3DS And Wii U Users Say Goodbye To Online Play

Now to get my red OG 3DS's hinge fixed-up & then it's time to get it modded to be region-free. My 2DS stays as it is.

That's my...to-do list for the time being anyways.

Spent today playing Splatoon. Still playing as of typing this. Farewell, Wii U/3DS.

o7 to a great console family

Spent the final hours playing Mario Maker. Kept playing for half an hour after the closure and it still worked, but when I rebooted the game, it was gone.

Rest in peace, Nintendo Network. You had a great run.

Well, everything will be ended someday.
Nothing is eternal.
I still use my 3DS and Wii U to play my original games even without using online play.
My original gaming experience will keep going.

“It’s over” why was the last one so surprisingly heartbreaking

Well...that's all folks. Legally, that is.

I did wonder trades until the very end, in Omega Ruby.

The final Pokemon I received was a cute little Muchlax.

@BandeeOfTheStars yeah I could still trade Pokemon after the cut out, it didn’t stop working until I had to suspend the game.

That first video, I was thinking about doing the exact thing. Not filming it but just firing up Mario Kart and playing online as I barrel head-first into the Nintendo server shut down black abyss.
That video actually brought a tear to my eye. The 3DS is still my favorite system ever (next to N64) for so many reasons. Perfectly designed and just so pocketable and portable.
Bring back streetpass (and the railroad)!

The end of an era. Goodbye old friend and thanks for the memories.

Spent the end playing New Leaf. I am very thankful to have been part of the New Leaf glory days. I will miss you both 3DS and WiiU. Rest in Peace.

Just wanted to come here and mark this occasion with a heartfelt farewell to a pair of unforgettable Nintendo systems that left us with a lot of great games and memories.

It’s been great. It’s only gonna get better

End of an era, for sure. Thanks for the memories, 3DS!

9:59PM EST, and my Wii U is still on official servers, playing Splatoon online! I'm scared to shut my Wii U off!

EDIT: 10PM EST, and that's all folks.
See you in Pretendo, friendos.

The end of one of Nintendo's best consoles. The 3DS had way better games, so it's a shame to see Nintendo take down the servers like this. Wish the Switch had a good library.

10:09 PM EST and still going on Mario Maker. Maybe if I just never turn it off...

EDIT: Played past midnight but I have work in the morning. Reset the game and online is unavailable. I'll go to Pretendo tomorrow.

I went on a grind for the Mr. Sandman badge in New Leaf during the final week of service, saw some cool towns and got the badge. Also went on Tortimer's island to look for some items, never got them but oh well. New Leaf's loading and connection times are so much faster than New Horizons, it's crazy.

Today I played Splatoon for a bit, it made me realize how much faster the first game's matchmaking is. Dunno why Splatoon 3 is so slow but I average 80 to 130 seconds for matchmaking in Splatoon 3 but Splatoon 1 was super quick, like less than 70 seconds on average. Also Squid Jump >>>>>>>>>>> Lobby Holograms.

Played some Luigi's Mansion 2: Dark Moon and that was very fun, the Luigi voiceline spam was funny.

I got booted from the servers around 8:36 EDT while Wonder Trading in Pokemon Y.

My last 3DS online moments were spent hunting a a Rathalos on MH4. I almost forgot how great that game looked on 3DS.

Both consoles are online again thanks to Pretendo.

@Tasuki if you say that due to the discontinuation of the online service, I don’t think that’s related to accounts and content

I tried to play Theatrhythm Curtain Call online one more time but couldn't find anyone else. I'll keep playing it though. Despite the improved visuals and bigger catalog Final Bar Line just can't compare.

I had a great weekend playing smash, Mario maker, and Splatoon. Wii U and 3DS online will be missed.

Pretendo servers to the rescue 👍👍

@ToastmasterI just looked into it. Accrding to their donation page, they say it cost 3,000 dollars per month to operate. That cost could easily go up too. It will also be plagued with connection issues etc. It's honorable some people love the consoles, but time to let the online function go.

