The Wii Shop Channel will, unfortunately, be shutting its doors, Nintendo announced. Luckily for us, it won't be until January 31, 2019, but the end of the era is still scheduled. As of March 26, 2018, users will be unable to add Wii Points to their account, to encourage users to spend their existing points before the closedown.
The functionality that allows users to purchase WiiWare and Virtual Console titles and transfer them to the Wii U (called the Wii System Transfer) will also cease in 2019, although the exact date is unknown. But until then, it will be possible to move any games over to a Wii U.
"In 2019, we will close the Wii Shop Channel used on Wii and Wii U (the Wii Shop Channel is accessible on the Wii U via the Wii backwards compatibility feature), which has been available since December 2006," Nintendo said in a statement. "We would like to thank our loyal customers for supporting the Wii Shop Channel, and would like them to continue to enjoy software downloaded from the shop."
The Wii Shop Channel has been around since 2006. We can still remember that music, reminiscent of a convenience store or department store. Just try and name a better system tune. Let's take a trip down memory lane.
Of course, your downloaded titles will still be playable on Wii and Wii U as long as you don't delete them. The Wii U had been doing well building its digital library, and the Nintendo Switch, while still lacking a Virtual Console, has an eShop with even more features that have yet to be revealed.
