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News 3DS and Wii U Online Functionality ending April 2024

Barely Able

Barely Able

Yoshi
Pronouns
He/Him


Some highlights:

Will any online services still be available even after online services generally end?​

It will still be possible to use online services for the following software but that may also end at some point in the future.

  • Pokémon Bank

When online services end, will StreetPass and SpotPass no longer be available either?​

StreetPass uses local communication between Nintendo 3DS family systems, meaning that it will still be available even after online services end. However, because SpotPass uses online communication, SpotPass features will no longer be available.

For example, you will be able to use StreetPass in StreetPass Mii Plaza, which is pre-installed on Nintendo 3DS family systems, but you will no longer be able to use features that use online communication (such as receiving new panels in Puzzle Swap).

Will it still be possible to download update data or purchased software?​

For the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to download update data and redownload purchased software and downloadable content from Nintendo eShop.
 
Seems like Pokemon Bank will be preserved at least. Definitely a bummer that games like Mario Maker will be essentially non-functional after this update though. I never did try the online multiplayer in Kid Icarus Uprising either...
 
Important tidbit, and hopefully this remains true indefinitely.

Will it still be possible to download update data or purchased software?​

For the foreseeable future, it will still be possible to download update data and redownload purchased software and downloadable content from Nintendo eShop.
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Phil32 said:
Important tidbit, and hopefully this remains true indefinitely.
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Likely, given it's IIRC still possible to redownload Wii and DSi software. Though the shop channels for both did spend a couple months offline without warning.
 
makin' room at the data center for Switch 2, baby!!! That's definitely how that works
 
Raccoon said:
welp, rest in peace to Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, still the best in their respective series
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The last day of Splatoon servers being up should make for some great art, right? Can you still share pictures without Miiverse?
 
can't wait for April 2024 for the servers to shut down and then become a "Actually Metroid Prime Blast Ball was the greatest multiplayer game ever made, but you'll never know because you can't play it" kinda guy
 
Sucks but not surprised, is there an online alternative for 3DS and Wii U yet like wiimmfi? I'd imagine if not there will be one showing up after the shutdown.
 
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Raccoon said:
welp, rest in peace to Splatoon and Super Mario Maker, still the best in their respective series
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Can’t agree with Mario Maker but it sucks that the best Splatoon game is losing its online multiplayer.

Hopefully mods and fan servers will be able to keep these games alive.

[Edit] also the only Pokemon games with good online (X, Y, OR, and AS) will no longer work. That also sucks, had a lot of great memories with those.
 
The death of SpotPass is a huge deal for some games... what a bummer. Luckily there's a lot of fan preservation available but not being able to access certain features on the same 3DS I've owned for a decade is sad.
 
13 years since the 3DS launch, and 11.5 years since the Wii U, isn't too bad. Switch games will probably last a lot longer, since they're using the same network infrastructure and account system as games in the next generation(s) will.
 
can't wait for all the rage videos about how evil this is from people who have never used these

they don't take down fan servers by the way
 
Much akin to the shops closing, this was inevitable. I'm not sure why some think they should be open/online forever.
 
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Derachi said:
can't wait for April 2024 for the servers to shut down and then become a "Actually Metroid Prime Blast Ball was the greatest multiplayer game ever made, but you'll never know because you can't play it" kinda guy
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Need to organize a federation force play through (and triforce heroes but am convinced it works better as a solo “puzzle” typer game)
 
Unless the next system comes out before then, this is going to be the first time in a loooong time that Nintendo was only supporting online play for one system.
 
I will not confirm or deny whether this news is exacerbating the mental breakdown I've already been dealing with for the past month
 
nmBDndt.jpg


Wow, I was just transfering a bunch of Pokemon from a recent Gen 3 playthrough all the way up to HOME this past week and I was wondering how long the online services on 3DS were going to be up for and how long stuff like that was going to be possible for.

I'm glad Bank is the exception, but I'm sure even that wont last forever. At the end of the day, servers cost money..... and now that money will go to bigger and better things.
 
