Nintendo Shutting Down Several Online Services For Wii In June


Nintendo has announced that it will be shutting down as many as five of the online channels that are featured on the Wii this June. In addition, a number of services will be ended that affect the way players can interact online through the Wii.

Like most gaming consoles these days, there is far more to the device than simply playing games. Nintendo’s most popular console of the modern era just recently added the ability to watch Amazon streaming video from its dashboard.

Despite that, the company is scaling back the online services it will offer, and that is in turn leading to the end of at least five channels in the short term.

The Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, Nintendo Channel, and Check Mii Out Channel will all be discontinued after the online changes are made on June 28.

Nintendo had announced that changes were going to take place in Japan and Australia, but it appears the shutdown will be affecting North America as well.

Along with the channels, WiiConnect24 will be discontinued. This means that games like Wii Music, Mario Kart Wii, and Animal Crossing: City Folk could be affected.

Those games allow people to send messages and other game information through the WiiConnect24 service.

Those worried about a broader affect by the company’s impending move can be rest assured that they won’t be losing services such as video on demand or streaming video through Netflix or Amazon.

The Wii Shop Channel will also be left alone by the move. Some insiders wonder if this isn’t the beginning of the end of any kind of support for the original Wii.

With sales for the Wii U finally starting to see an uptick, it is possible the company is weighing its options as far as how long it needs to really keep supporting the older console.

Will Nintendo’s shutting down of services and channels on June 28 directly affect you?

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