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Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Wii Shop Channel Closure Announcement! About Time!

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - I hope no one freaks out over this.

After what will be over 12 years of operation, Nintendo will finally do what I thought they have already done years ago: Close the Wii Shop Channel.

That's the Wii. You know. Nintendo's home console from 2006 to 2012. It had Nintendo's first digital marketplace and its own currency, Wii Points. Consumers will be able to add Wii Points to the Wii Shop Channel (which may not be converted into fiat currency, refunded, or transferred to the Nintendo eShop) from now until March 26, 2018. Then, the Wii Shop Channel will be closed for all purchasing and redownloading as of January 30, 2019. You also won't be able to transfer your Wii data to your Wii U as of January 30, 2019... which is something to note, since I never transferred MY Wii data to my Wii U. Speaking of the Wii U, you will not be able to access the Wii Shop Channel when your Wii U is in Wii Mode.

The Wii Shop Channel featured all sorts of neat stuff, such as the Virtual Console and WiiWare. WiiWare was Nintendo's first foray into giving independent and low-budget developers an avenue for digital distribution.

While the Virtual Console was awesome on the Wii and was a big part in me getting to play a lot of different games I otherwise wouldn't have, I actually associate a WiiWare game with the entire Wii Shop Channel. Do you know what that WiiWare game is? Well, I'll tell you. Let me know in the comments section if you got it right before you peek at the answer.









...It's Sexy Poker by Gameloft.

Sexy Poker Wii Shop Channel gift gifting feature messages
I obtained Sexy Poker via a fantastic feature on the Wii Shop Channel, being gifting.
Kamek gifting Sexy Poker to me would change the course of HISTORY.

Sexy Poker is the epitome of digital download offerings on the Wii, in my mind. ...It probably shouldn't be, but it is. Like Sexy Poker and Sexy Poker's characters, the Wii Shop Channel was trail-blazing. That trail might not have always lead to good places (many indies complained about how Nintendo treated them in terms of file size limits, pricing, and compensation), but it was a vital first step.

...Of course, I don't agree with where the industry has gone thanks to that first step, since physical cartridges are much more preferable to me than digital downloads for a whole host of reasons. Now thanks to the Wii Shop Channel going away, there will be a finite amount of people in the world who will ever be able to play Sexy Poker, or any of the other hundreds of WiiWare games.

Even though physical games have a finite supply as well, there is a second-hand market for that. You can't have a second-hand market with these digital downloads.

I think we can observe that at least SOMEONE out there has been feeding Nintendo some amount of money via the Wii Shop Channel all this time, or else it would've been shut down years ago, like Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Or like the cost-generating Miiverse will be in a month.

Hey, if you ever want to play Sexy Poker, come by my room in King Bowser's castle. ...Since I don't ever want to play Sexy Poker ever again, my Wii will be... pretty dusty. Be sure to let me know in advance!


...Also, if you don't let Ludwig know you're coming to Bowser's Castle in advance, you will probably be arrested for trespassing by the Koopatrol guards. Especially if you're an Earth-dwelling human scum. Anyway, from the comfort of your own homes and without visiting Ludwig's, please let KoopaTV know in the comments about your feelings, if any, about the Wii Shop Channel closing.


The night the Wii Shop Channel closed, Ludwig gifted Kamek some games.
Over in February 2022, Nintendo has announced they are shutting down the eShops for the 3DS and Wii U.

6 comments :

  1. "Please let KoopaTV know in the comments about your feelings, if any, about the Wii Shop Channel closing."

    I have no strong feelings one way or the other.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, that's the most logical perspective to have.

      Delete
  2. I never downloaded anything off of the Wii Shop Channel due to me not having reliable Internet until a few years ago. Unlike Miiverse, I cannot say that I will miss it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, if they ended the Wii Shop Channel, say, 6 years ago when the Wii was still important, I'd definitely be missing it.

      They ended WiiConnect24 in 2013 (which enabled Gifting) and that was kinda sad. Beginning of the end.

      Delete
  3. 私は亀が好きです
    (; ͡°_ʖ ͡°)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't tell if you're an actual Japanese person going on the Internet at a normal time for Japan, or some late-night wannabe using Google Translate...!

      (Either way, this isn't relevant.)

      Delete

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