Nintendo to Discontinue Wi-fi Service for Wii and DS/DSi

[BeckoningZebra1]

Nintendo's Wi-Fi service will be no more after May 20th.

 

 

This news was announced in an Australian press release and was later confirmed by a Nintendo representative to be worldwide termination of the service. Although you will no longer be able to race world wide in Mario Kart, or see someone's village who is far away in Animal Crossing, Nintendo will still allow access to both the Wii's Shop Channel and the DSi Shop. So you will still be able to purchase and download digital titles following May 20. 

 

Nintendo also released, on their Australian website, a list of Nintendo published games that will no longer have online access enabled. 

 

 

 

Wii

Animal Crossing: Let's Go to the City
Battalion Wars 2
Boom Street
Endless Ocean
Endless Ocean 2: Adventures of the Deep
Mario Kart Wii
Mario Sports Mix
Mario Strikers Charged Football
Pokémon Battle Revolution
Samurai Warriors 3
Super Smash Bros. Brawl
The Last Story
Trauma Center New Blood

 

Wii Ware

Dr. Mario & Germ Buster
Excitebike World Challenge
LONPOS
MaBoShi: The Three Shape Arcade
ThruSpace High Velocity 3D Puzzle
WarioWare: Do It Yourself-Showcase

 

Other

Wii Speak

 

Nintendo DS/DSi games

100 Classic Book Collection
Advance Wars: Dark Conflict
Animal Crossing: Wild World
Clubhouse Games
Custom Robo Arena
Diddy Kong Racing DS
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2
Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon
Mario Kart DS
Mario vs. Donkey Kong 2: March of the Minis
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Mini-Land Mayhem!
Metroid Prime Hunters
Nintendo presents: Style Boutique
Picross DS
Pokémon Black Version
Pokémon Black Version 2
Pokémon Conquest
Pokémon Diamond
Pokémon HeartGold Version
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time
Pokémon Pearl
Pokémon Platinum Version
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
Pokémon SoulSilver Version
Pokémon White Version
Pokémon White Version 2
Professor Layton and Pandora's Box
Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Professor Layton and the Last Specter
Professor Layton and the Lost Future
Star Fox Command
Tenchu: Dark Secret
TETRIS DS
The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass
WarioWare: Do It Yourself


Nintendo DSiWare games

Metal Torrent
Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!
Sujin Taisen: Number Battle

 

 

Also note that 3DS and Wii U games will be unaffected by this. 

 

So was it time for Nintendo to close the door on the Wii and DS's Wi-fi services? Will this encourage you to now buy a Wii U or a 3DS? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.

 

SOURCE: IGN

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[Azaxx]

Absolutely a terrible idea. Taking away online features that many games heavily rely on like Pokemon and Animal Crossing is just ridiculous. There definitely has not been enough time for people to fully utilise the system, since people are still buying the games, for example Pokemon B/W/B2/W2. Terrible decision I think on NIntendo's part.

[The Stig]

Thank you for sharing this! I am still shocked to hear the news though, as Black 2 and White 2 are still relatively new. I mean, they haven't even been out a two full years yet and already their online functions are getting expunged. It is kinda sad when you think about it....  

 

 

But hopefully this will mean big improvements to the current Wi-Fi service's on Wii U/3DS! Like when Xbox Live got shutdown for the Original Xbox.  

[Drizzy_Dan]

As if Nintendo wasn't having enough trouble now moving into the next generation of gaming. The Wii U was the first to launch and was automatically foreseen to have the least sales. I don't know if this is because of money but this is a bad idea on Nintendo's part.

[MCPO Mayh3m]

Terrible move by Nintendo. I don't play Wii or DS, but I can say that this wil cetainly hurt them even more than they already are.

 

Nintendo made it's big mistake with the Wii. They lost support from multiple 3rd party Developers despite their unique approach to the system and controls making it something people would want to buy. They lost developers who created games like Call of Duty and Assassins Creed as well. The uniqueness is what made it special and successful, but it is also what hurt them. With the release of Kinect and PS Move, Nintendo would have to step up their game to challenge the market again. What did they do?

