Nintendo announced yesterday that it will be shutting down “certain online functionality offered through Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection” for Wii, DS, and DSi games. What exactly does this mean? Things like leaderboards and online play will no longer be available for certain titles, but the Wii and DSi Shop Channels will remain unaffected.
It’s the end of an era of lost opportunities for Nintendo. The Wii had one of the largest install bases of it’s console generation, but it never made a dent in the online market due to Nintendo treating online gaming the same way a parent would treat stranger danger. The idea of needing a 12-digit “friend code” from someone before you can even see them online was not only ridiculous, but ran counter to the Wii’s marketing of uniting vastly different groups together with fun, simple games. By the time Nintendo realized their mistake, it was too late. However, I still have fond memories of visiting other towns in Animal Crossing: Wild World and proving that my Ganondorf could not be beaten in Smash Brothers Brawl, so maybe it wasn’t all bad.
Nintendo is planning to end Wi-Fi Connection service on May 20th, so get in your last online games of Mario Kart while you can. You can get a full list of titles affected by the shut down by clicking on the source link.
