Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online play and services to end on April 8th, 2024

[Tedhaun]

UPDATE 1/24/2024: Hard date has been confirmed by Nintendo for the Nintendo Network services shutdown. Online play for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will cease operations on April 8th, 2024 at 4 PM PDT/7 PM EDT.

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Earlier this week, Nintendo announced that online play for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will end on April of 2024 (no exact date given), marking the end of free online play for any proper home and/or handheld console (PC and mobile devices don't count). With the eShops for both the aforementioned consoles closed this past March and various media apps no longer officially supporting those same consoles, it was inevitable that online play would be (next to) the very last thing to go (Pokémon Bank will still be useable until TPC pulls the plug on that).

If you want to play online matches in Mario Kart 7 or 8, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and/or Wii U, Splatoon (Wii U original) et al, this is probably your last chance to do so. If you have any Wonderlockes (a Nuzlocke variant that incorporates Wonder Trades for those not in the know) in the 3DS mainline Pokémon games you want to do or still need to complete, do them as soon as possible.

The full FAQ regarding the online play closure is right here.

The FAQ didn't mention anything regarding the Internet Browser for both Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, I hope that's still useable after April 2024.

[Tiger21820]

Time for those geinuses to get to work on creating those unofficial servers!

[Tedhaun]

As for unofficial/fanmade servers, all I know is that CTGP-7 (Mario Kart 7 only) and Pretendo Network are going to have a field day getting everything set up for 2024 and beyond in light of this unfortunate news.

[Tiger21820]

I'm also going to have a field day updating all the world records for the Nintendo 3DS Central Record Hall (E.G. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, Sonic Lost World (sadly not all world records will be updated), etc.) before they're gone for good!

But you know what WON'T die from the online sunset? STREET PASS!!!

[Demon_skeith]

Was always a matter of time. Guess I should look into homebrew my 3DS now.

[Tiger21820]

Nintendo continues their 'Loving' trend of 'Planned Obsolescence'!

[Tedhaun]

Hard date and time now officially announced for the online services sunset for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. Online play for both of the aforementioned consoles will end on April 8th, 2024 at 4 PM PDT/7 PM EDT.

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https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/63227

If you have any unused 3DS/Wii U eShop balance on your NNID, you have until March 11th, 2024 (or March 12th, 2024 depending on your time zone) at 10 PM PDT/1 AM EDT to merge those unused funds to your Nintendo Account for use with the Nintendo Switch.

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https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/64132

If it's possible to connect to the custom online play servers that the Citra 3DS and Cemu Wii U emulators use on actual hardware, that would be amazing though I doubt it'd be as simple as changing the DNS settings on your console(s) and/or patching your copies of any online compatible games that you own.

[Tedhaun]

One 3DS game decided to kick the bucket early in terms of online play.

Steel Diver: Sub Wars, which had its online functionality under "emergency maintenance" since September 4th, 2023, ended its online support roughly 2 and a half months before the Nintendo Network sunset.

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https://www.nintendo.co.jp/support/information/2024/steeldiver_subwars.html

Statement translated into English (with DeepL Translate):

STEELDIVER SUBWARS
Notice and Apology for Termination of Online Play Service
We are sorry to inform you that the online service for "STEELDIVER SUBWARS", a Nintendo 3DS software released on February 14, 2014, has been terminated due to the fact that emergency maintenance has been performed since September 4, 2023, but there is no prospect of restoring the service. We are sorry to inform you that the online service has been terminated.

We apologize for the inconvenience to our customers who have been using "STEELDIVER SUBWARS", and ask for your kind understanding.

Thank you for your long term patronage of "STEELDIVER SUBWARS".