Unless you’ve been living off the gaming grid for the past few days/weeks /months, you’ll no doubt already know that the 3DS and Wii U eShops are now closed for new business. You can still currently redownload any previous purchases from the online stores, but the window has closed on your last legal opportunity to get hold of many eShop exclusives on those consoles, and fans have been taking to social media to pay tribute to the shuttered stores.
Much of the colourful artwork features the little orange eShop bag from the 3DS eShop who would peep around the back of the game icon before those little coloured data cubes dropping and filling the icon with delicious orange… er, game data juice? Nothing so drab as a progress bar for Nintendo!
The lovely people over at Press Start highlighted a handful, but there are loads of brilliant efforts online today. Let’s take a look at some of the best 3DS and Wii U eShop tributes we’ve seen:
First up, @benmrhall‘s sad Kirby:
@eto2d has the little orange guy ascending with wings, as does @graylure:
@DumbBubbers goes for something a little more cheery, and also has an amazing larger work-in-progress featuring a host of eShop stars:
@starozoa showcases those little juicy data cubes that look so tasty:
@bozosart, @datenshiluka, @DingityDingus, and @Shamaboy11 all go with thanks-filled, celebratory pieces:
And having been expertly manipulated by ‘Crafty’ Ol’ Joe Capitalism and getting all weepy over the closure of a shop, @MicahTheBrave is hitting us square in the feels, too:
There are even some ‘In Memoriam’-style musical tributes, including one from the lovely folks over at Vooks and @MasterSwordRemix:
While it might be easy to smirk at people getting emotional when a shop closes, anyone who remembers frequenting a particular store in their youth probably knows the feeling of disappointment when it closes down. [Shout out to Our Price and Volume One — one for our maturing British readers, there!] Certain stores are tied to memories of excitement around a particular game, or that tingle of anticipation at finding a discounted treasure on the shelves. Ultimately, that feeling is the same whether it’s a brick-and-mortar establishment or a digital store.
Nintendo’s eShops, in particular, are notorious for having a little more character than your average digital store (Switch notwithstanding) and many people have great memories of these ones. We have to admit we’re sad that we won’t be seeing that cheerful orange bag-chap anymore.
Feel free to share any other cool tributes you see in the comments below — we may well update the article and add them in.
