Old game console platform support coming to an end is an inevitability in the current game industry, and it seems Nintendo is finally winding down their previous generation with moves signaling the end of the systems' lifespans. After five years of Nintendo Switch, the Wii U and 3DS may finally be left in the past by the company.

The Wii U and 3DS are Nintendo's last generation of console and handheld respectively, before the two types merged with the Nintendo Switch. The 3DS experienced success during its prime, but the Wii U was always considered a commercial failure.

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Nintendo has allowed new games to be released on the 3DS and Wii U eShops up to this point, but a company email suggests this may not last much longer. Impact Game Station received a forwarded email from an anonymous sender that appears to originate from Nintendo of Europe, saying that all submissions made to the Wii U and 3DS eShops will be rejected beyond April 2022. The email makes it abundantly clear that these services will remain active, but for how long after the cutoff date is uncertain, and Nintendo has provided no official statement on the matter. This mirrors the sunset of the PS Vita, with Sony setting a store submission deadline but not shutting down the store itself yet.

Nintendo's decision to cease accepting submissions is somewhat expected at this point, as each are far into the last generation of Nintendo systems and it likely is not profitable to continue supporting them. However, this is only a rumor as of right now, and if it is true then more emails like this will likely be appearing to developers over the coming weeks. Assuming the rumor is legitimate, this will mean the Wii U and 3DS eShops will become permanently stagnant as the Nintendo Switch continues to receive support.

The inevitable service shutdown raises an important ethical question, which was also raised earlier this year when Sony announced the shutdown of last generation stores. If online stores are shut down and games are not ported to a newer console, players cannot buy the games legitimately anymore. This is a financial decision by the companies since at this point not enough players are buying games on the stores to warrant keeping the servers up, but that leaves players who are late to that system's library having to buy up a large portion of the games before the shutdown, just so they can be played later.

The 3DS and Wii U, regardless of how well they sold, were incredibly unique systems offering creative functionality that is rarely seen outside of Nintendo. The Wii U especially houses many great games and hidden gems that take advantage of the unique control style. Losing access to publish games on the Wii U and 3DS may not be a big deal for traditional developers, but the experimental side of gaming will take a hit as unique control and display schemes fall by the wayside.

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