Last Day To Buy Wii Shop Channel Games Before It Shuts Down

Last fall, Nintendo announced that it will shut down the Wii Shop Channel. While the digital storefront will still be operational until next January, this weekend is effectively your last chance to buy any titles from it.

From March 26, players will no longer be able to purchase points for the Wii Shop on either Wii or Wii U. Points that are already in your account following that date can still be redeemed for titles until the service is discontinued next January, but you won't be able to add any more to your balance, which is the only way to download titles.

Unlike Switch's digital storefront, the Eshop, the Wii Shop Channel doesn't allow users to purchase games directly with real money. Rather, players have to first buy Wii Points using either a credit card or a pre-paid card, which could then be redeemed for digital software from the service.

While many of the games available on the Wii Shop would eventually appear on the Wii U Eshop, there are a number of Virtual Console and WiiWare titles that are only available through Wii's digital store, including a catalog of Genesis and TurboGrafx-16 legacy games, so this is your last opportunity to stock up on some otherwise unattainable titles while you still can.

The Wii Shop Channel shuts down for good on January 31, 2019. It is notable for being Nintendo's first digital storefront, though it will perhaps best be remembered for its impossibly catchy music. Until then, players can still re-download and transfer Wii Shop games to Wii U, and all WiiWare and Virtual Console titles purchased from the service will still be playable as long as they are on the system's memory.