Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection shuts down for Wii and DS

Nintendo has shut down its Wi-Fi Connection online services for Wii and DS, rendering various functionality inaccessible for games like Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and various Pokemon games.

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Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, the online functionality on Nintendo Wii and DS, has been discontinued today. That will mean online modes, matchmaking, and leaderboards for several of those games are no longer accessible, though Nintendo notes that Wii U and 3Ds games have been unaffected.

A list of affected games is available on Nintendo's site. This will impact the sharing functionality in games like WarioWare DIY, downloadable content updates in the Professor Layton games, and online sharing functionality in Pokemon games. On Wii, it notably impacts online play in Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and Animal Crossing: City Folk. None of those franchises have received newer versions on Wii U, though Mario Kart's is just around the corner.

"We at Nintendo sincerely thank our fans for their continued support of our company’s legacy systems," reads a statement from the company. "Your enthusiasm for games made for these systems speaks to their longevity and the passion of Nintendo fans."

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  • reply
    May 20, 2014 8:30 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection shuts down for Wii and DS.

    Nintendo has shut down its Wi-Fi Connection online services for Wii and DS, rendering various functionality inaccessible for games like Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, and various Pokemon games.

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      May 20, 2014 8:35 AM

      [deleted]

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        May 20, 2014 9:36 AM

        Yes, because GameSpy shutting down which also happens to be the back end for Wii and DS multiplayer services is Nintendo being stupid AGAIN...

        You take every chance to take shots at Nintendo when you don't have any information. Always with a knee jerk reaction, and then you admit to supporting them anyways.

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          May 20, 2014 9:44 AM

          I didn't know the GameSpy/Nintendo connection. Huh.

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          May 20, 2014 9:57 AM

          reasons to not give the keys to your critical online service infrastructure to a third party...

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            May 20, 2014 10:08 AM

            I would hardly call the Wii and DS online services as critical at this point. Did anyone here use it at all these last couple years? Besides, it's not as if they were the only ones among the hundreds of games and companies that utilized the service at some point.

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              May 20, 2014 10:11 AM

              A couple of my favorite PS3 games relied on Gamespy, and they're just done now. Local play only. It's too bad, but new versions are on the way.

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                May 20, 2014 10:15 AM

                Then why aren't you lambasting Sony then? This is obviously their fault, too.

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                  May 20, 2014 10:19 AM

                  Cause I'm not crazy or a hater!

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                  May 20, 2014 11:07 AM

                  When it's a few games, blame the game publisher, when it's the entire library, blame the platform owner. In Nintendos case they tend to be both so yeah, they get the blame.

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              May 20, 2014 10:44 AM

              I would hardly call the Wii and DS online services as critical at this point

              well that's a whole different failing...

              And yes, you may recall the big thread we had when EA announced the games of theirs that will be shutting down their online services as a result. People don't like when that happens. On the other hand I don't think it's as reasonable to demand a 3rd party to own their own online network, while a platform owner should. And for the most part they were shutting down things like BF1942, not fairly recent things.

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                May 20, 2014 11:06 AM

                Wii and DS online functionality is not a fairly recent thing.

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                  May 20, 2014 11:09 AM

                  How old are you? The Wii feels like last week to me.
                  You must be in your late teens at most. Which I guess explains a few other things.

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                    May 20, 2014 11:13 AM

                    It was over 7 years ago.

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                      May 20, 2014 11:14 AM

                      well yeah, the console release was. It's still the biggest nintendo console right now.

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                  May 20, 2014 11:15 AM

                  both the Wii and DS have only recently been "replaced" by their newer brethren. Do you think the 360 and PS3 online services will disappear in 2 years? The original Xbox's online services shut down ~5 years after the 360 came out. The 3DS and Wii U specifically advertise backwards compatibility with DS and Wii games. If I buy one of those games now to catch up on what I missed the online is just gone?

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                    May 20, 2014 11:20 AM

                    The other consoles have the advantage of using the same online services between consoles. That's why the eShop is the only thing running on the Wii since it is the same service they use for the newer consoles. The only thing Nintendo could have done was to buy GameSpy and keep it running for their older generation platforms only, or patch all the old games that use it. Both of those things aren't too feasible since there are concentrating on the new platforms.

                    I doubt we'll see a similar shutdown after their next hardware releases since they will most likely utilize the current Nintendo Network.

