eShop games now purchasable on web, auto-download to 3DS and Wii U

eShop games now purchasable on web, auto-download to 3DS and Wii U

nintendo-eshop-web

Well, kind of. Nintendo now allows input of eShop codes — the 16-digit alphanumeric string on eShop cards and in Club Nintendo purchases — on a portion of its website. Unearthed today by members of NeoGAF, the website, which is accessed by going to https://eshop.nintendo.net, allows for redemption of the codes we get from retailers or online. This includes Gamestop and Best Buy codes, as well as Club Nintendo.

However, this hasn’t been announced by Nintendo (yet), though they’ve mentioned over the past two years that the ability would eventually make its way to the web and smart phones. Again, this hasn’t been officially announced, and there aren’t any games purchasable from the actual website, just a place to redeem a code.

For shits and giggles, I decided to give this a try.

eshop-redeem-code

The website utilizes our Nintendo Network IDs (NNIDs) to log in and out. Inputting the code took me to another screen to select when and how I’d like to receive my download. For my test, I used 150 coins in my Club Nintendo account to grab Kersploosh! from the rewards. I opted to have the game sent to my 3DS to auto-download the next time I was in wifi range. As you can see from the image above, the order went through.

And, there was a follow-up email as well:

eshop-redeem-email

Finally, when I got home later this evening, I checked my 3DS and BOOM, the icon for the downloaded game was there. It worked! Granted, this is an ability that the Xbox 360 has had for years now, and Sony as well, so it’s *about time* that Nintendo finally got on the horse as well.

eshop-purchase

While code redemption works, there isn’t much else included on the site. Perhaps it hasn’t been officially launched yet because more content will be added, like actual purchase of games and browsing of the eShop on PCs and phones. Who knows. For now, it’s a start.

Source: NeoGAF