Previously, the service was available as a separate app that utilized SpotPass, downloading videos to the console's SD card via Wi-Fi Internet access for offline viewing.

The dedicated Nintendo Video app launched in Australia, Europe, and Japan on July 13, 2011, with initial videos including Oscar's Oasis and Magic Tricks for the Nintendo 3DS.

Users had to enter in their date of birth before watching content that was considered too mature.

[20] On June 5, 2015, Nintendo of America sent out a SpotPass notification to all of the app's active users informing them that the app was being phased out in favor of an eponymous category on the Nintendo eShop's main page (already available at the time), where users could watch most past videos as well as future ones.

Most of the content initially released for the service have also been distributed through other means over time, such as being officially uploaded online or included in home media releases, albeit without the stereoscopic 3D effect for the most part.