When it comes to Nintendo, the 3DS and the Wii U systems are the staple of the Gen-Z childhood experience. With the online stores—the “eShops” for both consoles closing in March 2023, old fans become increasingly worried that some of their exclusive games will be lost in cyberspace.

     The 3DS has been around since early 2011 and was an upgraded version of the classic Gameboy and DS, with better graphics, more games, an online community, and a 3-dimensional mode that could be raised just as easily as the volume.

     The Wii U came around later the following year. It was also an upgraded version of an older console, the Wii, but it introduced something never done before: a handheld screen.

     Collectively, the two consoles have 700 eShop exclusive games. All of which will be lost in 2023 when the shops are discontinued. Lost titles will include the BOXBOY! Series, Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move, and Pushmo. 

     However, the majority of the games being lost are ports from other systems that have not been moved to newer ones. Many nostalgic classics were revived through the 3DS and Wii U- everything from Pokemon Red on GameBoy, to Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii. 

     Deane Conway, junior, expresses their concerns with Nintendo’s decision, and claims it will be the downfall of gamer integrity. “At this point, [Nintendo] is almost begging you to pirate their games,” they say, “Nintendo is very against emulation and piracy, so it doesn’t make sense to me that they’re taking away so many games and not porting them over to the switch.” They predict that Nintendo’s plan is to eventually release these games, which were previously free, as an extension of Nintendo Switch Online, a service that allows people to play multiplayer wirelessly. 

     Conway is not the only one who disagrees with this decision. However, according to inverse.com, Nintendo has no plan to ‘backpedal’ their decision. The article states that “game preservation is not a priority” for Nintendo, so they do not have plans for any ports of old games to the switch. However, with a Nintendo Switch Online membership allowing users access to over 130 classic games currently, it’s very likely that some of the Wii U and 3DS classics will find themselves on the platform in time– for a price, according to Polygon.

     Nnitendo has made other recent decisions that have received backlash as well, such as the Wii shop channel, support for Mario Maker on Wii U, and the “Miiverse”, which was the online social platform on the Wii U, all being closed down within the past few years. It is unknown if this means the company has major upcoming plans or not, at this time.