A small handful of old video game loyalists are continuing to keep the Wii U and 3DS servers alive even now, but the war has lost an important soldier, as the last remaining Pokemon player has logged out for the last time.
That player was known as Amanda, and had been logged into the Pokemon XY servers. Now, GaffsNotLaffs on Twitter, who has been regularly reporting on the status of the last remaining players, says "Amanda has disconnected from XY. Pokémon is finally dead on the Nintendo Network. 6 known players remain on the Nintendo Network."
Amanda has disconnected from XY. Pokémon is finally dead on the Nintendo Network.6 known players remain on the Nintendo Network. pic.twitter.com/fyfLKSUZZcMay 7, 2024
That leaves us with two players in Mario Kart 7, one player in Super Mario Maker, one player in Splatoon, and two players left in Xenoblade Chronicles X. The proud. The few. The final six. It's possible that there are more players hanging on somewhere out there right now, but they're yet to be discovered, and I'd guess that anyone dedicated enough to keep a Wii U or 3DS game running this long is probably also dedicated enough to have spoken with some like-minded players.
These players have already managed to beat the 14-year-old record held by the Halo 2 fans who stayed on the dying OG Xbox servers for 25 days back in 2010. The Wii U and 3DS holdouts are already up to 30 days, and there's no obvious end in sight. Maybe at some point Nintendo will literally pull the power cord out of whatever aging machine is hosting these players, but until then the fight goes on.
The Nintendo 3DS and Wii U’s real legacy is how they brought players together.