This YouTuber May Have Just Saved 2413 Nintendo eShop Games

One of the things Nintendo gets both praise and criticism for is how it approaches exclusive titles. Practically no games from the "Legend of Zelda, "Metroid," or "Kirby" series — let alone the gargantuan "Mario" franchise — have ever touched a non-Nintendo console. But as good as these games are, as soon as the console stops being current, many of these exclusive games can fall into obscurity. But the problem is exacerbated by online stores and digital copies of games. When a digital store gets taken down, games that were only available through that platform may never be available again. 

As of March 27, 2023, owners of the Nintendo 3DS or Wii U will no longer be able to purchase games from the Nintendo e-Shop. This is a huge deal for gaming history, as there are hundreds — if not thousands — of games unique to the Wii U and 3DS e-Shops. But, YouTuber Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil found a way to ensure these games aren't lost to time. It's nothing crazy — The Completionist simply bought every single game available on the 3DS and Wii U e-Shops.

The Completionist is a firmly established name in the annals of gaming entertainment, but it's not all jokes and laughs. After hearing the news in 2022 that Nintendo would close off new purchases from the 3DS and Wii U e-shops, Khalil took action to preserve more than 2000 games for the 3DS and Wii U, including many hidden gems that may not have ever seen the light of day again. 

Jirard "The Completionist" Khalil has been around for a long time doing deep dives, reviews, and the like, and just last year even joined storied gaming channel G4 — before the it faced a second closure earlier this year, that is. Being a Completionist takes a new meaning with Halil, and there were a few obstacles in the way of fully completing the collection of 866 Wii U and 1,547 3DS games available on the Nintendo e-Shop.

There was the issue of buying the games in the first place, which Khalil worried would trigger a fraud alert in his bank if he purchased them directly. So instead, he used e-Shop funds and gift cards, which limited players to just a $250 balance. It took a long time to buy everything, but he didn't stop there. 

Fans don't know how far into the foreseeable future that Nintendo will allow access to the servers so already-purchased games can be re-downloaded. In 20 years, it just wouldn't make sense for Nintendo to keep the 3DS and Wii U servers online anymore. But The Completionist isn't relying on these servers staying online because all 1.2 terabytes of Wii U games and a surprisingly slim 276 gigabytes of 3DS games were kept on external storage. 

There aren't too many exclusive titles for the Wii U or 3DS e-Shops that didn't also get a physical release, but The Completionist has undoubtedly done a service for gaming history in preserving every one of these titles for the two discontinued consoles — even if it did cost thousands and thousands of dollars.