Oh, the fun I had playing ScareScraper and Mario Kart 7 with randoms online. I got my 2DS exactly 6 years ago today, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. It’s unfortunate though that I couldn’t get my Wii U back up and running, I haven’t played on it for years, and I think the Gamepad is busted. At least I got some good online gameplay from it while playing Super Mario Maker and Splatoon. To everyone I played with over all these years, I bid you all a final farewell.

Pretendo time!

Well... does anyone know a wiimfi for 3ds/wiiu?

Unfortunately I'm away from my Wii U and 3DS consoles for now, but I'll definitely be looking into Pretendo when I get back to them. Poor form from Nintendo to shut the online down.

I went back and played some Mario Maker a couple of weeks ago. Tbh, it had lost its charm, at least to me, but I also played so much in the past, that there was not much left to do.
In general, I'm not really an online player, with a few exceptions.

I will keep cherishing my Wii U for (hopefully) many many more years, just did my daily Wii Fit U routines, and we're on a Wind Waker playthrough in the weekends, and with all the free/discounted games I downloaded on it, there's still a backlog there should I ever find the time for it.

Luckily, things move forward, and the Switch is so much fun and holds so many great games. Nothing to worry about.

2 of my favorite consoles. Farewell.... NOT! Pretendo here WE GOOOOOO!

But honestly. These 2 machines will 4ever be my most nostalgic games consoles. I still own both. Modded that is
And they are both STILL worth it. Homebrew communities for both consoles are overwhelmingly awesome.

I'm grateful I got to play a bunch of levels of Triforce Heroes with strangers, as well as proceed just one more level through my game (I remember that particular level was a pain when I tried to solo the boss years ago). Matchmaking is so awkward though, so I didn't expect to finally complete the story.

Sonic & SEGA racing on Wii U? After all these years, I finally raced someone, and even won twice by a hair and made one last Wii U friend. If the game had been more populated through the console's run I would have tried it years ago, but at least there was that.

And then I finished off by playing two levels of Federation Force with a guy named Mark, who showed me a couple secrets I would have missed and helped me fumble my way through haha. If you're out there, Mark, thanks.

I'm mostly sad that I probably wouldn't have been able to match with these people had it not been the eleventh hour for the servers. The games are a lot of fun and deserve to be carried over to future consoles, and future-proofed.

Either these people have a lot of free time on their hands or still use those systems as their primary gaming platforms. I don't have the time to play anything other than what's out right now, so I guess I'm a little baffled at the attachment I'm seeing.

Bring out the modding kits.

I got on after the planned shutdown, and played for an hour. I was racing in Mario Kart 7, and it booted me off. Said my final goodbye, and started Pretendo for the first time. And the Pretendo servers were down.

@TheBigK the 3DS is a legendary system, and the Wii U was underrated. I didn’t get a 3DS until 2020, but I wanted one for a while before. And for three and a half years, I’ve loved all six of mine. Even the one in pieces.

My SD card came in the mail yesterday, time to pretendoify my Wii U!

@VoidofLight but it does. You just have different taste.

That video of Splatoon players jumping around gave me a good laugh.

Good luck to all the indie devs that were on there too! I hope they all continue to develop games!

I was online in Splatoon past midnight EDT before I finally had to tuck in. I got pretty lucky, but also missed on that sense of finality because they didn't even have to kick me!

I'm surprised to see Mario Kart players got booted mid-race, that's harsh.

The older I get, the faster these moments sneak up on me. Sadly, the glory days of Wii U Call of Duty had already ended, but I will truly miss the pleasant CoD experience with fun and kind people back in the day. It was fun, and there are just too few experiences to replace it nowadays.

@batmanbud2 A lot of the switch titles were inferior to their 3DS counterparts, so I dunno about that.

