've heard maboshi's arcade is good. Trying to decide, but should probably go with a wiiware game that I won't be able to get after the shop closes. With something like Mario Tennis, I can get that elsewhere.

Not trying to be a hoodlum, but long after the Wii Shop Channel is gone, the WADs for such games will still be very widely available, and playable on both emulators and actual hardware.

That's true, and that's always my answer to the "but what if the store closes and you lose your digital purchases" argument.

Very little, if anything, is truly lost. That's especially true of video games.

[Atariboy]

Did they end it early?

Logged on to my Wii U to confirm everything had been redownloaded and was working (My Wii U had been serviced by Nintendo several times, forcing me to redownload my Wii Shop games each time), but was only getting an error code when attempting to connect to the Wii Shop.

[snakeboy]

Did they end it early?

Logged on to my Wii U to confirm everything had been redownloaded and was working (My Wii U had been serviced by Nintendo several times, forcing me to redownload my Wii Shop games each time), but was only getting an error code when attempting to connect to the Wii Shop.

Ugh, I hope not. I was actually planning on doing the Wii U transfer today.

It really kind of annoys me that everything is erased from the Wii after the transfer. Would it have killed Nintendo to let us have the games we bought on both systems? Considering the online capabilities of the Wii were removed long before the PS3 and Xbox 360, it seems like it was the least they could do.

Also, is it still possible to download DLC for games like Guitar Hero and Rock Band? I have 200 Wii points and IIRC that was what extra songs in those games cost.

[Atariboy]

May have just been a temporary fluke.

Reading Nintendo's faq just now makes it sound like it's not really the full end to the Wii Shop like has been interpreted.

Users were able to add Wii Points until March 26, 2018, and they will continue to be able to purchase content on the Wii Shop Channel until January 30, 2019. In the future we will be closing all services related to the Wii Shop Channel, including the ability to redownload WiiWare and Virtual Console games, as well as the Wii System Transfer Tool, which transfers data from Wii to the Wii U system. We will announce specific details as that time approaches.

Looks like all that's actually ending on January 30th is the discontinuance of the ability to spend your Wii Points balance (And potentially the closure of their video streaming services; Unsure of the details there, although I know the death warrant has been signed).

So you should be able to do a Wii to Wii U system transfer and redownload existing Wii Shop purchases for a while yet.

[snakeboy]

Wii Shop worked fine for me. Did the Wii U transfer. Pretty painless process, maybe took an hour at most (not including all the games that I will have to re-download that didn't fit in the transfer file).

[CharlieR]

I downloaded Jett Rocket, a wiiware 3d platformer, as well as some demos yesterday. I know Netflix will be ending this week.

[Retro STrife]

Well, I checked my Wii last night and I had 10,500 points on it ($105). I guess I really loaded it up last March when the deadline came! Of course, I put off spending it until the last minute. Over the past couple days, I wasted wayyyy too much time of my life researching which games to download. I might never play most of them, but since some of these games will disappear forever in official form, that's still a lot of pressure. I tried to veer toward games that were really good/unique, that do not appear on any other system (i.e., if it's also on the Wii U shop, then I passed), and that 20 years from now would still hold up and be desireable to have on my console. For VC games, I also considered ones that were too rare or expensive to buy for the original system. Also, I don't really play games on PC or iOS, so it was not a dealbreaker if the games also appear there, although it does make them slightly less desireable to me. Anyway, here's how I spent it:


WII WARE:
Tomena Sanner
Excitebike World Rally
La Mulana
Bonsai Barber
Space Invaders Get Even
Art Style: Orbient
Art Style: light trax


VIRTUAL CONSOLE:
Princess Tomato in Salad Kingdom (NES)
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa (NES)
MUSHA (Genesis)
Ironclad (Neo Geo CD)
Cho Aniki (TG-16)
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood (TG-16)


DEMOS (I downloaded these demos for WiiWare games that I considered buying, but didn't buy):
MotoHeroz
Fluidity
And Yet It Moves
LIT
Rage of the Gladiator
NyxQuest
Jett Rocket
Bit.Trip Runner
World of Goo (almost bought this game, since it's regarded as the best WiiWare game, but I decided I'll get the Switch version someday)


Yikes! I certainly don't look forward to doing this all over again when future console stores close down (i.e., Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3), but I guess this is trend that will happen once every few years now that console stores are a thing.

[pacman000]

Why don't they use the same marketplace for old & new consoles, like a phone?

[CharlieR]

Money, I'm guessing. It probably wouldn't be too hard to have these games available to you across all platforms, but they want you to buy it again.

I turned on my wii this morning, and all the video streaming apps no longer work, but the wii shop channel still allows you to re-download your past purchases.