Yesterday, 8th April, saw the end of an era. Nintendo closed down the online services for its 3DS and Wii U consoles.
As the time drew nearer to this closure, many Nintendo fans took to social media to share their last online moments in games such as Mario Kart 7, Splatoon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf and more. This includes several clips showing the exact moment the servers closed down for good.
Prolific Nintendo dataminer OatmealDome was streaming Splatoon on the Wii U when the servers shut down. As with many others online at the time, they were met with an error code and a message that read: “This online service is no longer available.”
[Nintendo Network]
Well, that’s it for the Wii U and 3DS servers (for me, at least).
Some people are still connected to the servers, but it’ll be a matter of time until they get disconnected.
Thanks to everyone that tuned in on Twitch! pic.twitter.com/xNABULBZyA
— GhoulmealDome 👻 (@OatmealDome) April 9, 2024
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Meanwhile, in a rather wholesome moment, two Kirbys met up in For Glory – an online mode in Super Smash Bros. 4 – and rather than ferociously battling it out, they bopped up and down on the spot together.
“We said goodbye in the most beautiful way possible,” @Kirb0Kirb wrote on X.
this giving similar vibes to pic.twitter.com/QAwh0o6g26
— Eggploont (@eggploont) April 9, 2024
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Alas, some Mario Kart 7 races were cut short by the end of these online services, with many users unable to finish their final lap before they too were presented with a communication error.
Captured the moment the 3ds online shut down, what a way to.
Was racing in rainbow road, and was so close to finishing.
Long live Nintendo Network. pic.twitter.com/4R6EwXlYUq
— Jerm (@jrmy67) April 9, 2024
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Nintendo Network servers for the Wii U and 3DS have just shut down. Here is the last online multiplayer race of Mario Kart 7. 🌈 pic.twitter.com/0QQLftcdOc
— CTGP-7 (@Ctgp7) April 9, 2024
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Others were in Super Mario Maker when online service came to an end. “Course World is now completely inaccessible – it simply displays a maintenance message when attempting to access,” Eurogamer alum Matt Reynolds noted on X with a short clip showing the alert.