{"id":24790,"date":"2024-04-09T04:40:08","date_gmt":"2024-04-09T04:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6e51d854-2b33-4488-ad53-82e71c4e5fc912"},"modified":"2024-04-09T04:40:08","modified_gmt":"2024-04-09T04:40:08","slug":"nintendos-online-servers-for-wii-u-and-3ds-shut-down-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/nintendos-online-servers-for-wii-u-and-3ds-shut-down-today\/","title":{"rendered":"Nintendo’s online servers for Wii U and 3DS shut down today"},"content":{"rendered":"
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We knew it was coming, but that doesn\u2019t make it any easier to say goodbye<\/ins><\/span>. Nintendo shut down the online servers for both the Wii U and 3DS today. This means the end of online multiplayer gaming for both consoles, turning Mario Kart 7<\/em> for 3DS and the original Splatoon<\/em> for the Wii U into single player or couch co-op experiences. The first Super Mario Maker<\/em> is also effectively dead, as there\u2019s no way to browse for and download player-created levels.<\/p>\n

Both consoles are relatively controversial. The 3DS was originally considered a lukewarm follow-up to the barn-busting DS<\/ins><\/span>, though it eventually became a success in its own right<\/ins><\/span>. This was thanks to a glut of incredible titles, from Super Mario 3D Land<\/em> and The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds<\/em> to more niche fare like Kid Icarus: Uprising<\/em> and Fire Emblem Awakening<\/em>. The portable console also had a robust lineup of online exclusive titles, like Pushmo<\/em> and BoxBoy!<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Wii U, on the other hand, never quite found a significant audience and is largely considered one of Nintendo\u2019s biggest missteps. It was the next home console after the culture-defining Wii, so it had large shoes to fill. However, the company went with a name that was an absolute nightmare for the Wii\u2019s core audience of casual gamers. Was it an accessory to the original Wii? A new console? A crappy iPad? Those of us glued to gaming media knew the answer, but the casuals never stood a chance.<\/p>\n

There was also the console itself. The company never delivered a compelling use case for the \u201casymmetric gameplay\u201d offered by the device. Simply put, the Wii U gave you two screens. There was the TV, of course, but also a touchscreen tablet. This was supposed to lead to unique gameplay mechanics that gave the person holding the tablet a different task than those holding traditional controllers, but only a few titles truly explored this concept.<\/p>\n

Just like the 3DS, however, the Wii U was buoyed by a robust selection of first-party classics. I found the first-party offerings of the Wii era to be mostly underwhelming, with desperate attempts to shoehorn in finicky and gimmicky waggle. I still get panicked when remembering just how horrible it felt to fly Link around in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword<\/em>. The Wii U, on the other hand, brought Nintendo back to a novel concept called \u201cjust make good games.\u201d<\/p>\n

The console brought us Mario Kart 8<\/em>, which is still the gold standard for digital kart racing, and the underrated Super Mario 3D World<\/em>. There was also Super Mario Maker<\/em>, a great Super Smash Bros. title, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze<\/em>, Pikmin 3<\/em> and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker<\/em>, among many others.<\/p>\n

Even if you never owned a Wii U, you\u2019ve probably played some of these games. Nintendo knew the console itself was a flop, but the games were good. This led to numerous re-releases on the Switch. It\u2019s worth noting that The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild<\/em> was originally developed for the Wii U<\/ins><\/span>. Also, it had Miiverse! Nintendo, for the love of Bowser, bring back Miiverse<\/ins><\/span>. It was the only pure social network.<\/p>\n

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Of course, there\u2019s a strong case to be made that both the design of the Wii U and its failure led to the Switch. Both devices allow for portable play, but the Wii U required people to be tethered to a bulky console. The Switch, on the other hand, is the (not bulky) console. Nintendo\u2019s smash hybrid has sold 140 million units<\/ins><\/span>, as of December. The Wii U sold under 14 million devices throughout its lifespan.<\/p>\n

Nintendo already shut down the online stores<\/ins><\/span> for the 3DS and Wii U last year, so this is the final goodbye. Luckily, speedrunners managed to actually beat<\/ins><\/span> a Super Mario Maker<\/em> level that was long thought to be impossible just a few days ago. Life always finds a way. Sleep well, my two old friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We knew it was coming, but that doesn\u2019t make it any easier to say goodbye. Nintendo shut down the online servers for both the Wii U and 3DS today. This means the end of online multiplayer gaming for both consoles, turning Mario Kart 7 for 3DS and the original Splatoon for the Wii U into …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24791,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-24790","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gadgets","has-thumb","has-featured"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24790"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24790"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24790\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24790"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24790"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24790"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.worldtechguide.net\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=24790"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}