Japanese players mourn the impending loss of Animal Crossing, Mario Kart 7 online modes 

With less than a month to go before the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online servers’ shutdown on April 9, the topic has been attracting attention on Japanese game news outlets and social media. What are the games that Japanese players are going to miss? 

Although you will still be able to revisit 3DS and Wii U games after April 9, online functions will no longer be available. Japanese news site Game Watch recently published an article covering key titles that this will impact. The article garnered some shocked responses, suggesting that some players were not aware of the official announcement Nintendo made back in October about the service shutdown.  

Games from major franchises on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS will be impacted by this, including the first Splatoon game, Super Mario Maker, Super Smash Brothers, Monster Hunter, Animal Crossing New Leaf, Mario Kart 7 and the Pokémon series. Of course, many of these games have more up-to-date sequels that can be enjoyed on the Nintendo Switch. 

Post translation: It’s coming to an end… Thank you to everyone I played Splatoon 1 with. See you on the Switch! 
Post translation: I guess that’s the end of being able to use the internet (on Wii U and 3DS).  It’s a shame that I can’t use Animal Crossing New Leaf’s Dream Suit anymore, I liked downloading designs… 

Animal Crossing New Leaf is one of the games that will be deeply affected by the termination of online features. The 3DS exclusive not only has a multiplayer mode, but many other creative online aspects. It allows players to download dream versions of other people’s towns, view other people’s creations and even download custom furnishings and items made by other users. Players could even create QR codes for their designs and have others download them using the 3DS’s camera. 

Animal Crossing New Leaf

There are games on the list that can’t be 100% completed without accessing the online modes, such as Super Smash Bros. It also seems like some players are making the most of Mario Kart 7’s online mode while they still can. 

Post translation: When the online service ends, completionists won’t be able to do the online missions in the Wii U/3DS version of Super Smash Bros.  
Post translation: The enjoyable online multiplayer mode in Mario Kart 7 will finally come to an end next month. Get online now and experience it for yourself. 

Another game significantly impacted by the server shutdown is the original Super Mario Maker. The game that lets players create their own Mario stages and share them online does have a Nintendo Switch sequel. However, when the Wii U online service shutdown happens, all levels uploaded by players using the first game will be lost (there are over 41,100 of them). As we previously reported, a team of players from all over the world is currently striving to beat all the user-created stages (Related Article). 

Are there any online game modes that you are dusting off your 3DS or Wii U to play before time runs out? 

Verity Townsend
Verity Townsend

Automation West Editor and translator. She has a soft spot for old-school Sierra adventure games and Final Fantasy VIII (yes, 8!). Can often be found hunting down weird forgotten games and finding out everything about them. Frequently muses about characters and lines from Metal Gear Solid and Disco Elysium. Aims to keep Automaton fresh and interesting with a wide variety of articles.

Articles: 256

One comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

CAPTCHA


  1. I hope Nintendo and other companies figure out ways to have game preservation exist as a whole with internet, such as maybe private servers, or some other service because some games without the internet just tend not to function at all and just end up being sort of half of the fun of the game.