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This news was first spotted by VGC and comes soon after the Wii U and 3DS eShops have closed down for good. The two things are likely not related, as the Wii U has been out for more than a decade now. With the warranty period past and Nintendo likely not looking to manufacture new parts for a console that never sold well anyways, this news isn’t too surprising. Obviously, you’d like to see Nintendo continue to support its old consoles, but it’s just not always financially feasible.
The lack of repairs certainly stings, but it’s the eShop’s closure that really hurts fans. Not only are all kinds of games now currently unavailable, but even the ones that require you to buy physical copies have likely been overpriced now that there’s no way to get them digitally. In fact, earlier today Nintendo actually released a new patch for the 3DS that seems to target hacks and pirated games, making it much tougher to get those games onto your handheld. It’s Nintendo’s right to protect its IP, but it is sad to see any preservation efforts made even more difficult.
It’s worth noting that, while this update seems to only be targeted at Japan, it’s likely that the rest of the globe will likely follow suit relatively soon. Obviously, Nintendo does handle things differently in some regions, but it wouldn’t make much sense for this to be a Japan-only move. We expect that you won’t be able to get your Wii U console or peripherals officially repaired anywhere very soon.
