Nintendo’s digital store for the Wii console will officially close up shop for good in January 2019, beginning with the removal of the addition of points from Monday 26 March 2018.
The Wii Shop Channel has been running since 2006 and allows gamers to purchase digital copies of Wii games, revisit classics via the Virtual Console, and download free Wii Channels.
The Wii Shop is also currently available on the less successful Wii U console via the backwards compatibility feature but will also stop working in 2019, including the use of the Wii U Transfer Tool, which transfers data from Wii to Wii U.
The Nintendo Wii was released in November 2006 and went on to sell over 100million units, outselling both the PS3 and Xbox 360 despite not being a direct competitor to the Sony and Microsoft generation of consoles. Due to its motion controls, multiplayer functionality and move away from traditional modes of gameplay, the console became a huge success with families and casual gamers.
Full details of the end date of the service:
- Adding points to the Wii Shop Channel: Monday 26th March 2018 at 21:00 UK time
- Purchase of WiiWare, Virtual Console software, Wii Channels (including free software)*: Thursday, 31st January 2019 at 06:00 UK time
- Full closure of the Wii Shop Channel and disabling of redownload functions in 2019 (more details to be announced at a later date)
*With some exceptions, it is possible to re-download previously downloaded WiiWare, Virtual Console and Wii Channel software until the full closure of the Wii Shop Channel in 2019.