Yesterday, April 8, the end of an era occurred. Nintendo closed online services for its 3DS and Wii U consoles.
As the time of this shutdown approached, many Nintendo fans took to social media to share their final moments online in games like Mario Kart 7, Splatoon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, and more. This includes several clips showing the exact moment the servers were shut down for good.
Prolific Nintendo data miner OatmealDome was Splatoon streaming on the Wii U when the servers go down. Like many others online at the time, they encountered an error code and a message saying, “This online service is no longer available.”
Meanwhile, in a rather healthy moment, two Kirbys met in For Glory, an online mode of Super Smash Bros. 4, and instead of fighting fiercely, they jumped together on the spot.
“We said goodbye in the most beautiful way possible.” @Kirb0Kirb wrote in X.
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Unfortunately, some Mario Kart 7 races were interrupted at the end of these online services, with many users unable to finish their last lap before they were also presented with a communication error.
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Others were on Super Mario Maker when the online service ended. “Course World is now completely inaccessible, simply displaying a maintenance message when trying to access it,” noted Eurogamer alum Matt Reynolds on X with a short clip showing the alert.
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But while this truly is the end of an era, keep in mind that 3DS and Wii U users will still be able to play games on their devices offline. Nintendo also said that it will continue to be possible for users to “download update data and redownload purchased software and downloadable content from Nintendo eShop” for the foreseeable future. StreetPass will also remain available.
This week's closure follows the closure of the eShop on Wii U and 3DS in March last year. As for future hardware, the current suggestion is that Nintendo's next device, called the Switch 2, will launch next year.