2nd October 2017, 6:26 PM
... Pretty much. Specifically, you will be able to add money into the Wii store until March of next year, but you will have until January 2019 to spend that money. There is also no guarantee that you will be able to re-download any games you've previously purchased after Jan. 2019.
So what do I think of this? Well, it was going to happen someday. Nintendo has never been one to leave online services on after the system they are on isn't selling anymore, as you see with, well, every previous online network they have ever done, up to Miiverse, which shuts down in about a month. I presume that WiiWare/WiiVC was making money for a decent while, since it is a cash shop, but it must not be anymore, obviously. So down it goes. For many platforms (though not the Wii) this would be terrible for game preservation, and this is yet another very bad sign for the future of digital games.
There are two sides to this. One the one hand, this is another reminder that digital storefronts can and will be shut down, and your purchases will eventually not be re-downloadable. However, you can lose physical games as well, and in some cases people have had all their games lost, destroyed, or what have you. You can lose your games either way. However, this way EVERYONE loses everything and no one is able to buy any of the hundreds of download-exclusive Wii games again after this, so of course physical is far better for lastability, as has always been said.
However, in this case, things aren't as bad as they could be -- because the Wii has been completely hacked open, if you just install custom software into your Wii, including the Homebrew Channel, etc., anyone will be able to play any of the Wii's downloadable games without too much trouble. For as long as you can still actually buy the games I won't be doing that as it's not right, and I think I'll buy a bunch of WiiWare stuff at some point before the shutdown, but once Nintendo makes it impossible to buy downloadable Wii games again? Yeah, that'll be the time to mod my Wii. There is no reason not to once Nintendo has said "we don't want your money anymore or care about game preservation", as they have once again done here.
I wonder, when do MS and Sony follow suit and take down the PS3 and X360 online systems, including online stores and multiplayer... it'll probably be long after Nintendo, since MS particularly had so much more success at getting people online than Nintendo ever did (for good reason), but it probably will happen eventually. That X360 dashboard sure looks empty without all the online stuff on it though, and I still use my 360 online regularly, something I have never done with the Wii, so yeah, I hope MS keeps their 360 servers running indefinitely.
On that note, I wonder, will you still be able to use Wii applications like Netflix and such after this shutdown? Like, 'you can use it if you have it but can't re-download it anymore' or something? Heh...
But anyway, overall this is disappointing but was going to happen. I'm just glad that hackers have backed up everything in this store, or else this would be much, MUCH worse. But before this shutdown happens, I'll have to think about how much to spend on WiiWare games...
As one final thought though, the biggest mistake Nintendo made with WiiWare is that sales are not allowed. Sales are a great way to increase sales and revenues, and I like buying games that are on sale. I have a few dozen WiiWare games (and a couple of Wii VC games), but I've bought a lot fewer games for WiiWare than I would have had games gone on sale like they do on literally every other online storefront! I know Nintendo likes to not reduce the price of their games, but not allowing anyone else to ever put games on sale was a huge mistake. And if I remember right didn't Nintendo set prices for all games too, not the developers? WiiWare had issues... but despite that it has a pretty good library of games and it should be remembered for that.
So what do I think of this? Well, it was going to happen someday. Nintendo has never been one to leave online services on after the system they are on isn't selling anymore, as you see with, well, every previous online network they have ever done, up to Miiverse, which shuts down in about a month. I presume that WiiWare/WiiVC was making money for a decent while, since it is a cash shop, but it must not be anymore, obviously. So down it goes. For many platforms (though not the Wii) this would be terrible for game preservation, and this is yet another very bad sign for the future of digital games.
There are two sides to this. One the one hand, this is another reminder that digital storefronts can and will be shut down, and your purchases will eventually not be re-downloadable. However, you can lose physical games as well, and in some cases people have had all their games lost, destroyed, or what have you. You can lose your games either way. However, this way EVERYONE loses everything and no one is able to buy any of the hundreds of download-exclusive Wii games again after this, so of course physical is far better for lastability, as has always been said.
However, in this case, things aren't as bad as they could be -- because the Wii has been completely hacked open, if you just install custom software into your Wii, including the Homebrew Channel, etc., anyone will be able to play any of the Wii's downloadable games without too much trouble. For as long as you can still actually buy the games I won't be doing that as it's not right, and I think I'll buy a bunch of WiiWare stuff at some point before the shutdown, but once Nintendo makes it impossible to buy downloadable Wii games again? Yeah, that'll be the time to mod my Wii. There is no reason not to once Nintendo has said "we don't want your money anymore or care about game preservation", as they have once again done here.
I wonder, when do MS and Sony follow suit and take down the PS3 and X360 online systems, including online stores and multiplayer... it'll probably be long after Nintendo, since MS particularly had so much more success at getting people online than Nintendo ever did (for good reason), but it probably will happen eventually. That X360 dashboard sure looks empty without all the online stuff on it though, and I still use my 360 online regularly, something I have never done with the Wii, so yeah, I hope MS keeps their 360 servers running indefinitely.
On that note, I wonder, will you still be able to use Wii applications like Netflix and such after this shutdown? Like, 'you can use it if you have it but can't re-download it anymore' or something? Heh...
But anyway, overall this is disappointing but was going to happen. I'm just glad that hackers have backed up everything in this store, or else this would be much, MUCH worse. But before this shutdown happens, I'll have to think about how much to spend on WiiWare games...
As one final thought though, the biggest mistake Nintendo made with WiiWare is that sales are not allowed. Sales are a great way to increase sales and revenues, and I like buying games that are on sale. I have a few dozen WiiWare games (and a couple of Wii VC games), but I've bought a lot fewer games for WiiWare than I would have had games gone on sale like they do on literally every other online storefront! I know Nintendo likes to not reduce the price of their games, but not allowing anyone else to ever put games on sale was a huge mistake. And if I remember right didn't Nintendo set prices for all games too, not the developers? WiiWare had issues... but despite that it has a pretty good library of games and it should be remembered for that.