After a reasonably long tenure, Nintendo has decided to bring an end to eShop support for the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U. This has been a long time coming as Nintendo has slowly cut down on releasing new content for the consoles on the eShop since the Nintendo Switch released back in 2017.
Surprisingly, before this takes place the Wii U will be receiving a brand-new game with Balance Board support. Silver Falls White Inside Its Umbra, is scheduled to release some time this year with no exact date set just yet. Silver Falls White Inside Its Umbra is a horror game that will strangely make use of the Wii U Balance Board as well as nearly all other aspects of the Wii U controller. The game will be entirely exclusive to the Wii U's eShop.
The Wii U has not been in production for some time now, which makes one wonder who Sungrand Studios is making the game for considering the fact that the console only sold around 14 million units. The developer will now also have to move quickly as Nintendo has announced that the 3DS and Wii U eShops are set to close by March 2023. On May 23 of this year, gamers will also not be able to add funds to their accounts via credit card, and by August 29 users will also no longer be able to use prepaid eShop cards to add funds either.
Back in 2021, Nintendo was rumored to be ending Wii U and 3DS eShop support in 2022, however, it seems as though the company is allowing users some more time to purchase games that they would like for their systems before eShop support for the consoles closes for good. Users will, luckily, still be able to re-download content that they already own and download existing software updates.
Sony tried to close down the digital storefronts of the PS Vita and PS3, but fan backlash caused the company to go back on this decision and keep the storefronts online. It is unlikely that Nintendo will experience similar criticism, as the Nintendo 3DS is now over 10 years old with very little content being released for the system in the last few years. Many games available on the Wii U have also been ported to the Switch, owing to the poor sales of the console.
Oddly enough, the Nintendo 3DS received a new update last year. While small, the patch was said to fix stability issues with the handheld console's internet service.
Source: GameSpot