Nintendo has announced they will be shutting down the Wii Shop Channel on both the Wii and the backwards compatibility on the Wii U soon. To be clear, the actual Wii Shop Channel will remain open until January 31, 2019. However, the big detail to note, Wii owners have until March 27, 2018 to add Wii Points to their account.
Using a credit card, users can spend real money to add Wii Points to their Wii Shop Account. $1 = 100 Wii Points. This means you have through Monday March 26, 2018 to add Wii Points to your account. If in doubt, you might want to add some dollars even if you are undecided on what to buy. Once Points have been added, Nintendo is essentially giving users about a year to make their final purchase decisions. The lead time is a little awkward, sure, but use this as your final warning. Also, if you downloaded games but deleted them from your SD card or Wii internal memory, be sure to re-download them before the expiration in January 2019. One they are gone, they are gone.
Although the Wii Shop Channel never received the recognition as services like Xbox Live Arcade and PSN there are still some great games, some exclusive to Nintendo’s service. Below are some suggestions on how to spend your final Wii Points in no particular order. It is now or never. Get them before they are gone.
Chrono Trigger – SNES
Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen – SNES
Dracula X: Rondo of Blood – TG16
Sin and Punishment – N64
Contra Rebirth – WiiWare
Castlevania the Adventure Rebirth – WiiWare
Gradius Rebirth – WiiWare
Tomena Sanner – WiiWare
Tetris Party – WiiWare
Alien Crush Returns – WiiWare
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles – My Life as a King – WiiWare
Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles – My Life as a Dark Lord – WiiWare
Lost Winds 1 + 2 – WiiWare
NyxQuest Kindred Spirits – WiiWare
Blaster Master Overdrive – WiiWare
Bubble Bobble Plus! – WiiWare
My Pokemon Ranch – WiiWare
Bonsai Barber – WiiWare
Adventure Island: The Beginning – WiiWare
Art of Balance – WiiWare
You, Me & the Cubes – WiiWare
Rage of the Gladiator – WiiWare
ActRaiser – SNES
DoReMi Fantasy – SNES
Dungeon Explorer – TG16
Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber – N64
Super Air Zonk – TG16
(and many more)
What other games should be downloaded before the Wii Shop Channel is shut down? Let us know in the comments below.
Or do you think Nintendo is purposely cutting the cord just to make room for a potential N64, Gameboy Classic, or other classic plug-n-play console due to the success of the NES and SNES Classic (Mini)?
