Nintendo ends online gaming for Wii, DS and DSi

Sad news for Nintendo aficionados: the company will today terminate “online gameplay, matchmaking and leaderboards” support for its Wii, DS and DSi consoles, the company said.

Those who own Nintendo’s newer consoles — the Wii U and 3DS — are unaffected by this announcement. Additionally, the Wii Shop Channel, DSi Shop and video-on-demand services also remain unaffected.

Previously, gamers on the older consoles could enjoy online gameplay via a connection to Nintendo’s servers. Although the company will turn its back on its legacy console users, the games that do not require an internet connection to function will remain playable in offline mode. The list of titles are available here.

Nintendo does however offer its condolences and thanks.

“We at Nintendo sincerely thank our fans for their continued support of our company’s legacy systems. Your enthusiasm for games made for these systems speaks to their longevity, and the passion of Nintendo fans.”

This move was inevitable though, after the company reported losses of US$227.9 million at the end of its fiscal year ending March 2014. Some fat had to be cut from the meat, and online gaming for its older systems is the first of many cutbacks Nintendo is going to have to implement.

Image: Rob Fahey via Flickr