In a move to make classic video games like Super Mario Brothers more 21st century, Nintendo will begin selling the content as a digital download for 3DS and Wii U devices through the Nintendo eShop, as well as through retail partners.

Wired has more: “The company has long offered two separate slates of game content — high-end games sold on discs and cartridges, and smaller games via download. Nintendo is expanding its digital business into games like New Super Mario Bros. 2 ‘in order to adapt to the changes in the circumstances surrounding the video game industry and to create a new business opportunity,’ [Nintendo president Satoru] Iwata said.” Those changes include the fact that more than 70% of Nintendo 3DS handheld devices in Japan and the U.S. have been used to go online.

Nintendo’s press release explains how the Nintendo eShop works. It “is a cash-based service and features games, applications and videos in both 2D and 3D. Users can add money to their virtual wallets using a credit card or by purchasing a Nintendo 3DS Prepaid Card at a retail store and entering the code from the card.”