Nintendo Offers New Purchase Options

Nintendo is taking another step in the right direction this week as they begin to roll out new purchasing options for Nintendo Wii U and 3DS owners. At this time, it is strictly available in North America, although I suspect the feature to launch in Europe soon. Essentially, Nintendo owners can now do almost everything Xbox and PS4 owners have been able to do for years when it comes to purchasing games via a computer or smart phone.

The only downside: no pre-download options. I sent an email to Nintendo of Canada to get ask about pre-load, but have yet to receive a response.

Nintendo offers two options once a purchase has been made. You can either request a download code that you manually input into your 3DS or Wii U eShop, or you can request the game be sent straight to your console or handheld via your Nintendo Network ID. 

The current list of games that you can purchase this way is limited. So far, only these first party titles can be downloaded: Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney (3DS), Super Smash Bros (3DS) and Hyrule Warriors (Wii U).

Nintendo has also offered the pre-order option for some of their upcoming games, including Super Smash Bros (Wii U), Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker (Wii U), Fantasy Life (3DS) and Pokemon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire (3DS).

I hope pre-download functionality will be available in the near future. Until then, this is still a good move by Nintendo, despite how insignificant it may appear.