Are we finally going to join the rest of the world?
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.
It's Black, Back Again.
Mercs, Vectorman and ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron.
Makes sense to us.
