Nintendo: online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U to be discontinued in April 2024; note about Nintendo Badge Arcade
Last year, Nintendo shut down the Nintendo eShop on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. At the time, the company specified that other online services (such as online play) on those platforms would not be impacted, though there was little doubt Nintendo would pull the plug on them in due time.
And today, Nintendo finally announced that (almost) all online services on Nintendo 3DS (including New Nintendo 3DS) and Wii U would be discontinued on the following day:
- Europe: April 9th 2024 at 2AM
- UK: April 9th 2024 at 1AM
- North America (ET): April 8th 2024 at 8PM
- North America (PT): April 8th 2024 at 5PM
- Japan: April 9th 2024 at 9AM
Nintendo specifies that those services may be discontinued even earlier than initially planned in case something happens to make it difficult to continue operating them (like the exploit that impacted Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon, which forced Nintendo to bring those two games offline for several months while developers worked on a patch).
Here’s two games that will be impacted before April 8th/9th:
- Steel Diver Subwars
- Real Dasshutsu Game x Nintendo 3DS Chou Hakai Keikaku kara no Dasshutsu: final online event was held on December 31st 2023, though users can keep downloading scenarios for offline play until April 9th 2024. Important note: you need to have save data to keep playing the game offline after April 9th 2024!
To be precise, the discontinuation of online services on Nintendo 3DS (including New Nintendo 3DS) and Wii U will impact all of the following:
- online play
- online leaderboards
- data distribution (including SpotPass)
- etc.
Naturally, today’s announcement will have no impact on games and/or features/modes that do not require an online connection. That includes StreetPass (which uses local communications), though some features of StreetPass Mii Plaza that require an internet connection will be discontinued.
You will still be able to (re-)download games and DLC you have already bought, along with Software updates, but only for as long as Nintendo keeps the servers online (those will be shut down eventually).
Also, not all games and services requiring an internet connection will be impacted. For example, Pokémon Bank will continue working properly even after online services have been shut down on Nintendo 3DS. Most likely, games and services operated by third-party companies will keep operating as usual (that is, until those companies also pull the plug on them).
Among the services impacted by this discontinuation is Nintendo Badge Arcade. Here’s what will happen:
- After service ends, Nintendo Badge Arcade will display an error screen when launched. If Nintendo Badge Arcade is launched after service ends, an error screen will be displayed and it will not be possible to use the software. As a result, the Practice Catcher will no longer be available.
- It will no longer be possible to place badges in the badge box. Once service ends, badges obtained in Nintendo Badge Arcade will continue to be available for decorating the Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu. However, it will no longer be possible to place badges in the badge box, meaning that users will only have access to a maximum of 100 categories and 1,000 badges that are in the badge box. We recommend that users finish placing badges before the end of services for this software.
As data related to Nintendo Badge Arcade is saved on your SD Card as additional data, if that data is lost for any reason (the SD card is formatted or stops working properly), then you will be unable to restore it if this happens after service is discontinued. Therefore, it’s highly recommended you make back-ups of your SD Card data beforehand (and not just for Nintendo Badge Arcade: your games too!).
