What you need to know
- The Wii and Nintendo DSi were Nintendo's first home and handheld consoles with online storefronts.
- The Nintendo DSi store closed in 2017, with the Wii shop closing in 2019. However, both stores have allowed users to re-download any titles previously purchased.
- Users attempting to re-download past purchases have been met with error codes for the past few days.
While digital games can make experiences more accessible to many, they can be more fickle than their physical counterparts. The Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DSi were Nintendo's first home and handheld consoles to dabble in digital game sales, offering smaller games and legacy content via the Wii Shop Channel and the Nintendo DSi shop.
Both stores have since closed, with the Wii Shop Channel closing in 2019 and the Nintendo DSi before that in 2017. However, Nintendo assured that those who previously purchased titles on both storefronts could re-download their games, stating the following regarding the Nintendo DSi shop:
The ability to redownload purchased content or transfer content to a Nintendo 3DS family system will continue after the Nintendo DSi Shop closure for an as-yet-unspecified amount of time. If you are thinking of transferring your DSiWare content to a Nintendo 3DS family system, we encourage you to do so at your earliest convenience while the service is still available.
A recent report by Kotaku drew attention to the fact that users attempting to re-download their titles have been facing errors for days, unable to access the content they purchased. The issue of re-downloading content on discontinued storefronts has re-entered the public consciousness after Nintendo announced the closure of the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U eShops.
Nintendo has since made the following statement on the situation:
The Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop are currently undergoing maintenance. We will provide an update at a later date.
This, of course, is quite vague, and is unnerving with the threat of digital titles being lost to time looming over the heads of gamers. Users may have a chance to transfer their games to the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS in the future, which may give users their games more security. We'll be sure to keep you updated on any developments in the future.
A new and improved Nintendo Switch
The newest member of the Nintendo Switch family is the OLED model, which incorporates new and improved features to the system including a larger OLED display, a more stable kickstand for tabletop play, a LAN port, and an upgraded 64GB of internal storage. It's the classic Nintendo Switch, but better.