Nintendo came back with the Wii U, bringing back in some support from their lost developers. Assassins Creed would eventually return and join Nintendo, however the damage was done. Instead of advancing a motion control or voice command, instead of returning to an ideal control system... Nintendo continued in trying to be Unique by using a touch screen tablet that could become your game screen when you turn your TV off. However, it was already done, most of the mature style fans had already left for Xbox and Playstation. 

 

All that was left for them [Nintendo], was the family & kid friendly area as the majority of their support shifted elsewhere. Nintendo has seen their profits drop dramatically and have also had to slash their expectations down quite a bit.

So I have to ask, what's next Nintendo? Handhelds will only get you so far... and another lackluster console could hurt Nintendo in a critical way.

 

 

Yeah, it's the morning... I seem to be writing more than usual...

Edited February 27, 2014 by Darth Mayh3m

[Jack Of Harts]

Terrible idea. This won't encourage people to get the new systems, it'll just hurt Nintendo even more, as they'd just get a bad impression from this, thinking that they'll take down the network for the newer systems as soon as the next ones are released, and that Nintendo wants people to spend their money on the new systems in order to use their services, whilst Microsoft and Sony still continue to support the older consoles.

[Unease Peanut]

This would not encourage more sales for sure... Terrible idea Nintendo!

[Fishy]

I can't believe Nintendo would do something horrific like this! I was just about to buy the new Pokemon and try it out, and here they are shutting down the Wi-Fi services where many people like to use the pokemon exchange. (I.E. Me trading for a female ralts to breed and make a Gardevoir army.)

Unless of Nintendo comes up with something way better, I'm going to stay against this.

[Fox McCloud]

Why Nintendo? I own a Wii and a DS. I have many Pokemon games. This literally is the worst move by Nintendo since they released Pokemon: Batlle Revolution. I can't believe this has happened. 

[BeckoningZebra1]

 

Unless of Nintendo comes up with something way better, I'm going to stay against this.

 

Although I really dislike this move simply because I really enjoyed the games the DS had to offer with online capability, there is something better. Nintendo Network, the online service for the 3DS and Wii U, surpasses the old Nintendo Wi-Fi service in every regard. So it comes down to people still wanting to play these games online, rather than the old service being better.

 

Of course, pretty much all of Nintendo's big name titles have been created or are currently being created for both the 3DS and the Wii U.

 

I think it's really just Nintendo's attempt to bring those of us who have yet to purchase a next-gen Nintendo device, to do so.

[Mr Biggles]

I see a lot less people buying the nintendo products now.

[Jack Of Harts]

Although I really dislike this move simply because I really enjoyed the games the DS had to offer with online capability, there is something better. Nintendo Network, the online service for the 3DS and Wii U, surpasses the old Nintendo Wi-Fi service in every regard. So it comes down to people still wanting to play these games online, rather than the old service being better.

 

Of course, pretty much all of Nintendo's big name titles have been created or are currently being created for both the 3DS and the Wii U.

 

I think it's really just Nintendo's attempt to bring those of us who have yet to purchase a next-gen Nintendo device, to do so.

Just too bad the Wii-U lacks third party support, at the moment, so it's gonna be terrible until they get some really good third-party exclusives. Nintendo has seriously gone way downhill, and this is not helping them at all. I'm wondering how long it'll be until Nintendo just decides to stop making consoles, and instead become a 3rd party developer, much like Sega and Atari did.

[Pbrabbit]

This is literally, as many of you have stated, a very bad idea. Especially for the very big online games like Mario Kart and Pokemon. This is dumb move on Nintendo's part, but its business. We all have to respect their wants on this, but lets hope they know that they are ******** off gamers who play those games. Thank you for posting this, I had no idea this was happening! 

[VinWarrior]

Nintendo... What am I going to do with you? Honestly, you have a fanbase, people take you seriously, but you back up those who don't by pulling stuff like this. It's a shot in the foot to those owning the products (I'd like to point out Wii and DS were part of the seventh gen, so why do PS3/360 still have their online whereas these two don't?) and it's making me hesitate to buy their products.

[Silent Orbis]

I think you guys can expect a new console next year.