Today, March 27 2023, is the day that we bid adieu to the 3DS and Wii-U eShop. While I'm much more familiar with the 3DS eShop than the Wii-U's, it's still a sad, sad day for Nintendo fans everywhere.
To celebrate the life of the 3DS eShop, I'm going to share my fondest memories with it and in turn, feel free to share any of your fondest 3DS or Wii-U eShop memories in the comments below.
I got my first 3DS (the New 3DS XL) shortly after buying Pokemon Sun at launch. I hadn't owned a Nintendo handheld since growing up with the Gameboy Advance and briefly played some DS games here and there, but never actually owned a DS.
Upon discovering the Virtual Console selection on the 3DS, I immediately bought Earthbound and Super Metroid and played them religiously when my work friends and I weren't dominating the battle tree in Pokemon Sun and Moon. Shout-out to Josh and Justin! We put some WORK into the battle tree multi-battles. Such good times. I've got a notebook FILLED with different competitive Pokemon builds and double-battle team ideas. Ugh, it was so good.
Before buying my 3DS, I was strictly Xbox-only since the Xbox 360. The 3DS had so many unique games that I never would have been able to experience on Xbox. Games like Fire Emblem Awakening and Virtue's Last Reward, which were the first two full games that I bought on the 3DS eShop.
The catalyst to my obsession with the 3DS
Shortly after that, I went on a full-blown JRPG buying spree. Having only played Xbox for so many years, I was starving for JRPG's. In fact, the 3DS is wholly responsible for rejuvenating my love for JPRG's. I went on to buy 7th Dragon III: Code VFD, Etrian Odyssey V, and Stella Glow all from the eShop. Boy, do I regret not buying physical copies of these games. Because of the 3DS, I eventually decided to start collecting physical games because of all of the sweet JRPG's that it offered and how gorgeous the cover art was for 3DS games.
I've gone on to buy every Yo-Kai Watch game, every Etrian Odyssey, every Fire Emblem, every Dragon Quest, you name it! I was in love with the 3DS. Completely head-over-heels in love with this little dual-screened succubus.
I've also bought countless digital-only games from the eShop. Gems like Pocket Card Jockey, Nano Assault, Weapon Shop de Omasse, every single Phoenix Wright game available, every single Boxboy game, Harmoknight, and entirely too many Virtual Console games to list here.
Pocket Card Jockey is heroin disguised as a solitaire horse-racer. Bonkers addictive!
Let's not forget about the 3DS eShop background music, because holy shit does that get stuck in your head! It's like the face huggers from the Alien series. It attaches itself to you and implants the song deep in your mind and is impossible to get out. I mean all of that in the best way possible! There's multiple songs depending on the time of year too. But all of them are so catchy, so upbeat, and just so Nintendo.
Below is a playlist, courtesy of the Youtube channel @user-di8wt1dl8m. It contains all of the 3DS eShop music. You can thank me by Door Dashing me some McNuggets.
Now more than ever do I wish that I'd gotten a 3DS sooner and had been able to enjoy the 3DS at its prime. The 3DS is still and always will be my favorite handheld console ever made, hands down, no contest. So many great games, so many great features, so many good memories. I'm sad to see the 3DS slowly pass on. But it had a great run and it deserves to rest easy after passing the torch to the juggernaut that is the Switch.
Again, feel free to share any of your fondest memories with the 3DS and Wii-U eShop in the comments below.
Goodbye, 3DS and Wii-U eShop. We'll miss you! </3