Time marches forward, and with it, gaming must also keep itself relevant. A few months back, we talked about how Nintendo was ending online support for two of its now-defunct consoles. A recent update from the company has since narrowed down exactly when that’s going to be happening.
As of April 8 – at exactly 4 p.m. PDT – most online services for the 3DS and Wii U will be shut down for good. That’s according to a recent Twitter post, which leads to a customer support page that goes into more detail.
The information says the discontinuation will be for the following: New Nintendo 3DS, New 3DS XL, New 2DS XL, 3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, Wii U Deluxe, and Wii U Basic. This will affect “online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution.” A second tweet says it’s possible to “merge your unused Nintendo eShop balance to your Nintendo Account” for use on the Switch. Details about that can be found here.
A number of caveats
While the servers themselves are being turned off, Nintendo does say that players “will still be able to use features and game modes that do not require online communication.” It also won’t be ending the StreetPass feature for now, as that uses local communication and doesn’t require online connectivity.
For the time being, you will still be able to update and redownload purchased games, and the service shutdown won’t have an immediate impact on Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter. People should still be able to download update data and redownload purchased software and DLC from the eShop. Again, that can all change in the future.
I was honestly surprised online was still supported for the Wii U and 3DS. The latter was discontinued in 2020, while the former’s lifecycle was ended back in 2017, almost seven years ago. Shows how much I have my finger on the pulse of outdated Nintendo consoles.
