Nintendo is closing its DSi Shop at the end of this month, and players have until March 31 to spend any remaining points before permanently losing the ability to purchase new games.
While purchased games will still be redownloadable for the foreseeable future, Nintendo warns that any unspent DSi Shop points will be gone for good once the service officially closes at the end of the month.
Nintendo’s DSi Shop was a predecessor to the company’s cross-platform eShop, and was available exclusively to owners of Nintendo DSi and DSi XL portables. The DSi arrived in 2009 as a stopgap release between the original DS and the 3DS, and established a catalog of digitally distributed portable games for the first time in Nintendo’s history.
The DSi Shop hosted hundreds of digital DSiWare games, many of which were not released at retail. Popular DSiWare titles released over the portable platform’s lifespan include the puzzle-platformer Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again, retro-style puzzler Pictobits, and the since-discontinued animation app Flipnote Studio.
While many DSiWare games are downloadable and playable on 3DS systems, many featured titles remain exclusive to DSi family portables. These games will no longer be available for purchase once the DSi Shop closes across all regions this week.
Last-minute DSi Shop purchases will not guarantee permanence, however, as Nintendo warns that the ability to redownload purchased DSiWare games “will also stop at some point.”
“You can still … purchase content in the Nintendo DSi Shop until March 31, 2017,” Nintendo said. “The ability to redownload Nintendo DSiWare games will also stop at some point; we will announce specific details as that time approaches.”
Nintendo adds: “Note that even after the Nintendo DSi Shop closes, most Nintendo DSiWare will continue to be sold in the Nintendo eShop on systems in the Nintendo 3DS family.”