Nintendo
3DS and Wii U online services are getting shut down by Nintendo this April
Nintendo has just announced that the 3DS and Wii U online services are getting shut down, leaving most enjoyers of those consoles without multiplayer, updates, and more.
The end is near… for the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. The company behind both consoles has just announced that their online services (including online multiplayer) will be turned off on April 8, 2024 at 7PM ET.
From that date forward, neither of these devices will have access to online services, meaning not only are the stores finally, completely gone, but those who still enjoyed playing online on titles like Mario Kart 7 and Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate will no longer be able to do so with friends who are far away. Rankings are going away, as will update distribution for your games.
At the very least, this is not going to be a sudden flip of a switch before everything is gone. At the date mentioned above online play will become unavailable, but for “the foreseeable future” it’ll still be possible to download update data and redownload previously purchased games and downloadable content from the Nintendo eShop. However, there are no details about how long that period will last.
Additionally, Pokémon fans will be the least affected by this end of service, as both the Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter apps will continue to function for the time being.
The end of an era
Just last year, Nintendo closed down the 3DS and Wii U eShops on a global scale. This was only the first step for the complete closure of their servers, and it entailed cutting off users from purchasing and redeeming codes. Every console under the 3DS family and the Wii U became cutoff from the basic services.
As such, with this last step, we are seeing the end of a fantastic era of handheld consoles. Regarded as one of the best-selling pieces of hardware in the entire history of Nintendo, the 3DS will now become only usable with whatever software you have either in physical format or in storage on dozens upon dozens of compatible SD Cards.
On the other hand, this is also the final nail in the Wii U’s coffin. It takes with it the handful of amazing titles it gave players during its short life, many of which seem to be dead franchises, not meant to return through the Switch like Mario, Zelda, or Splatoon. Here’s hoping that some of these titles get to be rereleased by Nintendo themselves, lest fans have to give in to less unsavory methods to enjoy them.