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The 3DS and Wii U eShop services will be 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 with the literal purchase 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, with purchase totals adding up $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 this is happening April 15th and 16th on my twitch channel and I’m going to support these consoles and the entire Donating storage space at the very end 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 at the end, 866 Wii U And 1547 3DS games (including DSiWare, Virtual Console and DLC) were also purchased 464 eShop cards. The entire libraries added 1.2TB on Wii U And 267GB on 3DS.
Of course there was a lot from hurdles to overcome, from stores restricting the purchase of eShop cards, to Nintendo only allowing a certain amount of money per digital wallet. Certain games even had to be completed Before DLC could be purchased, which sometimes made the whole process a nightmare.
This work means that fans of the 3DS and Wii U can now have peace of mind knowing that all of these digital games have been saved when the store services shut down 27th of March. 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.