@VoidofLight ok, bro, lemme think about that:
NSMB2 vs. SMBW. No competition (even with my NSMB2 bias)
3D Land vs. Odyssey and Bowsers Fury. Again, no competition.
SMM for 3DS vs. SMM2. I'll give the 3DS version a slight pass for the touch screen, but otherwise, nah.
MK7 vs. MK8D. 8 is 7 but better.
Sticker Star vs. Origami King. The answer is obvious.
LMDM vs. LM3. Does LM3 have a mission structure?
Samus Returns vs. Dread. One is a meh remake, and the other is the most praised Metroid game since Super.
New Island vs. Crafted World. Neither is good, but Crafted is better by a small hair.
Kirby TD and PR vs. Kirby SA and FL. I actually think all mainline Kirby games are good in their own way, but I'll give the 3DS this one. It's only a slight difference, though.
Pokemon. Honestly, never liked the franchise in the first place.
Warioware. Ok, tbh, Gold is the only Warioware game you'll ever need.
Hey! Pikmin vs. Pikmin 4. What do you think?
SM4SH vs. Ultimate. I actually like Smash for 3DS for the portability, custom moves, and Smash Run, but Ultimates just more fun.

Sorry this is so long, but I had to get this out. Look, I also love the 3DS, and I've realized the need for both consoles, but the Switch is simply better for me.

And before you bring up VC vs. NSO, yes, I know. Also yes, it is kinda stupid, but it's not the end of the world.

Here's an interesting discussion topic: let's say things worked like in the anime Overlord, where if you stayed on a game server until the very end, but found yourself transported into the world of the game you were playing last, which game from either the 3DS or Wii U would you choose and why?

And to think the first time I saw Nintendo Network, I could only think of Nintendo finally making their move into more integrated online features. So many memories playing with 3DS online, especially Kid Icarus and Pokémon...

@batmanbud2 I don't count Paper Mario and Luigi's Mansion, given that both series aren't developed by Nintendo. I'm speaking more on a first party level strictly.

Animal Crossing is one of the big ones that I tend to go to for comparison. New Horizons is by far inferior to New Leaf in almost every aspect, except for the customization. It lacks a lot of the features New Leaf had at launch, and a lot of the charm of previous entries as well.

Pokemon doesn't count either imo, given that Nintendo only publishes the series. However, I personally think the DS era and 3DS eras were stronger than the switch era of the series.

Nintendo used to do a lot of first party titles that were smaller scope, like Nintendogs, Tomodachi Life, Fossil Fighters. Those games no longer exist on Switch. Some, mainly because of how the switch lacks a microphone or proper touch-screen, while others are gone for no real reason- other than Nintendo consolidating their handheld dev teams into home console development.

I don't count Mario Kart 8, given that it was a port. Not a game made for the Switch from the ground up really. The DLC courses in 8 were inferior to the rest of Mario Kart 8 though.

I personally prefer 3D Land over Odyssey. Mario Odyssey gives me an off feeling every single time I play it, which causes me to drop the game halfway through on replays. I don't know what the reason for that is, but it's a game that makes me feel uneasy or bad playing it.

Then Zelda was better imo on 3DS. While there was only really one brand new singleplayer Zelda on the system, it's probably my favorite out of all the Zelda titles to really ever release. Link Between Worlds had such a good gimmick, and the game had the perfect blend of structure and openness, which TotK and BotW sort of end up not being able to balance correctly. I wish we'd get more brand new 2D entries in the series.

@VoidofLight
1. I understand the deal about Animal Crossing and Pokemon, even if I'm not into either series.
2. LBW might be a bit better than BOTW and TOTK, but it's not better than the Links Awakening remake. That is my favorite Zelda game, and nothing will change that. Also, they made Skyward Sword playable, so that's good.
3. The BCP tracks in 8 were inferior in graphics only. Yes, there were duds, but every Mariokart has its duds. I actually really like several of the tracks that came from Tour, specifically Vancouver Velocity, Piranha Plant Cove, Ninja Hideaway, and Squeaky Clean Sprint.
4. Odyssey never felt off to me the entire time I was playing it. And this coming from someone who prefers the linear 3D Marios over the open world ones.
5. Yeah, we should get more 2D Zeldas.