Nintendo has reportedly removed a number of DSiWare titles from the Nintendo 3DS eShop without giving fans a warning that the games will disappear.
The deletions were first identified by the Twitter user @comeoutpunching, which reports that “all DSiWare games released before mid-May 2011 have been disabled.” Games that can no longer be purchased include Shantae: Risky’s Revenge, Asphalt 4: Elite Racing, Aura-Aura Climber, Dr. Mario Express, Mr. Driller: Drill Till You Drop and many more.
At the time of writing, eliminations seem to hit North America hardest; Radiated games reports that most of the securities removed in that region are still available for purchase in Europe.
Viewing any of the affected games in the eShop shows players a message that says “This software is not available at this time.” Given that Nintendo has not yet issued a statement regarding the disappearing games, this may be a temporary bug that will be resolved – we’ll make sure we update this story with more information as we go. have.
In the meantime, it probably wouldn’t hurt to download any DSiWare game from your 3DS eShop for as long as you can, just in case. This digital age is a scary one!