Barely Able said:
This says bank is still active. But probably better to be safe for the eventual closing.
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Yeah, mostly the holdup is realizing I never proceeded past the 6th gym in Pokemon Black and I am genuinely so lost on how to move forward. I suppose I can grind my way through with a strategy guide just to get a decent enough team to beat the elite 4 and unlock the Pokemon Bank transfer that way, because once I get it there I don't have to stress about all the migration I did for GBA to Diamond and eventually Diamond/Platinum to Black and all the movement from Bank to Home from there.

But goddamn Game Freak, the hell were you thinking making it all this extra effort? Don't even get me started on the 6 at a time Safari Zone for Diamond, that was some hot bullshit
 
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So... are we all just going to move our Bank Pokemon to Home, and then get told to move to the next service when the Switch 2 comes out? :/
 
zumaddy said:
So... are we all just going to move our Bank Pokemon to Home, and then get told to move to the next service when the Switch 2 comes out? :/
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Home is definitely more future proof considering it still gets updates on smartphones, would be shocked if replaced it with something else
 
Lugia667 said:
Home is definitely more future proof considering it still gets updates on smartphones, would be shocked if replaced it with something else
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Oh I completely forgot it's on smart phones, great point! Alright, Pokemon doomposting disengaged
 
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Awwwww this sucks. I knew it would be coming eventually, but it is still sad seeing it is here now. I still play Splat 1 at least once a week, truly the end of an era
 
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There's a few games that are still trapped on those systems that seriously need some nice ports. Kirby Triple Deluxe and Robobot, Luigi's Mansion 1 remake, Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, various Mario and Luigi games, and then Game & Wario and Nintendo Land and so many more. I'm desperately hoping that the Switch 2 can stream video to the dock so we can get asynchronous experiences like those back. End of an era. I'll definitely be hopping on Splatoon at least one more time once I've graduated and have access to my Wii U again.
 
It was finally time, expecting tomorrow seeing a lot this image

DAZjQse.gif


Derachi said:
can't wait for April 2024 for the servers to shut down and then become a "Actually Metroid Prime Blast Ball was the greatest multiplayer game ever made, but you'll never know because you can't play it" kinda guy
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I will die on this hill, blast ball was one of the best MP games
 
Monster Hunter 4G (Ultimate in the West) is trending in Japan... a lot of people including myself rate it as one of the best in the series. Gonna be jumping back into the multiplayer since some of the late-game quests are a huge pain without people
 
It can not possibly cost that much to keep this functionality running. Hell I'm pretty sure the Xbox 360 and PS3's online features are still on. People like the GVG crew were making videos about how some WII U games still had active online playerbases just a few months ago! This is incredibly frustrating. I feel like they needed to wait 5 years minimum after they closed the store (which also shouldn't have happened as soon as it did)
 
Well it was a good run and they lasted further into their successor’s lifetime than WFC did for Wii/DS.

zumaddy said:
I just remembered that Fire Emblem Awakening has six whole paralogues and recruit-able characters linked to Spotpass. If you're planning on replaying a new file of Awakening in the future, go for it now or you miss out on good content.
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I believe this content has been archived if you’re willing to go the custom firmware route. So all isn’t lost if you don’t snag it in time.
 
thank god homebrew exists.

pretendo.network

Pretendo Network

An open source Nintendo Network replacement that aims to build custom servers for the WiiU and 3DS family of consoles
pretendo.network pretendo.network
they only have a few games supported, but I imagine work will pick up in the next few months due to this announcement. that the backend work is already done.

I hope they're able to replicate spotpass functionality and content for individual games, that would be a chunk of lost content

some other online revival projects everyone should be aware of:
https://wiimmfi.de/ (Wii/DS server replacement)
https://rc24.xyz/ (WiiConnect24 Replacement)
https://www.wiilink24.com/ (WiiConnect24 Replace #2, these two really ought to merge)
 
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Aww, does this mean that the 3DS internet browser will stop working too? I think it does an online version check whenever you start it up. :(
 
So with this the only online services available from Nintendo starting May 2024 will be for the Switch?
 
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