Australia might be getting a web-based eShop soon
For quite some time, Nintendo fans in North America, Europe, and Japan have been able to buy Nintendo games in their browser and have it download to their console remotely. Sadly, Nintendo fans in Australia and New Zealand have never had access to the service. It looks like that might be changing.
After some sleuthing this morning, Vooks has discovered that not only is there a webshop for Australia, it technically kinda works already. It’s not an easy process right now, however. It requires searching the source of the Nintendo UK website for a game’s specific eShop ID and then copying it over to another URL.
For example, if one wanted to buy the recently released Morphies Law on the Switch, they’d have to first visit this page and search the page’s source for the game’s eShop ID. Then, they’d take that ID code, paste it into a specific URL, and voila, they can now purchase the game right in their browser.
And it works, too. Several members of the Vooks team were able to purchase games using this method, and even have them download to their Switch consoles remotely.
At this stage, it’s currently unclear if this functionality is intentional or just a holdover from another region’s eShop. We’ve been unable to find anything resembling a home page or a search function, and some of us were met with error codes when trying to buy certain titles.
The possibility of Australia getting an eShop is still speculation, but all the signs are there, and it’s looking positive. Everything mostly works, so it’s functionally possible, at the very least.
We’ll be sure to keep you updated if anything changes.
Sounds suspiciously like someone from vooks read a conversation we had yesterday on OzBargain
https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/398703
Not really the case. Somebody linked me to the Hollow Knight store page yesterday morning, and I investigated from there. It does look like you guys followed the same train of thought as I did though 🙂
I really don’t see the point of this seeing as games are typically released at midnight (give or take to factor in local and/or overseas daylight saving times) and if pre-ordered, they *should* download automatically upon release. I don’t see what sort of convenience this provides to users, but it’s more options for consumers, I guess.
I just wish we had the option to gift games to other users/accounts like in the Wii days.
What do you mean Silly G? This has nothing to do with pre-orders nor when games are released.
well looks like this went no where
well looks like this went no where
Looks like it! Thankfully we’re still able to link to store pages in every single one of our Download Updates articles, which are published every Friday.