Parting is such sweet sorrow as the deadline to add Wii Shop Channel points draws near

We hope you’ve got your credit cards ready, as the last day to add points to your Wii Shop Channel account is this Monday. The service will still operate until next January, but those who need to add points to purchase virtual console or Wiiware titles will need to do so now.

Last September, Nintendo put out an official announcement regarding the closure of the 2006 console’s online store:

On January 30, 2019, we plan to close the Wii Shop Channel, which has been available on Wii systems since December 2006. We sincerely thank our loyal customers for their support.

You can still add Wii Points until March 26, 2018, and purchase content on the Wii Shop Channel until January 30, 2019. In the future, we will be closing all services related to the Wii Shop Channel, including redownloading purchased WiiWare, Virtual Console titles, and Wii Channel, as well as Wii System Transfer Tool, which transfers data from Wii to the Wii U system.

If you have Wii Points to spend, content you want to re-download, or content you’d like to transfer from a Wii system to a Wii U system, we recommend you do so while the services are still available.

Nintendo also announced that it will discontinue the Wii System Transfer Tool service afterwards, which allowed users to transfer data from their Wii to Wii U. The closure will not affect the Wii U eShop (as it’s a different storefront entirely), but users cannot add points on the Wii Shop Channel via the Wii Menu feature after Monday. The status of VOD services after the closure such as Amazon Video and Netflix (which are currently available as free downloads) is currently unknown as well.

While you can purchase various virtual console games through the Wii U eShop, there are a variety of different virtual console and Wiiware titles that are exclusive to the Wii Shop Channel (special thanks to Reddit users Mechageo and Dogorilla!) There are some great Wiiware games on tap, like Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a King, Excitebike: World Rally, lilt line, and (News Editor Elisha’s personal favorite), Tomena Sanner. Games like Bomberman Hero and the original SNES release of Chrono Trigger will be unavailable as well.

Thanks to Siivagunner, we can all enjoy some high quality video game rips of the main Wii Shop Channel theme after its closure, as seen above. Stay tuned for more news here on Gaming Trend.

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