Nintendo is finally killing the Wii U and 3DS, in the year of our Lord 2024

This year seemed so bright in January, but now it looks dark. Bleak, even. In this year of our Lord, the Lord who just blessed us with chocolate Easter eggs, Nintendo is killing off two iconic devices.

Excuse me while I cry into my leftover eggs...

We're going to watch the joy of Princess Peach: Showtime! to try and ease this pain

In truth, we should have seen the writing on the wall before now, as both the 3DS and Wii U are ancient by industry standards, so the fact that their online services were still supported should be praised.

Not that it stops the news from being devastating. The news dropped on 1 April, which is a choice day to learn of anything – April Fools abound, it’s hard to separate fact from fiction. Unfortunately, while we’d have preferred this to be a cruel joke, it’s reportedly true, as shared by @Nintendeal on Twitter.

We now have “one week” before these Nintendo services are discontinued, with the exception of Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter. At least for now. “It will still be possible to download updates and redownload purchased software from Nintendo eShop (for now),” the tweet also reads, which will offer but a small comfort.

(not a joke)

Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online services will be discontinued in ONE WEEK

Two services will remain functional (for now)
- Pokémon Bank
- Poké Transporter

It will still be possible to download updates and redownload purchased software from Nintendo eShop (for now) pic.twitter.com/C7Izy7vRzx

— Nintendeal (@Nintendeal) April 1, 2024

A lot of RIP posts soon followed, with fans sad to see the likes of Super Smash Bros and the first Splatoon biting the dust. Again, it’s the start of some dark days indeed. As if times weren’t tense enough, one gamer asked, “Wonder how long these Pokémon transfer apps will stay up? TPC clearly wants to keep the link to old gens alive, but how long until some suit says they can save a little money by no longer maintaining an app with such a low amount of users and they listen?”

That’s a little bit too much for us, so we’ll choose to ignore that grim future and focus on remembering all the joy that the 3DS and Wii U gave us. We won’t be throwing our devices out, but we will be retiring them indefinitely.