Wii Shop Channel will halt its services come 2019.
In a statement released by Nintendo, the video game company said that Wii owners will still be able to buy content from the Wii Shop Channel until Jan. 30, 2019.
"In the future, we will be closing all services to the Wii Shop Channel, including redownloading purchased WiiWare, Virtual Console titles, and Wii Channel, as well as Wii System Transfer Tool, which transfers data from Wii to the Wii U system," the company explained.
Owners of the Wii are still allowed to add the shop's currency, Wii Points, until March 26, 2018. Nintendo strongly suggested to Wii owners to start spending their points, redownload software and transfer games ahead of the closure in 2019 to avoid any inconvenience.
WiiWare and Virtual console games can still be played on the Wii and Wii U as long as they are stored in the system's memory. But if they have been deleted, there's no assurance that players will be able to redownload them after the termination of the support transfer.
The shutdown will mark the end of an era. It can be remembered that the Wii Shop Channel was set up in 2006 together with the Wii. The digital store was the precursor to Nintendo's eShop which caters to the 3DS, Wii U and Nintendo Switch.
Fans have been clamoring for Nintendo to introduce a virtual console-like system for its classic games on its latest platform, the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, the company hasn't revealed if they are planning to take this route or not.
While the Wii Shop Channel has given its fans a lot of wonderful and memorable vintage games, fans may agree that its lasting legacy will be the delightful menu music that plays while players use it. The song is among the best system music created for a console and fans will surely miss it.
Nintendo ended their statement by thanking their loyal consumers for patronizing the Wii Shop Channel and hoped that they continue to enjoy software downloaded from their shop.
