The Video Game History Foundation (shortened to VGHF onwards) claims part of the industry is disappearing into the ether with the Wii U and 3DS Nintendo eShop’s closure.

Earlier this week, we wrote about how the digital stores for the two discontinued N platforms will close their doors in March 2023. The announcement didn’t sit well with the VGHF, as approximately a thousand digital-only (some of them are Wii U and/or 3DS-exclusive!) games may be lost after the close. (Here, we would like to note a bit sarcastically that the question about older games, or Virtual Console, as it were, has been quietly removed from the Japanese company’s Q&A website…)

“While it is unfortunate that people won’t be able to purchase digital 3DS or Wii U games anymore, we understand the business reality that went into this decision. We don’t understand what path Nintendo expects its fans to take, should they wish to play these games in the future. As a paying member of the Entertainment Software Association, Nintendo actively funds lobbying that prevents even libraries from providing legal access to these games. Not providing commercial access is understandable, but preventing institutional work to preserve these titles on top of that is actively destructive to video game history. We encourage ESA members like Nintendo to rethink their position on this issue and work with existing institutions to find a solution,” the VGHF wrote on Twitter in a statement.

Frank Cifaldi, VGHF’s founder and co-director, also took to Twitter to suggest that those who want to access the games in question should hack their Nintendo platforms. In a previous tweet, where he advised the same (jailbreaking) about the PlayStation 3, he explained it by saying Sony is delaying pulling the plug later and that we should do the same with the Wii U and the 3DS. “The commercial industry is never going to offer full support of back catalogue games, and our federal government is making it all but impossible for even libraries to help with access. No one will save video game history but all of us, and that will never change,” Cifaldi wrote.

The commercial industry is never going to offer full support of back catalog games, and our own federal government is making it all but impossible for even libraries to help with access. No one will save video game history but all of us, and that will never change.

— Frank Cifaldi (Unlicensed).nes (@frankcifaldi) February 16, 2022

And he has a point. What if we would like to play a PS2 game that never was released in Europe? We either get a physical copy imported, or, if it is way too expensive, we rely on the PlayStation Store, and if it doesn’t have the game, we end up with piracy, as others have preserved the title already. And that should be respected.

Source: VGC