Nintendo of Australia and Japan has announced they will be terminating a select number of online services from June 28 for the Wii. Following suit, North America and Europe has since confirmed they will be closing down the channels listed here. The full statement from Nintendo can be found below:
We at Nintendo sincerely thank you for your continued patronage of our company’s products. We would like to inform you that a portion of the online services offered through the Wii console will be discontinued from 28th June 2013. We apologise to those of you currently using these services.
The affected applications are as follows:
– Nintendo Channel
– News Channel
– Forecast Channel
– Everybody Votes Channel
– Mii Contest Channel
– Data exchange with Wii Friends via WiiConnect24*
* Exchange of Wii messages on the Wii Message Board, exchange of Mii characters on the Mii Channel and message/data exchange within some games will be disabled.
From 28th June 2013, the above services will no longer be available even if they are started up from the Wii Menu. However, services other than those mentioned above, such as the Wii Shop Channel and “Today’s Accomplishments” on the Wii Message Board, will remain available.
– Nintendo of Australia
FML :(
It’s ridiculous, they’re hardly services that would bring servers to a halt. Many people still use their Wiis. 7 years haven’t even passed since launch. Nintendo really aggravate me sometimes.
who cares. wii died in 2007
its not even dead yet.
LOL Nobody uses those channels. Only WiFi connection.
wii was barely getting started in 2007
unsuccessful troll is unsuccessful
you are a moron bud wii never died off they are still makeing games just cause your not a nintendo fan dont mean you have to be a d bag
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpCY-pq-ipA&w=560&h=315%5D :)
I was laughing so hard at your comment
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Expected. The death of Wii will push Wii U sales.
Hey hey, this new editor has some pretty damn good writing skills. I’m more convinced than alba.
Can anyone tell if I can still play my Wii Monster Hunter 3 online? Thanks
From what I can tell; Yes you can still play Monster Hunter Tri Online. It’s just the channels mentioned and sending messages and data to wii friends that will be disabled. The only bad thing, I can remember about this, is the friend vouchers from Metroid Prime 3 and Trilogy may be dissabled.
Do you still need the vouchers?
I don’t, but someone else might need them.
No, soon enough tri is closing their servers to promote mh3u..check around the internet if you dont believe me
Ok, that will make me buy wii u’s, though i feel it’s unfair as i’ll never find any buyer for the wii version
The notification on your Wii said that some games will be affected by this, Monster Hunter Tri 3 is played mainly for the online. Unless another one is planned for the Wii U, this games is here to stay.
:(
I’m gonna miss those Wii features. I think I’m gonna cry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF6HNDO4LnM
:'(
Reblogged this on misentopop.
And this my friends, is why “always on” makes a console SHITE
That’s not even remotely close to what the whole “always on” debate is about. Those services being shut down are to be expected and don’t affect your ability to play games.
So in other words, the next evil Xbox will die before it even got created…
Wii U and now the XBOX 1… Both sound bad…
R.I.P.
But I need the nintendo Channel!!! I need to see my gameplay hours records!!!
That’s ridiculous. It’s too early to start phasing out support. If they have statistics that show the Forecast channel etc aren’t being used enough to justify the support then fair enough. But data exchange and messages are things they shouldn’t even consider dropping support for until the Wii reaches the end of it’s life (As in a significant number of people stop using it, as opposed to Nintendo wanting everyone to get a Wii U instead)
and this ^
Your digging yourself deeper Nintendo you haven’t even convinced half the people who like your systems or going to get one if your systems that the Wii U is worth the 300 or 350 you make us spend on a console that still barely has any of the games that people want if you do that the people who have Wii s will probally just get mad at you and switch to another console
this. ^
oh em gee
This is not good. Makes me wonder if I should even get the WiiU… :(
You should. Amazing games are coming, mark my words.
meh. as long as they don’t get rid of the eshop before I get a wiiU
LOL what poor consumer loyalism. Now you have no reason not to hack your wii.
i don’t really care about most of the services, but WHY THE NINTENDO CHANNEL! i liked the nintendo channel… :<
The fact that you can go on the internet to check out the weather defeats the purpose of having the weather channel. Also, people have things like phones, Facebook, Twitter, Skype, etc to communicate with other players. Again, you can go on MSN, Yahoo to check up on the news.
Overall, I think its a good move on Nintendos part because it forces consumers to sell their Wiis, just so they can purchase a Wii U.
Well you can go to the internet or grab a pc/tablet/phone etc. to play games as well, so what is the purpose of having a console at all?
