Earlier in the week, a number of DSiware titles were pulled from the Nintendo eShop, including games like Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and Mighty Flip Champs. However, it appears that the majority of the missing games have now returned to the digital storefront. According to Delisted Games, a total of more than 250 games have been removed, and now only five have to come back: 5 in 1 Solitaire, Digger Dan & Kaboom, Face Pilot: Fly with your Nintendo DSi camera!, Match Up!, and Word Search 3. The games that came back have been added back in batches, so it’s possible that these last missing titles could eventually return as well.
The news should come as a breath of fresh air for fans of DSi software, as well as those interested in video game preservation. While digital marketplaces such as the eShop have offered developers and publishers a cheaper alternative to physical releases, it can also mean that the game can be lost once removed from the platform; a number of gamers prefer physical releases of video games for this reason. In front of Shantae: Risky’s RevengeLimited Run Games’ return to the eShop shared news of the game’s removal on Twitter, highlighting that the publisher has made the game available on Switch and PS4 in the past.
For the longest time Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game stood as a cautionary tale of video game conservation. The game was removed from digital storefronts in 2014 and many fans feared it would be lost in time as a result. Fortunately, the game is returning to the current generation of consoles on January 14, with a physical release from Limited Run Games on the way.
It seems unlikely that publishers like Limited Run Games will offer comparable physical versions of all of the DSiware games that are back now, so fans looking to purchase these titles will have to do so digitally. With the 3DS line no longer in production, Nintendo’s focus remains solely on the Switch platform, and it is likely that these games could be taken off the list in the future. Fortunately, fans now have a second chance to check out these games before that happens.
Do you still play games on the 3DS or DSi? Are you happy that these games have been added back to the eShop? Let us know in the comments or share it directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about gaming!