Nintendo announces plans to stop card payments on 3DS & Wii U eShops
Nintendo has announced it will no longer accept card payments on the Wii U and 3DS eShop from January 2022.
Nintendo quietly announced the change in policy on its Japanese customer service account. The tweet states: “notice of ‘Termination of use of credit cards and electronic money for transportation at Nintendo 3DS series and Nintendo eShop in Wii U’ has been posted.”
Support will officially end on January 22, 2022. However, players still have several options for purchasing items on either eShops.
A blog post further details the payments still offered, including prepaid cards, debit or credit cards through the Nintendo website, and adding balance to Nintendo accounts through the Switch eShop. Players can summarise the balance provided they link a Nintendo account across two or more consoles.
Several functions will also be terminated on January 22, including the ability to cancel the internet browser’s filtering function and the automatic credit and debit card renewal for time tickets in Wii U Karaoke.
This move is just one of Nintendo’s steps in its efforts to slow down support for the 3DS and Wii U consoles. It dropped support for Netflix on both consoles only a few weeks ago.
The Wii U and 3DS are currently only a few ways players can access many retro titles without needing to purchase legacy hardware.
The Wii U’s Virtual Console is currently the most modern platform through which players can access Nintendo 64, DS, Game Boy Colour and Super NES titles. The Nintendo Switch features some retro titles but is missing support for the newer consoles.
