The 3DS and Wii U eShop services are shutting down at the end of this month and that means you’ve only got so much time left to buy all of the digital games you possibly can on Nintendo’s older storefronts. YouTuber, streamer and video game media personality Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil has taken this to the next level by quite literally purchasing every game available on these platforms.
The main driving force behind this idea was video game preservation – with the aim to “save” every 3DS and Wii U eShop title before they are lost forever. The mission was successful but it’s come at a price, with the total amount of purchases adding up to $22,791 USD. Here’s a bit about why Khalil wanted to do this so much:
“Lost media is very real as far as video games preservation is concerned, since the industry started we run a daily risk of losing games forever, that’s why this matters…it cost far too much time and way too much money but it was absolutely worth it for the sake of game preserveration.”
The funds for this mission were raised with the support of 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 took up 1.2 TB on Wii U and 267 GB on 3DS.
Of course, there were a lot of hurdles to overcome, from stores limiting eShop card purchases to Nintendo only allowing a certain amount of funds per digital wallet. Particular games even had to be completed before DLC could be purchased, which made the whole process a bit of a nightmare at times.
This work means fans of the 3DS and Wii U can now rest easy knowing all of these digital games have been saved when the shop services shut down on 27th March. Thanks, Jirard! The video documenting the entire journey is well worth a look and even features a 3DS game recommendation from our very own Nintendo Life video producer Zion Grassl.