I think these channels were genuinely fun and I am truly dissapointed that these are being discontinued, especially the feature of message exchange via the Message Board.
Overall, it is more of a bad move than it is a good move on Nintendo’s part. I think it will mostly irritate the current Wii users. I think that the people who like the Wii, if they want to buy a new-gen console, would buy the Wii U regardless if Nintendo pushes it by force or not. I consider myself a strong ‘liker’ of the Wii, and I’m pretty certain I will buy the Wii U in the future, but this decision will certainly have nothing to do with the previous Wii becoming obsolete or lacking online features. However these features being discontinued will and DO irritate me, and WILL push me to consider other two consoles over Nintendo’s, which, before, did not even cross my mind (!). Therefore, I think that the consequences will be more of a negative than a positive nature.
As long as I can watch Netflix on my Wii I’m good.
as long as we have that and our games we are good.
Well, at least we can still use Mario Kart Channel…
I used to access the everybody votes channel every week. lol
it was fun
Awe…I liked the Nintendo Channel. Those Ultimate Wii challenges or whatever were hilarious. And Nintendo Week with Evil Gary lol.
I don’t really care about this really. Only cool channel was Nintendo Channel, and Wii Connect 24 was mostly used for only brawl.
And that brawl service was discontinued long ago I think.
Only issue I see is getting friend credits by trading friend vouchers in Metroid Prime 3, which was needed to unlock certain extras in the game.
oh know shit that nobody cared about on one of the worst consoles ever?
Nintendo Channel – meh, there’s product info and playable game demos in the 3DS eShop.
News/Forecast/Everybody Votes/Check Mii Out – No big loss. I mean, the last two were kinda cool for a little while, but I don’t think anyone relied on them.
Wii Message Board – Now that kinda sucks. I mean, now anyone with a Wii U has Miiverse, and it’s not like I relied on it at all recently, but I’m still kinda sad to see it go. Just in a sentimental way, really.
Now if this affects online multiplayer in, say, Mario Kart Wii, it’ll be a bigger deal. Unsure exactly what “data exchange via WiiConnect24” entails. Maybe swapping Brawl stages online? That would *really* suck.
king wii takes the crown from ps2 and walks into the hall of fame as the hottest console to date
surely you ment “from ps3”
oh my bad, imisunderstood
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Nintendo I have been a customer with y’all every since I was a little boy. I don’t want y’all to discontinue the wii I really love it. I when I first got my wii I was happy because I have never had a game system and this is the first. Please don’t discontinue the wii. I am not going to buy the wii u I heard it was horrible to play it. Y’all need to come up with some good games if you want your customers to be happy and stop coming out with new systems. Thanks herbert
Yeah, if I had a Wii U, the only game I would have would be New Super Mario Bros .Wii U. Please don’t discontinue the Wii!! My story is the same like Mr. Herbert Tingle there. :)
My VERY 1st gaming console and my VERY 1st game I played was New Super Mario Bros. Wii.
Does this mean I can’t watch netflix through my wii anymore?
It really sucks! I LOVE my Wii to-pieces! I love the features on my Wii & using them. If Nintendo IS rich, then they should keep on paying for those services. Nintendo should know that a lot of people out there that STILL have a Wii…
i agree
we should go on strike and tell them to keep paying for them
haha maybe we can make a petition like the xboxers did
it sucks
i use forecast for san jose ca weather :'(
i LOVE nintendo channel
im shocked all about this…- _-
Speechless…
I LOVE to use the Forecast Channel just to spin the globe many, MANY times and just checking the forecast around the globe. It’s unfair to people who do have a Wii that use those services, cause’ the new 3DS and Wii U is expensive. My point is that the Wii U came out and not a lot of people have or bought it, and there really isn’t that great of a console.
I pretty much used EVERYTHING that was discontinued…
-_-
STRIKE!!!
I agree with the 7th Anonymous person that starts the paragraph saying:
“It really sucks! I LOVE my Wii to-pieces!”
If Nintendo IS SOOO RICH -_- then they SHOULD keep paying for the services!
The Wii U BARELY came out, +…there isn’t a variety of games out! SOOO SAD :'{
Yup, the Wii really isn’t that old. They should actually give the Wii another 2-3 years before shutting the services down.
COME’ON!!! JUST CAUSE’ THE WII U CAME OUT, DOESN’T MEAN THAT THE WII HAS TO BE DISCONTINUED!!!
