The spring season next year won’t be pleasant for some Nintendo 3DS and Wii U players. Nintendo has officially confirmed it is widely shutting down its online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games, effective April 2024. This will just be over a year after the video game company discontinued the Nintendo eShop on those systems beginning last March.
The official X account of Nintendo and its official website released statements regarding this.
“In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software,” Nintendo said.
According to Nintendo, this also covers software exclusive to New Nintendo 3DS.
The company added that this also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution.
“We will announce a specific end date and time at a later date,” Nintendo went on. “Please note that if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned.”
Nintendo thanked the gamers who used these services.
“We sincerely thank players for using the online services of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software over a long period of time and apologize for any inconvenience,” the company said.
What Are Nintendo 3DS, Wii U?
For context and for those who want to understand this announcement better, let’s look at what Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are.
First, the Nintendo 3DS. This is a foldable handheld game console Nintendo has produced. It was announced as far back as March 2020 and unveiled at the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo or E3 as the successor to the Nintendo DS. The system is regarded to feature backward compatibility with Nintendo DS video games.
Meanwhile, Nintendo Wii U is a home video gaming console filled with games and experiences players can enjoy, whether alone, or with their family and friends. Wii U comes with a unique controller redefining the dynamics of playing games together. The controller is called the Wii U GamePad.
What Else Should You Know About This Announcement?
Essentially, this announcement means that after its day of effectivity, April 2024, you will no longer be able to use any online features such as Nintendo 3DS “Pokémon” games or “Super Smash Bros.” for both 3DS and Wii U anymore.
Nonetheless, Nintendo stated in the question-and-answer section of its support article that gamers can still play games offline, and redownload updates and games from the Nintendo eShop with no signs of this shutting down in the future as of press time. So, it isn’t really an entirely sad time for these gamers.
Also, “Pokémon Bank” will remain unaffected, so it is still possible to transfer “Pokémon” from “Ruby and Sapphire” all of the way toward Pokémon Home.
However, SpotPass support and other Internet-focused applications, such as the Nintendo Badge Arcade, will cease working entirely.
Let’s Hear It From The Experts
Those closely following this news are sharing their insights about it. They are saying that, like how the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS eShop closure earlier this year caused a commotion, this move by April next year is a blow to game preservation, forever harming some gamers not available anywhere else.
They are also saying that while it is understandable the video game company wants to move on from the dated Internet infrastructure of these systems, it is still disappointing for gamers who have spent so much time playing games offline and online using these systems.
What do you think about this change?
