If you’ve turned on your 2DS/3DS recently you’ve probably noticed a notification that the eShop is shutting down in late March 2023. This is true of both the 3DS eShop and the Wii U eShop. So, what does that mean for your 3DS and the games you bought? Well, let’s take a look.
According to Nintendo’s FAQ page, there are a couple of stages to this process. The eShop stopped taking credit cards for purchases on May 23, 2022. You can load funds via eShop cards until August 29, 2022. After that, you’ll only be able to load funds if your 3DS is connected to a Nintendo ID on a Switch (in which case the eShops share funds) and redeem download codes until late March of 2023. At this time, there are no plans to shut down online play or stop users from being able to download previously purchased content.
So, what should you buy? Well, it depends on what you like to do with your 3DS.
Themes and Badge Arcade
One thing the Switch seriously lacks is customization options. I adore the themes on the 3DS family of systems. If you have had your eye on any of the paid themes, you better snap them up fast. I just purchased all of the Fire Emblem themes recently, because I’m obsessed with those games.
If you use Badge Arcade know that its paid content shutdown schedule is the same as the rest of the eShop (as far as I can tell). So, hurry up and get those plays!
StreetPass
Fine, fine. I know it’s mostly dead (however, social media has shown me that more people are running around with their 3DSs lately, so it’s not completely dead), but there are still conventions and the ability to walk and get play coins. In short, if you have a StreetPass game that you’ve been eyeing, get it soon before it goes away forever. Personally, I LOVE the flower shop game. It’s so relaxing.
Also, if you do go to conventions, consider the plaza expansion. You can put up to 100 people in your line to greet them later, a really handy feature for large conventions where you don’t want to spend all your time clearing lines. Yeah, yeah. Those days are pretty much done I know, but I’ve stretched the fun out for weeks using this feature because I have plenty of time to play through all the games before letting in the next ten Miis.
Plus, buying these add-ons makes the Mii plaza bunny happy. Don’t you want to keep the plaza bunny happy?
DLC
DON’T FORGET THE DLC. I’ll say it again, DON’T FORGET THE DLC. If you have any of the Fire Emblem games, make sure you purchase any DLC you want before it’s locked up in the eShop forever. Particularly of note is the 3rd part of Birthright/Conquest which is ONLY available in the eShop or on the special edition cartridge. Fantasy Life also has a major DLC add on. Check your favorite titles and make sure that they’re complete before you lose access to the additional content forever.
Look for another article (or several) on this topic over the coming months as I obsessively play my 3DS in the coming weeks.
I am especially sad about the GB, GBC, and GBA games that are now completely inaccessible. Nintendo needs to bring emulators of those systems over to the Switch as soon as possible.
Not inaccessible yet! You can purchase until March 2023, as long as as you can get funds into your account. But yes, it will be a loss for sure. As you mentioned, we can only hope that they’ll make the jump to the Switch at some point.