Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Closes For Wii & DS Today (May 20th)

By DirtyLarry
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Grand Master

DirtyLarry Veteran

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Source: Kotaku

 

If you own either (or both!) of Nintendo's last-gen machines, and you use any kind of online service with them, now's the time to make the most of it. Because on May 20, Nintendo is pulling the plug.
 
While both console's online stores will remain, other stuff like online play, matchmaking and leaderboards will be shut down.
 
Here's the relevant part of the company's statement, as published on Nintendo's Australian site:

As of May 20th, 2014, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service will be discontinued and it will no longer be possible to use online features of Nintendo DS/DSi and Wii software such as online play, matchmaking and leaderboards.
 
The Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop will not be affected however, and will continue to be accessible after May 20th.
Time to dust off that copy of Mario Kart DS for one last run...
 
Remember that the statement references software, not hardware, so even if you're running a DS game on a 3DS, or a Wii game on the Wii U, it still won't connect online.
 
You can read a list of the affected games here. It obviously impacts many of the biggest titles on both platforms, from Mario Kart to Smash Bros. to Pokemon.
 
The full list of stuff that will keep on working past May 20 follows.
 
  • Internet Channel
  • Nintendo DS Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Shop
  • Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play
  • Wii Shop Channel
  • YouTube
Note: While this notice has yet to appear on the Nintendo of America site, it has turned up on both the Japanese and Australian portals, which strongly suggests the move is global. We've contacted Nintendo of America, and will update if we hear back.
 
Update: The notice is now up on the Nintendo of America site as well. The company sent the following statement to Kotaku, which has some interesting stuff about the company's "focus".
 
As of May 20, 2014, certain online functionality, including online play, matchmaking and leaderboards for many Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi games, will no longer be accessible. For a list of Nintendo games and services that are affected, please check http://www.nintendo.com. Users can still play these games in offline mode, which continues to offer a rich game-play experience. Other online functionality on Wii and Nintendo DS, such as access to the Wii Shop Channel, the Nintendo DSi Shop and video-on-demand services, are also not affected at this time.
 
Online play for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games will be unaffected (aside from the Wii mode on Wii U and Nintendo DS games played on Nintendo 3DS family systems).
 
Our focus now shifts to readying our Wii U and Nintendo 3DS matchmaking services for upcoming games such as Mario Kart 8 and Super Smash Bros.
 
We at Nintendo sincerely thank our fans for their continued support of our company's legacy systems. Your enthusiasm for games made for these systems speaks to their longevity, and the passion of Nintendo fans.

 

 

 

 

It is clear they are really trying to push the WiiU on people now. I would imagine this would affect a decent amount of families, but perhaps not.

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Grand Master

jerzdawg

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As far as I was concerned there were no online capabilities on the Wii anyway.. I think I tried out a Bond game on the Wii and the connection was horrible. 

I am glad the Wii U actually has some online MP game in the pipeline... only game Ive played online MP on my Wii U so far was Wii Sports Club tennis and bowling (both of which worked great)

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Grand Master

LittleNeutrino Veteran

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well that sucks :( i suppose they couldn't keep it going forever, and they were probably watching to see how many folks were still using it.

 

I am surprised they are shutting down the shops.

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Grand Master

DirtyLarry Veteran

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I would think the thing it would affect most for people is leaderboards. I am sure there are a lot of kids out there, at least I hope there are, who would try to place on the leaderboards in games like Mario Kart, etc.

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Grand Master

jerzdawg

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well that sucks :( i suppose they couldn't keep it going forever, and they were probably watching to see how many folks were still using it.

 

I am surprised they are shutting down the shops.

The full list of stuff that will keep on working past May 20 follows.
 
  • Internet Channel
  • Nintendo DS Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Shop
  • Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play
  • Wii Shop Channel
  • YouTube
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Grand Master

Blackhearted

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Wow, so soon! :s It's a really bad move on their part as the Wii and DS have more sales than their current generation of hardware.

 

There may be more units out there of the wii/ds but that doesn't mean there are more players. I went through the slight hassle of taking a ds game online about 2 years ago and matches weren't exactly plentiful.

 

 

 

The full list of stuff that will keep on working past May 20 follows.
 
  • Internet Channel
  • Nintendo DS Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Browser
  • Nintendo DSi Shop
  • Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Pay & Play
  • Wii Shop Channel
  • YouTube

 

 

I don't think that's quite the full list. Since i'm pretty sure all of the video apps will remain working, not just youtube.

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Grand Master

LimeMaster

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There may be more units out there of the wii/ds but that doesn't mean there are more players. I went through the slight hassle of taking a ds game online about 2 years ago and matches weren't exactly plentiful.

The 3DS and Wii U pretty much use the same online system as the previous gen, so not much has changed.

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Grand Master

compl3x

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Wow, so soon! :s It's a really bad move on their part as the Wii and DS have more sales than their current generation of hardware.

 

 

Most of those Wiis are probably sitting in closets, attics, garages, and boxes worldwide seeing no use.

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Grand Master

Blackhearted

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The 3DS and Wii U pretty much use the same online system as the previous gen, so not much has changed.

 

I'm pretty sure Nintendo WFC and Nintendo Network(what wiiu/3ds use) are actually separate things.

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Grand Master

+InsaneNutter MVC

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That's a shame, the Dolphin emulator is actually now capable of emulating internet play for Wii games, so you can play on your PC using an emulator against gamers using a real Wii.

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Grand Master

Blackhearted

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>No Smash Brothers for WiiU

>Can't play Smash Brothers online anymore

 

Is Nintendo really this ####ing stupid?

 

You've never played brawl online have you? I think you haven't, cause if you did you'd know you're not losing much due to how bad it is/was.

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  • 2 months later...
Grand Master

Tha Bloo Monkee

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Incase you didn't know, May 20th (Tuesday) is the shutdown date for the Wii and DS. :(

 

 

http://www.nintendo.com/whatsnew/detail/vyWpoM6CBIe6FjW8NIY7bvzOrgBURhzw

As of May 20, 2014, certain online functionality offered through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection will no longer be accessible. The discontinued services include online play, matchmaking and leaderboards for many Wii, Nintendo DS and Nintendo DSi games. For a comprehensive list of games and services that are affected, please check http://support.nintendo.com/servicesupdate. Users can still play the games in offline mode, which continues to offer a rich game-play experience.

 

Note that services such as Netflix & Youtube will continue to function.

 

I'm going to play some Mario Kart Wii later tonight.  Doesn't it seem a little early for the Wii?  The PS3 and Xbox 360 will still have online functionality for at least a few years and they came out (roughly) the same time.

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Grand Master

Brian M. Veteran

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Yeah, it's a little premature I think.

Always pees me off a little when they do that. How much can it cost to keep them running? I still play a good chunk of the games on that list :(.

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Grand Master

Max Norris

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I dunno, 10 years for the DS is a good run, 8 for the Wii is passable, but then again neither myself nor my daughter (who gets a lot more use out of the thing) ever actually used the online stuff outside of updates or the store anyway.. probably be irked if we did, but she's moved on to 3DS games and a Wii-U may or may not be in her future for her birthday anyway, not playing the old stuff much anymore.

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