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Can You Still Download Games You Bought on Wii?

Nintendo still supports redownloading existing Wii Shop purchases, though new purchases ended in 2019 and Nintendo has not announced when redownloads will stop.
Length3 min Posted Quest giverVGSources Team
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Yes—for now. Nintendo’s Americas support instructions still explain how to redownload digital games and other content previously obtained through the Wii Shop Channel. The shop no longer accepts purchases, and Nintendo says redownloads will end in the future, but its cited notices do not name a shutdown date.

How to redownload a Wii Shop purchase

  1. Connect your Wii to the internet and open the Wii Shop Channel.
  2. Select Start, then Start Shopping.
  3. Choose Titles You’ve Downloaded.
  4. Select the title you want and choose Redownload.

These steps apply to digital Wii Shop content, including WiiWare, Virtual Console titles and Wii Channels. Nintendo’s instructions are on its How to Redownload Wii Shop Channel Content on Wii page.

If a purchase is missing from the list, confirm you are checking the Wii Shop activity on the relevant console and that the item was a digital Wii Shop purchase—not a disc game or a Wii U eShop purchase. Nintendo’s cited instructions do not explain every account- or title-specific download failure, so a missing item is not a guarantee that it can be restored automatically.

What remains available—and what does not

Nintendo closed the Wii Shop Channel to new software purchases on January 30, 2019. Its support overview says unused Wii Points expired on that date; Nintendo had already ended the ability to add or redeem Wii Points on March 26, 2018. Old points cannot be used to buy content now. See Nintendo’s Wii Shop Channel Discontinuation notice and Wii Shop Channel Overview.

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The purchase closure is different from redownloading an existing purchase. Nintendo says the latter remains available for the time being, but will be discontinued at some point. The cited Wii Shop notices give no exact end date, so there is no confirmed deadline to plan around. Since Nintendo describes the service as temporary, redownload content you still want access to while the option is available.

Can you redownload Wii games on a Wii U?

If you already have a Wii U, Nintendo documents a way to access the Wii Shop through the Wii Menu application and redownload eligible previously purchased Wii games. Its How to Access the Wii Shop on Wii U instructions mention internet access, acceptance of user agreements and a Nintendo Network ID (NNID).

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A Wii U is optional: you do not need to transfer anything to redownload directly on a Wii. If you are considering a system transfer, review Nintendo’s complete transfer steps and its explanation of what is transferred first.

Transfer requirements and consequences

Nintendo lists these requirements for a Wii-to-Wii-U system transfer: both consoles, at least one Wii Remote or Wii Remote Plus, an SD or SDHC card with at least 512 MB free, broadband internet for both systems, a television, matching country settings, and a working NNID on the target Wii U. The SD/SDHC card is a transfer requirement, not a requirement for redownloading directly on a Wii.

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The transfer moves data as a batch rather than letting you select individual items. Nintendo warns that transferred data is permanently deleted from the Wii and cannot be transferred back. Some preinstalled software and channels are excluded, and some software features may be limited after transfer. Choose this route only if you want the content on Wii U and accept the one-way move.

Don’t confuse Wii Shop redownloads with Wii U eShop redownloads

The Wii Shop Channel and Wii U/3DS Nintendo eShop are separate services with different policies. Nintendo says Wii U eShop purchases stopped in 2023 and describes eShop redownloads as available “for the foreseeable future.” That wording does not apply to Wii Shop content: Nintendo separately says Wii Shop redownloads will eventually end. Details are in Nintendo’s Wii U & Nintendo 3DS eShop Discontinuation Q&A.

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Digital purchases versus disc games

The redownload steps recover digital Wii Shop purchases; they do not apply to games bought on physical discs. A disc game is played from its disc on compatible Wii hardware, rather than restored through the Wii Shop.

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Product prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on Amazon at the time of purchase will apply.

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