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                      May 20, 2014 11:50 AM

                      and...? I understand the reason it's happening, it's a series of poor decisions that their customers are paying the price for. You're saying it's no big deal, I'm saying it's generally a big deal when this happens and this time is no exception. It's surely the case that a lower percentage of Nintendo console owners are online compared to other platforms but given the raw install count there's still a non trivial number of people and as I mentioned a real selling point of the new systems is you can still use and go back to the old games.

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                        May 20, 2014 12:12 PM

                        You make it seem like you can't get value from Wii games anymore when only a very small selection of them even played online. The list is a very small fraction of what would be considered must have titles. The reality is three core Wii games are affected. You could still enjoy them locally with other people. They have all been replaced or will be soon. Every other game will function the same as it has on the Wii or the WiiU.

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                          May 20, 2014 12:14 PM

                          I can't get the full value those products initially delivered no. The whole reason to have online play is because I don't live in a dorm anymore to play 4 player local Mario Kart whenever I want.

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              May 20, 2014 11:08 AM

              You're being completely irrational about this. Of course it's ultimate Nintendos responsibility. They could do something to fix this is they wanted... they could have bought the gamespy service for one.

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                May 20, 2014 11:09 AM

                That is a little irrational in and of itself

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                  May 20, 2014 11:12 AM

                  You have to realize that their largest non-mobile install base right now is the Wii, and by a wide margin. In fact that customer base is one of the largest if not the largest console install bases right now, and their multiplayer service just stopped working? No matter how you spin it, this is a big deal, and it seems to me like buying and operating gamespy should have been an option on the table.

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                    May 20, 2014 11:12 AM

                    How old are you, dude? Crazy posts ITT.

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                    May 20, 2014 11:16 AM

                    That install base is so large because it is mostly non core gamers. The type that never play a game online to begin with. This isn't the first thing that Nintendo cut from the Wii, they've been stripping features and channels before the GameSpy shutdown. It obviously doesn't hurt them as much as you think it does or they would have done something.

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                May 20, 2014 11:10 AM

                I missed the part where I am being "completely irrational". Both points are valid.

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                  May 20, 2014 2:41 PM

                  How is suggesting that Nintendo just go out and buy GameSpy not just plain silly? Especially so considering that Nintendo shut down production of the Wii last year.

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                    May 20, 2014 2:41 PM

                    It is.

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                    May 20, 2014 3:05 PM

                    I guess that depends on how much you think it costs to buy an online service compared to how damaging you think it is for the Wii and DS to go offline. To me it's a pretty big deal, but then again Nintendo has never seemed to care much about online, and honestly I suppose Nintendo fans don't either.

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            May 20, 2014 2:42 PM

            You're right. Anyone other than Valve using steamworks for multiplayer should really be rethinking their strategy. At least EAs making the right decision with their move to bring everything in-house with Origin.

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          May 20, 2014 11:02 AM

          [deleted]

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          May 20, 2014 11:04 AM

          The GameSpy shut down hurts Nintendo big time. As I mentioned in the "5 Wii/DS Online Games You'll Miss" (cheap plug) article, Nintendo has such a large install base whose world is about to get rocked when they can't play Mario Kart Wii online anymore. And given how much effort Nintendo put into making that online environment what it is, this hurts them in a big way.

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      May 20, 2014 9:02 AM

      I really hope they keep the actual Wii Shop open for a long time. The vitual console selection is pretty great, and I'm thinking they're not going to get nearly as many VC releases on the WiiU.

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        May 20, 2014 9:06 AM

        This is all I care about, too. I want the Wii eShop to outlive us all!

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          May 20, 2014 10:56 AM

          The really aggravating thing is that the Wii eshop still exists and most of the games require the Wii Classic or Classic Pro controller...which Nintendo has stopped selling. So even though I can access and PURCHASE all of those games from the WiiU (through the Wii channel), I can't play them. Mind-bogglingly stupid.

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            May 20, 2014 1:03 PM

            Oh shit, I never thought about this. They might use this as a justification to shut the service down one day...

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      May 20, 2014 9:10 AM

      My Sin & Punishment 2 leaderboard! Nooooooooo! :(

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      May 20, 2014 9:17 AM

      What twats

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      May 20, 2014 11:41 AM

      HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA

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