Nintendo

Previously purchased Smash Bros (3DS) DLC is no longer redownloadable



Video evidence: https://youtu.be/_nF4kXCBvtM

Access to games’ DLC is managed on a per game basis, so if you delete DLC, you have to go back through the game itself to redownload DLC. You can’t do it in the eShop itself. (I just tested this with Mighty Gunvolt’s DLC to verify this.)

Smash does this a little differently – it makes you connect to ITS online servers before you connect to the eShop.
And because Nintendo just shut down online services for the 3DS & Wii U tonight, you can’t connect to Smash online, effectively meaning that all DLC you PREVIOUSLY PURCHASED is no longer available. (Only for the 3DS version; I can’t speak for Wii U)

Thanks Nintendo for not caring about games preservation outside of NSO rereleases.

by Tjoeb123

35 Comments

  1. Loneliiii

    Get homebrew channel and install all dlcs. That’s the best was to revive your now officially offline 3ds.

  2. No_Establishment7368

    This is the end game for all digital only services. People are surprised when it actually happens, but we’ve known for years it’s coming.

  3. lingeringwill2

    This is how digital purchases always end up I’m afraid

  4. pineapollo

    OOOOOOO Imagine that.

    Stop supporting Nintendo

  5. MissingNerd

    That’s fucking awful

    Anyway, check out 3ds.hacks.guide for cool tricks you can easily do with your 3DS

  6. Sounds like a big oversight. Wonder if Nintendo will do something if there’s enough noise about it. Could see them maybe turning the servers on temporarily while they patch this. Or maybe it’s just hopium…

  7. SephirothTheGreat

    We gotta make some noise about this. Did anyone test if this is the case for dlc for other Wii U/3DS games too?

  8. Outside_Dot_5942

    Thought Nintendo had said anything previously bought would still be downloadable

  9. Stardagger13

    Not surprising, the 3ds eShop was dog shit and forced every game to create a storefront as the sole place to get its games DLC, which was almost never in the main menu, and sometimes not available until well into the game. Good riddance.

  10. cL0udBurn

    Yep this is why I NEVER buy digital anymore – I had a brand new boxed Pokemon Crystal 3DS that I never got around to playing – fancied a blast from the past so scratched off the code and dusted off the 3ds, but the code cannot be redeemed cuse they shut all the services down, total joke.

    So now, all I have is a pretty Pokemon Crystal box

  11. EthanTheNintendoFan

    now why would you buy dlc and not download it LMAO

  12. 2mock2turtle

    If any other games do this I’ll be furious, I have a handful of DLC not redownloaded since my old SD card died.

    Now are y’all willing to admit Nintendo shutting down servers is anti-consumer?!

  13. nichijouuuu

    Now everyone understands why we buy physical Nintendo switch games

  14. crazyrebel123

    Haha! And ppl were saying once you buy digital, even if online stores and services shutdown, you can still redownload games, NO you can’t. Not everything. Digital owners don’t want to see the problem here because they are too busy trying to justify why digital is good. You don’t own the games. At least with physical, you can still pop the cartridge in and play anytime.

  15. ShouldersofGiants127

    Shoutout to my mateys that still keep these games alive man.

    Whatever the next switch is is the last console I’m buying, this shit has become a jig.

  16. tajknight

    I’ll say it louder for the peoples around in the back, buy physical copies of everything when possible. Why own a digital token that represents a game when you can purchase the exact same game in real life FOR THE SAME PRICE (which is the biggest con, how is a digital version not cheaper where there is significantly less overhead from producing, storing, and shipping a physical copy).

  17. ThisisNOTAbugslife

    lol fine then just sell the game on eBay!

  18. Censorship_of_fools

    Imo, piracy on these system is now 100% ethical. 

    Not claiming it’s right or legal, just no longer unethical to anyone who’s not an insane authoritarian.  

  19. ZombieTem64

    Honestly, that sounds more like a personal problem. If you don’t have the DLC now, after however long the game has been released and knowing the servers would eventually get shut down, that’s your fault

  20. itzmoepi

    Yeah Nintendo doesn’t really care about preserving their own games.

    I’m not really sure they don’t keep a small server allowing people to redownload purchased DLC’s. It’s not like its a very demanding service, and it keeps your paying customers happy.

  21. wavebuster

    I remember being overseas when the Mewtwo DLC first dropped and I rushed to the closest McDonalds near Union Square in NYC to get him with their wifi. If I lost access to him, I mean, it won’t take away any memories of my time there, but I’d be kind of bitter about it. Glad there are alternatives.

  22. JubalTheLion

    >Thanks Nintendo for not caring about games preservation outside of NSO rereleases.

    Joke’s on you, Nintendo doesn’t even care about that!

  23. xpoisonedheartx

    Will nintendo refund you if you ask?

  24. AgentSkidMarks

    What’s more surprising is that this actually comes as a shock to you. We knew this was coming for years. There is no game preservation in the digital marketplace.

  25. FrostlichTheDK

    God damn it, and I was wondering why the DLC wasn’t showing up to download in the shop… If I have to download it from within the game, using the Nintendo Network after it’s already discontinued, then I feel like I wasted my money and can’t enjoy the DLC at all… I hope Nintendo realizes how they messed up and allow just the Smash Bros DLC to be downloaded that way.

  26. dj3stripes

    no shit, it’s almost as-if there was a warning or big news about something happening yeseterday.

  27. LeglessN1nja

    Modify your 3DS then download all DLC from hshop

  28. Flonkerton_Scranton

    Can’t wait for a new site to pick this up and suggest that Nintendo are murdering you in your sleep.

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