Yep just luke the wii finished off the gamecube
Please Nintendo, listen to us, come to OUR understanding. We’ve paid money for the Wii, Wii games, purchasing Wii point cards, E.T.C. And it’s not fair to the loyal Wii users that DO use your services…
BS, NO OFFENSE! JUST TRYING TO GET PEOPLE’S $$$ FOR THE WII U!!! DISCONTINUING THE WII SERVICES ISN’T A GOOD EXCUSE…
One of the comments, I agree on. There is barely any games out. And there 59.99$!!! The only game I would buy would be New Super Mario Bros Wii U (which is a pretty good game)I honestly think the Wii is pretty, classic, and just more fun than the Wii U. The Mii Parade on the Mii Channel – (Nintendo Wii0, is better than Miiverse (Nintendo Wii U)
I agree. Although as far as the miiverse, I haven’t tried it, but it looks fun. But yes I LOVED the Mii Channel, and there is no excuse for the discontinuation. See my post at http://techforums.nintendo.com/message/105718#105718
Nice post, first!! :)
This sucks!! There’s literly NOTHING offered on the Wii U, unlike the Wii that had WiiConnect24, and those *COUGH* AWESOME DISCONTINUED CHANNELS!! WHHY WOULD YOU DISCONTINUE THEM?!?
Yeah!! Until there are more features on the Wii U, as well as more games, THEN possibly you guys then can discontinue those services, but until then, I still wanna have those services available on my Wii. Pwwwwwease…:'(
This sucks ;( I have the Wii U but this is sad for wii owners. ;( {Sniffle}
NINTENDO WII IS BETTER THAN THE WII U!!!
Wii U is pretty cool. I admit that there is a higher technology on the console, but still unfair to Wii owners. I don’t own a Wii U just yet, but I’m getting one next wednesday of my b-day. I still play and enjoy the Nintendo Wii Network Services, and I was a little disatisfied.
I still use my Wii to play my favorite Game Cube games. (Eternal Darkness rocks!!!)
I really miss the check mii out channel. It’s just gotta be remade
Dear Nintendo,
It is a sad event that you decided to cancel the weather and news channels. I’ve used them on and off for the past 2.5 years and found them simple and terrific. I especially liked the forecast channel and being able to zoom around the globe checking out weather at any country on Earth was great.
Alas I switched on today having not had the chance to use my Wii for a while and lo and behold my 2 favourite supplied Wii channels no longer exist.
I’m guessing that these services are available if you purchase a WiiU correct? Well for your information there’s something annoying about the Wii U. First of all, I have a pile of Camecube games. These work perfectly on the Wii and are the original discs. Do I wish to pay for the games again from a Wii shop when I already own them? NO. Absolutely not. The Wii U forces Nintendo owners to have to purchase all there favourites AGAIN, instead of making there existing discs usable on the new system. Why would you not allow the use of original Wii and Gamecube titles on the WiiU as well as the new Wii U discs other than increasing profits of old game titles download sales?
OK that might be good for Nintendo but it’s not a very good service to the loyal Nintendo fans out there who have followed the Nintendo system through many incantations and deserve the right to have updated systems that support there older titles. What I’d really like to see is a connection port similar to an SD card reader that accomodates each and every type of all the cartridge based games Nintendo has offered over the years.
I’m certain that allowing this kind of backwards compatibility support, would undoubtedly enhance the attraction of purchasing the new Wii U system.
As it stands, until the Wii U does support my older titles(thus saving any ‘re-purchasing’ which it simply not fair in any way), I’ll continue to use the original Wii, till it no longer operates(which I’m sure you will agree is a long time, if looked after and the discs are kept clean etc).
Your long time and slightly annoyed fan,
Sean.
It is highly unlikely that any console would support backwards compatibility two generations back. Most of them usually scrap the backward compatibility as a whole in their slim model versions. So the Wii U offering backwards compatibility for the last gen (Wii), and even providing the software mockup of the original Wii System Menu (unfortunately not fully functional, but still) is more than one could ask for.
I agree with your key point – enhancing the attraction of purchasing the new Wii U system could have easily been done simply by keeping the support for the current Wii owners. It is the least that could have been done, specially the messaging feature (WiiConnect24), since the socializing is one of the key features in the Wii U console as well (the Miiverse).
I guess one can expect that the Miiverse will be scrapped at the end of the next gen console’s cycle as well? It makes far more sense to me to keep the network of Nintendo users, which Nintendo obviously invested it’s resources in, across different console generations, instead of axing with every new console and forcing everyone to start it from scratch.