Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
GamesRadar
GamesRadar
Technology
Catherine Lewis

Pokemon and Splatoon fans fight Nintendo's 3DS and Wii U server shutdown by keeping their favorite games online for as long as possible

Key art for Splatoon.

It's truly the end of an era for Nintendo fans, as online services for 3DS and Wii U have finally shut down. With it, we say goodbye to online multiplayer for the likes of Splatoon, Animal Crossing: New Leaf, Pokemon X and Y, and Xenoblade Chronicles X, with everything shutting off for good at 5pm PT/8pm ET yesterday (or 1am GMT this morning for UK folks). 

Or at least, that's what was supposed to happen. All over social media since the supposed shutdown, many players were left baffled as they found their 3DS and Wii U games continuing to function perfectly fine online as if nothing had changed. The hours since saw this devolve into a battle of sheer willpower, with fans leaving their systems on and permitting the online services to cheat death for as long as possible. And, for a surprising amount of time, this worked very well. 

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.