“In early April 2024, online play and other functionality that uses online communication will end for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software,” Nintendo said on its Support website.
“This also includes online co-operative play, internet rankings, and data distribution.”
“if an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software, we may have to discontinue services earlier than planned.”
As for Pokémon Bank
Pokémon Bank will still retain its online functionality (presumably since it’s still used by players and uses online connectivity as its central mechanic).
Edit: Official Announcement with Q&A: https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/63227/~/announcement-of-discontinuation-of-online-services-for-nintendo-3ds-and-wii-u
I have an NES that still works. Looks great on this old CRT TV I had in college.
I’m actually less worried about the NES failing so much as the TV failing and then I’m not sure what I’d do…
I’ve heard it’s full of hackers, but the original Splatoon had really interesting (good and bad) maps that are worth trying if you’ve only played the third
Ah, got ya. The only ones for the 3DS I can think of are fantasy life and Monster Hunter.
Oh, and I guess that Zelda game, Triforce heroes? Not sure if it had online co-op, but if it does it might be worth a try.
Unfortunately it’s a losing battles. One midly successful live service games earns the companies way more than multiple success non-live service games.
it would be nice if they did things like allow community servers but then that would eat into the potential* customers for their next release
For all their flaws, Valve and Minecraft show it can be done. You can have both a monetizable live service and user hostable servers.
This i find so infuriating. If there is no legal way available to enjoy an IP because the right holder is discontinueing service, it should automatically become public domain, be it books, movies or games.
Iirc. the US even has a law, that land not used by the owner for a long time can be legally used by anyone. Why do we not do the same for IP, where noone is actually losing something?
The Mouse gets mad when you talk like that that’s why
It definitely should. No digital work can endure a century before it’s completely lost. The copyright length we have today is a death sentence for a large chunk of our culture.
Man, you’d think that if there was only, say, 100 people a day using this service they could just scale the service down. Whatever the number of active users they could just scale the service down, that number isn’t likely to spike again ever (and even if it did no one would be surprised if there were service interruptions on a service that old).
Maybe it’s a security issue? But there are no credit card transactions in online multiplayer? Idk.
Well, no matter how scaled down they make it, there is going to be a maintenance cost. They would have to keep the tech stack updated and keep up with latest security practices, otherwise it could be a security issue.
Not saying they can’t afford to do it, just sharing another perspective.
The PS3 and Xbox 360 are 17 and 18 years old. The 3DS and Wii U have just reached 12 and 10 years old.
Microsoft and Sony seem be able to keep the servers up without any issues. The stores are even online too (although the PS3 store might close soon). Additionally, Sony isn’t profiting off the PS3 as the servers are free.
Sure they have more money than Nintendo but it is very frustrating that the servers are already going down… hopefully Pretendo will be able to restore functionality.
I think the issue is that Nintendo Network was a completely different system, they changed it completely with Switch. That is why everyone had to create new accounts etc.
With PS and Xbox they may have updated a lot, but I think it’s still the same system.
Also, PS3 and Vita store were closing a while back, but there was a huge outcry and Sony changed the decision. Maybe there wasn’t such a huge outcry for 3DS?
But yeah, no matter the reason, it’s frustrating for the customers. Pretendo seeems to be the way forward, let’s hope they release something soon.
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I agree. Nintendo made a bad decision when they designed 3 different online systems for 3 systems (Wii, 3DS/Wii U and Switch).
Pretendo is already functional if you pay for their Patreon. Not everything works but I’ve heard it’s in a pretty good state.
Microsoft can keep it up because they own their CDN. They dont have to pay a 3rd party company for upkeep.
Sometimes most people with the knowledge are gone, the people left need to keep things relatively up to date for security reasons, but the legacy systems aren’t as nice, so it takes time and is generally unfun to do. Sometimes a new law in Europe goes live and you should be able to add a pop-up somewhere, but when you follow the docs on how to update stuff, it doesn’t even work for a myriad of reasons. It’s not like maintaining a software for 12 years really, which a ton of businesses do successfully. When you’re just keeping something alive that works and almost never crashes, you get to a point where doing mandated new updates gets harder and harder. And now with the shops gone, there’s even less of a money incentive to keep the thing going :(
I assume that there is some fixed resource cost for the servers on top of the per-user cost. For example, they need to maintain a user database of every single single account that ever played online.
Also, systems that are designed to scale up well are often not designed to scale down (for example, the match making queue is sized for 10,000 users. It may be something that is not too hard to fix, but fixing it would involve rewriting code that they are not familiar with (all of the devs probably moved on to other work and likely many are no longer with the company) and is going to introduce all sorts of new scale issues (for example, a server needs 1 GB of free memory to run a vulnerability scan. If you cut its memory allocation by 50%, that might not be the case and you will not know it until the 3rd Tuesday of the month when the scan is scheduled).
It is possible that it costs Nintendo almost the same to run online match making for 10 players as it does for 10,000.
RIP all my Tomodachi Life kids
Let’s hope for https://pretendo.network/
very cool, I learn something new eveyday
I wonder if Monster Hunter: Generations needs specific work or would be included in general 3DS projects.
Is there an offline monster hunter? It looks like it’s up my alley but I don’t like online games. I’m a cranky ass.
Yea, of course. Most Monster Hunter games are completely self-contained and can be played solo offline or local co-op (also offline). The older games do not adjust their difficulty when attempting guild quests since those are usually intended for co-op play, so the monsters’ health and damage numbers might exceed your current level. But if you’re not interested in those, pretty much every Monster Hunter game - including the 3DS titles like 3/4 Ultimate and Generations - has its own offline story mode and plenty of quests to play through.
If you have a friend to play with, local co-op is heaps of fun. Back when the series was reserved to the PSP, that’s how I got my hundreds of hours clocked in.
If you do end up trying out any of the 3DS Monster Hunter titles and do not have a New 3DS, do get a Circle Pad Pro if you haven’t already. It’s essentially a grip for the 3DS that makes the handheld bulkier and adds a much-needed second joystick for camera movement.
Cheers!
The jailbreaking community saves the day once again
Ah so I can finally hack into my 3ds without feeling a little guilty. Anyone know some good guides to do this?
Follow the above guide exactly – then download:
and also use
This will cover 100% of your bases. You’ll be able to play anything and have a great experience. New 2DS XL highly recommended.
I can confirm everything you posted, works like a charm and the 3ds is still a really nice gaming platform with a deep game library
this is the positive technocratic gatekeeping.
Does this include third-party games or is it only for Nintendo hosted servers?
Are you also ending online services for software from publishers other than Nintendo?
With some exceptions, online services will end for all Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software. Please contact publishers for information about the online services for their software.
For over a year it’s been fairly trivial to play unauthorized copies of games online with normal players. Should be no surprise they are pulling the plug after their copy protection is broken.
Should get about 6 more years out of the Nintendo Switch’s online service before they pull the plug too if this is any indication.
This is why I always favor games and gamemodes you can still play offline or locally than online ones.
Still, pour one out for my old, 850h savefile on MH4U, I had so many great times with that game.Didn’t monster hunter’s servers already shut down though a while back? I only know because I recently got a vita, but I did see there were community servers. No idea how all that works though lol
The PSP and Vita servers were already down for a while, but you could still play at least 4U and Generations online. I think you still can right now. But yes there are community servers and you can play online on Citra!
