Though the Nintendo DSi is nearly 13 years old now, some of the hardware's downloadable content in the form of DSiWare has been available for many years on the Nintendo 3DS eShop, which is now nearly 10 years old. Originally available on the DSi Shop, DSiWare was the name given to a variety of games and applications available for download on the DSi, marking Nintendo's second big venture into digital games after the Wii.
While gamers have still been able to enjoy a plethora of DSiWare through the Nintendo 3DS' eShop, it seems that Nintendo is working on removing some titles from the eShop completely. Most notably, Shantae: Risky's Revenge has been removed from the eShop, despite originally being developed solely as a DSiWare title for the system.
Although the Nintendo Switch eShop is thriving, the same may not be said for the 3DS eShop. A Tweet made by user comeoutpunching on January 2 provided a PSA to 3DS owners about the removal of some DSiWare titles on the eShop. Though not all DSiWare titles have been removed from the eShop, for one reason or another, the removal seems to only include DSiWare released prior to mid-May 2011.
Upon learning the news that games like Shantae: Risky's Revenge and Mighty Flip Champs! by indie developer WayForward were removed from the eShop, Shantae creator Matt Bozon expressed his own surprise as the news. It's worth noting that Risky's Revenge was brought to the Nintendo Switch last year, also being made available as a physical game on Switch and PlayStation 4. Of course, if these removed games have already been downloaded onto a DSi or 3DS system, they can still be played at will. However, 3DS owners seem to now be left without a way to play the beloved Risky's Revenge without access to a Nintendo Switch or PS4.
The removal of these titles from the 3DS eShop serves as an unfortunate reminder that despite the immense popularity of digital games, they continue to present a danger to video game preservation. For the time being, it is currently unknown exactly why these DSiWare titles were removed from the eShop, but it will be interesting to see whether more titles are removed in the future.