{"id":167333,"date":"2022-12-24T20:20:10","date_gmt":"2022-12-24T20:20:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ncl-has-been-waiting-for-this-day-since-2014-former-noa-employee-talks-nintendo-eshop-closures\/"},"modified":"2022-12-24T20:20:10","modified_gmt":"2022-12-24T20:20:10","slug":"ncl-has-been-waiting-for-this-day-since-2014-former-noa-employee-talks-nintendo-eshop-closures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ncl-has-been-waiting-for-this-day-since-2014-former-noa-employee-talks-nintendo-eshop-closures\/","title":{"rendered":"“NCL Has Been Waiting For This Day Since 2014” – Former NOA Employee Talks Nintendo eShop Closures"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Image: Damien McFerran \/ Nintendo Life<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Over the holidays we’re republishing some choice features from the last 12 months. A mix of talking points, interviews, opinion pieces and more from<\/em> NL staff and contributors<\/em>, you’ll find our usual blend of thoughtfulness, expertise, frivolity, retro nostalgia, and \u2014 of course \u2014 enthusiasm for all things Nintendo. Happy holidays!<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Nintendo recently revealed its schedule for shuttering its digital storefronts for both the 3DS family of systems and the Wii U. From March 2023 you’ll be unable to make new purchases of digital software of any kind on the 3DS and Wii U eShops, which includes digital versions of physical releases, digital-only download games and all forms of DLC. you will<\/em> be to redownload purchases made prior to that date (much as you can still download previously-purchased original Wii titles on that console) “for the foreseeable future”, but obviously that functionality will eventually be removed.<\/p>\n

‘Such is the way of things’, you might think \u2014 ‘it was never going to last forever’. And while most of us can sit and rationalise that, yes, of course<\/em> digital services have a finite lifespan, and no, obviously<\/em> we didn’t expect to be able to redownload our copy of Crimson Shroud when we’re in our 90s, seeing the digital store closures come so comparatively swiftly after these eShops first appeared is a bitter pill to swallow if you’re at all concerned about videogame preservation.<\/p>\n

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Nintendo looks at the first 2 years as the indicator of when to start packing it in with a console<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The fact is, though, that Nintendo \u2014 and all companies operating similar stores selling digital wares \u2014 plan controlled closures of this kind many years ahead.<\/p>\n

“Nintendo knows it has to support a product for a minimum of 10 years or they risk some class action,” a former Nintendo of America employee told us. The source, who wishes to remain anonymous, says that Nintendo has been eyeing this shutdown for a long time now, and that 10-year cut-off comes in November 2022, a decade on from the Wii U’s launch. “Internally, NCL [Nintendo Co. Ltd, the main Japanese company of which NOA is a subsidiary]<\/em> Has been waiting for that day since 2014 based on sales… Nintendo looks at the first 2 years as the indicator of when to start packing it in with a console.”<\/p>\n

A failure on Nintendo’s part to demonstrate succinctly the benefits and value of the GamePad controller’s asymmetrical gameplay \u2014 or to successfully differentiate the console from its predecessor in the eyes of the wider public who had been a key part of Wii’s popularity \u2014 resulted in lackluster sales from the beginning. By 2014 it was clear that the concept simply hadn’t struck a chord with a mainstream audience and, according to our source, the company was quick to pivot and change tack internally.<\/p>\n