Image: Nintendo Life
The eShop services for the 3DS and Wii U are ending at the end of this month, and that means you’ve only got so much time left to purchase any digital games you might be able to buy from Nintendo’s older storefronts. YouTuber, streamer, and video game media personality Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil has taken this to the next level by buying literally every game available on these platforms.
The main driving force behind this idea was video game preservation – with the goal of “saving” every 3DS and Wii U eShop title before it’s lost forever. The mission was successful, but it comes at a price, as the total purchases add up to $22,791.
Here’s a bit about why Khalil wanted to do that – and reveals how all consoles and storage will be donated to the Video Game History Foundation so this digital library can “live on”:
“Lost media is very real when it comes to video game retention. Every day since the industry began, we’ve been in danger of losing games forever, so that’s important. And that’s why I’ve long supported nonprofit organizations like the Video Game History Foundation and their efforts to support the preservation of video game code, print media, and more. In fact we have created our own charity event Preserved Play which is an annual charity event to raise money for them and that’s happening this year April 15th and 16th on my Twitch channel and I’m going to whole these consoles and all the storage space end up donating to the Video Game History Foundation so all these games can live on. The Wii U and 3DS were saved – it took way too much time and way too much money, but it was totally worth it in terms of preserving the game.”
Funding for this mission was raised with support from The Completionist’s sponsors. And in the end, 866 Wii U and 1547 3DS games (including DSiWare, Virtual Console and DLC) were purchased with 464 eShop Cards. The entire libraries occupied 1.2TB on Wii U and 267GB on 3DS.
Of course, there were many hurdles to overcome, from stores restricting eShop card purchases to Nintendo only allowing a certain amount of money per digital wallet. Certain games even had to be completed before DLC could be purchased, making the whole process a nightmare at times.
This work means that fans of the 3DS and Wii U can now have peace of mind knowing that all of these digital games will have been saved when store services close on March 27th. Thank you Jirard! The video documenting the entire journey is worth a look and even includes a 3DS game recommendation from our own Nintendo Life video producer, Zion Grassl.
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What are your own thoughts on all of this? Comment below.
When he’s not repaying a loan to Tom Nook, Liam enjoys sharing the latest Nintendo news and admiring his library of video games. His favorite Nintendo character used to be a guitar-playing dog, but these days he prefers to hang out with Judd the cat.
