Wii U – nothing lasts forever (pic: Nintendo)



Today is the last day you’ll be able to buy digital games from the Wii U and 3DS eShop so make sure you don’t miss out before they disappear.



Fans knew this day was coming but after Monday, March 27 it will be impossible to buy new digital games for the Wii U and 3DS . You can still download games you already own but from Tuesday you will no longer be able to buy them.



Both consoles are now over a decade old, so it’s not too surprising, but the problem is there are many games on the eShops that are only available digitally, either because they were always digital-only or because they’re not easily available any other format.



We’ve already made a list of the best titles on both formats , but if you were meaning to buy some of them and never got round to it then now is your last chance.



What time does the Wii U and 3DS eShop close?



Nintendo hasn’t said when the eShops will shut down so it could easily be any time today. There’s been some suggestion they will close at 1am BST tonight but they could carry on for a few hours after that, or even into tomorrow.



You can’t guarantee anything though, so if you definitely want to get some of these games then you should do it as soon as possible.



Some of our top choices include Xenoblade Chronicles X, which still hasn’t been ported to the Switch, as well as Metroid Prime Trilogy, Star Fox Zero, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 on the Wii U.



The 3DS also has a bunch of older Pokémon games, that haven’t yet made it to Switch, along with crossover game Professor Layton Vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, and the Etrian Odyssey series.



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The issue of game preservation has been brought into sharp focus in recent weeks, with EA delisting or shutting down the online services of multiple games and fans discovering that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has a built-in expiry date.



Many publishers continue to make little or no effort to stop games from becoming unavailable on modern formats and sadly Nintendo has always been one of the worst in that respect.









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MORE : The best Nintendo Wii U and 3DS games to buy before the eShop shuts down







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MORE : Nintendo Wii U time bomb is killing consoles if you don’t use them regularly





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