The Impending Closure of 3DS/Wii U eShop Sparks Panic Among Game Archivists and Fans Alike.

The upcoming shutdown of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShops will cut off consumer access to hundreds of titles that can't legally be accessed any other way, causing a crisis for game historians and archivists trying to preserve access to those game libraries for future generations. Libraries and organizations like the Video Game History Foundation say their game preservation efforts are currently being hampered by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which generally prevents people from making copies of any DRM-protected digital work. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) is also helping to stop easy research access to archival copies, arguing that it could cause "potential... market harm" to the ESA's copyright holders.