This browser plugin actually makes browsing the Nintendo eShop fun

By Patrick Hearn Published January 16, 2025 7:19 AM

How to Preorder the Nintendo Switch OLED. — Nintendo

If the Nintendo eShop drives you a little crazy, good news: there’s a fan-made alternative that comes packed with some serious quality improvements. Introducing Better eShop, built by the website Nintendo Life. Don’t worry, it’s not something you enter banking information into; it’s a browser plug-in that streamlines your experience while using the eShop with content filters. All purchases are still made through Nintendo’s official website.

The Nintendo eShop has long been a thorn in fan’s sides. Between the closing of old eShops and the number of changes fans have requested, it has never been the best experience to navigate. The existing filters are already pretty useful, too. All but one filter is enabled by default, but the one carrying the most weight is the Shovelware filter with 6,106 games. Browsing the store is a much more enjoyable time when you can tell at a glance that the games shown are quality titles.

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Other features include the ability to submit reviews for games and read those others have left, browse ongoing sales right from the front page, and even check the best selling games per region. If you prefer dark mode, that can be enabled with the click of a button, and unmuting the store plays the iconic Wii Shop Channel tune for an added dose of nostalgia. The team behind Better eShop plans to add more functionality in the future, including the ability to mute specific publishers, add screenshots, and create your own wishlist.

A screenshot of Better eShop. — Patrick Hearn | Digital Trends

Better eShop is free to use and available for the moment, but the site is aware of Nintendo’s stance on emulation and anything that infringes on its copyright. It’s possible the site could be shut down soon, and on it’s about page, Better eShop says “Data has been collected from various sources and is updated daily. It’s quite possible that Nintendo will start blocking us from gathering the data — but until then, we will continue to build and improve the Better eShop.”

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Unfortunately, this is only for use on browsers. It’s unlikely to come to the Nintendo Switch console unless Nintendo takes the hint and updates the interface. Whether it will still be compatible after the Nintendo Switch 2 launches isn’t clear, but until then, it’s a tool that’s worth a look.

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Nintendo’s eShop is currently unavailable in Russia

Nintendo Switch OLED model

Nintendo's eShop is currently down in Russia, following a decision made by the payment service used by the company to stop accepting Russia's currency, Rubles.

According to the Russian Nintendo eShop page, the eShop is currently in "maintenance mode." It doesn't seem like the decision to shut down its eShop in Russia was made by Nintendo however, but rather by another company that handles the shop's transactions. Nintendo has notably kept quiet regarding Russia's invasion of Ukraine, whereas its peers in the game industry have openly taken measures to limit or entirely halt the sales of their products in Russia.

Gaming

Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move

A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

Gaming

Nintendo is ending Wii U and 3DS eShop service

Photos of the 3DS eShops

Nintendo has announced the end of its eShop service for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld. The eShop will stay live on those devices until late March 2023, after which players will no longer be able to purchase games or download eShop apps and services for those devices.

After the closure, players will still be able to redownload games and DLC that they already own, use online play, and download software updates.