Nintendo Wii VC /Wiiware shop closing on Jan. 30, 2019 (adding points goes away on Mar. 26)

[Sean]

I could have sworn we had a topic on this but I couldn't find a damn thing on it. If anyone knows if such a topic exists offhand let me know.

Anyway this is old news by now, but here's a reminder for anyone still meaning to get around to it: the ability to add points to the Wii shop goes away after March 26 (a little over a week from now), and the channel itself will go away entirely on January 30 next year, meaning you won't be able to purchase additional games with leftover points, redownload previous purchases, or transfer content from a Wii console to the Wii U.

Naturally, this means all exclusive titles on this channel - ranging from Wiiware-exclusives to certain VC games that aren't available on the Wii U, Switch, or any other system - will go away with it. If you're not sure what to buy, I recommend reading this thread on ResetEra (especially the OP and this post in particular) or watch the following video by GameXplain that talks about which VC titles are not available to purchase on the Wii U or Switch.

I've just about wrapped up an enormous last-minute shopping spree myself, spending more on games than I care to but it's all stuff I would want to play at some point. If you feel like it, feel free to share your own haul and maybe throw out some recommendations for other members.

Wiiware
- Konami Rebirth trilogy (Castlevania: The Adventure, Contra, Gradius)

NES
- Final Fantasy - This is on the NES Classic system, but I don't have one of those and am not sure yet if I'll get one in the future.
- Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom

SNES
- Chrono Trigger
- Final Fantasy II (IV) - I bought this and not III (VI) since the latter is already on the SNES Classic.
- Secret of Mana - I got this a few months ago before getting an SNES Classic, so it's kind of a waste.

N64
- Super Smash Bros.

Genesis
- Gley Lancer
- Monster World IV - This is also available on the PS3 and 360; I just felt like double-dipping since it's not on Steam.
- MUSHA
- Phantasy Star II/III/IV - These are on Steam, but I figured it'd be nice having the entire quadrilogy on one console.
- Pulseman - An import title by GameFreak that's not on any other platform, to my knowledge.
- Puyo Puyo Tsu - The standalone arcade version of this game is not available on the 3DS eshop outside of Japan. You can get it on the retail Sega 3D Classics Collection.
- Ristar - Another game that's readily available on other platforms, but I like this so why not!!
- Sonic 1/2/3/& Knuckles - ...Yeah yeah. Though it's worth noting that it's not possible to play S3/S&K solo on Steam (or Blue Sphere/Knuckles in Sonic 2) and the Vintage emulations on PS3/360 are considered less than great, so I think there's some merit to owning the Wii VC versions, especially since I don't have Mega Collection GCN on hand at the moment.
- Super Fantasy Zone - The arcade versions of the first two games are on the 3DS eshop but this particular installment is not.

Master System
- Phantasy Star
- Sonic 1/2/Chaos - The GG versions of Sonic 1 and 2 are on the 3DS. Sonic Chaos is not available in any other digital format.

TurboGraphx-16
- Castlevania: Rondo of Blood - You can also get this on the Vita via Dracula X Chronicles.

[JaidynReiman]

My first thought is: "What? The Wii Shop is still open?"

[Jetronic]

Looks like I'll be needing to grab Sin and Punishment REALLY soon. But I must ask...if the shop channel isn't closing until next year, why is it that this week is the last time to add points?

[E-122-Psi]

Am already aware and am spending this last week compulsively emptying my wallet to fill up my Wii and Wii U with as many games as I can.

[Polkadi~☆]

Oh no, now we can't get Sonic 4 on the Wii!

...Not that anybody ever wanted that.

I never used the Wii Shop, nor do I really use my Wii anymore, but I might give it a look as to see what I can find.

[Sean]

Some more stuff I picked up, because apparently I've forgotten about the concept of a "budget":

NES
- Adventures of Lolo 1/2 - 2 isn't on the Wii U VC, and the Wii U's NES filter looks horseshit, so I got both on Wii.
- Super Mario Bros. 2 (Japan) - Since Lost Levels isn't on the NES Classic, I got it for similar reasons as above.

