Feb 16, 2022
Nintendo receives backlash from fans over ending eShop purchases
The main criticism aimed at Nintendo is that many games will now be unavailable to purchase at all, as the Nintendo Switch library is much smaller than that on the Wii U and 3DS.There are 300 games from classic systems such as the Game Boy and SNES available on the Wii U eShop in the UK, and 187 classic games on the 3DS.In addition to these older games, there are hundreds of digital 3DS and Wii U games designed for these consoles which will become unavailable to purchase - in total accounting for more than 1,000 games. The ending of eShop sales still leaves a vast library of games unaccounted for, such as Fire Emblem: Awakening and Xenoblade Chronicles X.While gamers can still buy physical copies of old video games, the limited supply means that these can cost a lot when purchased through secondary markets. One of the games that is disappearing from sale - Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones - currently costs just £6.29 on the Wii U eShop, but a physical copy of the game is a lot more, with one selling for £93 on eBay in January. Like the 70 other GBA games available on the platform, it is not available on Nintendo Switch Online - so after March 2023 would-be players can only legally play the game if they are willing to pay in the second-hand market. Some fans have even taken to gathering together virtual lists of all the games that will no longer be possible to purchase digitally for the game series in which they are most interested.
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