SNES
- Kirby's Dream Land 3 - I already have this on Wii U (and... well, basically every release this game has ever had in history, including the original cartridge) but it has a weird dark filter on it that to my knowledge most SNES games on the Wii U do not have. I picked up the Wii version and it has no such filter, so it looks as bright and colorful as it deserves. It's worth mentioning that Kirby Super Star does apparently have this dark filter on the Wii (and I'm guessing the Wii U) judging from the screenshots on the shop channel.

N64
- Bomberman Hero
- Pokémon Puzzle League
- Sin & Punishment - It's on the Wii U, but N64 emulation on Wii U has a dark filter and, from what I remember playing SM64, a bit of input lag. And I wanted to get this on the Wii VC in particular above other N64 titles that take less priority.

[Ryannumber1gamer]

3 hours ago, Sean said:

SNES
- Kirby's Dream Land 3 - I already have this on Wii U (and... well, basically every release this game has ever had in history, including the original cartridge) but it has a weird dark filter on it that to my knowledge most SNES games on the Wii U do not have. I picked up the Wii version and it has no such filter, so it looks as bright and colorful as it deserves. It's worth mentioning that Kirby Super Star does apparently have this dark filter on the Wii (and I'm guessing the Wii U) judging from the screenshots on the shop channel.

I think this might be an issue all SNES Kirby games have on Wii U - because I've heard Super Star has the same issues.

[Sean]

Last batch of games, hopefully. This now makes my Wii digital library an even 60 titles, which might be more than what I have on the Wii U eshop now that I think about it.

WiiWare
- Blaster Master: Overdrive
- Chronos Twins DX
- Excitebike: World Rally
- FAST Racing League
- Fluidity
- Jett Rocket
- Let's CATCH - A Prope game that's a companion of sorts to Let's TAP, which I've never played but I wanted the novelty of owning another game Yuji Naka had a hand in. Plus, it apparently has a pretty good story mode involving listening to NPC's life problems.

NES
- Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa

SNES
- DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure

N64
- F-Zero X - The Wii U VC version initially launched with some pretty bad deadzone problems, and while Nintendo released a patch, from the sounds of it it doesn't iron them out entirely. Just to be safe, I picked up the Wii VC version in case I decided to upgrade at a later time for gamepad support.
- Pokémon Snap - You can save photos to your SD card in the Wii VC version. Since Miiverse is dead, there is no way to save screenshots anymore on the Wii U release.

Master System
- Alex Kidd MS trilogy (Miracle World/Lost Stars/Shinobi World)

Neo Geo
- Ironclad - The original cartridge version of this game was cancelled, so this is the only version of it for sale. I believe later versions of Ironclad (such as on GOG) are based off the Neo Geo CD version.
- Magical Drop III

VC Arcade
- Space Harrier - This version has motion controls if you plug in a nunchuk. Also, I wanted to have at least one VC Arcade title.

[E-122-Psi]

Got Space Invaders Get Even, and it was completely NOT worth it. Not only does the game seem to continuously glitch up using the Nunchuck but the game plus it's DLC take up near about 700 blocks of memory. Keeping in mind the Wii already has a ridiculously small amount of memory, this thing is pretty much just a tumour.

Art Of Balance and POP on the other hand are fun little time wasters that really compliment the Wii's controls.

[JezMM]

On 18/03/2018 at 6:05 PM, Jetronic said:

Looks like I'll be needing to grab Sin and Punishment REALLY soon. But I must ask...if the shop channel isn't closing until next year, why is it that this week is the last time to add points?

They tend to take the ability to load money onto it away MUCH earlier than the actual service shuts down and that money disappears, just so they can honestly say that you had a WAY more than a reasonable amount of time to spend those funds.

[E-122-Psi]

Well finished off my Wii Shop run with a few Megadrive classics (Ristar, Dynamite Headdy, Super Fantasy Zone, and tried out Pulseman since it doesn't seem to have any other Western releases). Also decided to try a few Neo Geo games, though the only ones that looked interesting were Blue's Journey and Magical Drop (I would have gladly had the original Puzzle Bobble games, with all the Taito support in Wiiware and NES, why are they a no show?).

Shame it's coming to an end, but I'm kinda relieved. I would have just kept spending all my money on games otherwise. Hopefully the e shop will stick around for a long while so my wallet can take a break.