Last few days of Wii Online [friend codes, etc]

[Doomkid]

Hey guys, most of you probably know that Wii games will no longer be playable online as of May 20th. For these last 12 days i'll be playing Mario Kart online, to enjoy the end of a fun run.

Post your friend codes here if you'd like to join!

I also own Smash Bros Brawl if anyone is interested. Let's get some use out of this before it dies, shall we?

(I'll post my friend code here in a few minutes.. Just need to boot up the Wii and write it down)

[Coraline]

I'm a DS gamer, and I play Black Ops (NOTHING LIKE THE CONSOLE VERSIONS FYI) and Mario Kart DS (sometimes other games) and I'm saddened to see their WFC service finally go.

I'm also interested in playing against others. Like the poster above, I'll share my friend code if you do. I'm putting my connection at risk by lowering the security to WEP, so someone please make it worth my while.

And in case anyone doesn't know - Nintendo doesn't allow compatibility on ANY game that uses their WFC service on their new consoles (WiiU and 3DS, respectively) so we'll only be able to play these older Wii/DS games online for 12 more days. Video services like Netflix/Youtube/etc are unaffected, I think.

Sad to see Nintendo finally shelve the service but I'm thankful they've kept it online as long as they have.

[Blastfrog]

That's the problem with MP centralization. It gives otherwise ageless software an expiration date on full functionality. GameSpy was unnecessary and cumbersome from the start, at least consoles have some sort of excuse (even if flimsy). Same problem with always-on DRM, I don't like planned obsolescence or games-as-a-service. On one hand, such games might not "deserve" to be archived because of the cynical bullshit manner in which it was created, but on the other, historical preservation is paramount.

Of course, if there's enough demand, enthusiasts/historians will restore functionality, legal or not. It's a shame to see things die permanently without sufficient restoration efforts (or worse, deliberate destruction), but the same has already happened to many artifacts of the past. Still no reason not to prevent it from happening again.

[geekmarine]

There was only one Wii game I ever really played online regularly, and that's Mario Kart, but it really added a lot to me. I mean, even if it's just random people around the world and there's not a lot of interaction like chat or anything, the experience playing against human opponents in Mario Kart is so much different than it is racing against the computer. There's just a level of unpredictability and challenge you can't get with bots. Same could be said for Smash Bros., too, but I never played Smash Bros. online because when I tried, it was always way too laggy.

[geo]

Will people be able to Netflix and Youtube?

[Coraline]

geo said:

Will people be able to Netflix and Youtube?

Yes, that's not going anywhere.

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/info/en_na/services-update.jsp

[Clonehunter]

Well, guess it'll be time to sell my copies of Modern Warfare 3 (Which I bought NEW!!) and World at War. Black Ops at least has a lone zombie map to replay, and MW3 does have that other survival mode. But without multiplayer those games are hilariously crippled. Had a lot of fun with Black Ops too, and I don't really want to buy it again. WaW for the Wii basically had nothing going for it past the campaign and multiplayer, and without the multiplayer WaW has very little left to offer.

This also means I'll have to buy more controllers for Goldeneye 2k10, which actually can support four players.

Then again, I really haven't played the Wii recently anyways...

[Avoozl]

I never got the chance to and won't ever be able to play the multiplayer mode in Goldeneye Wii, such a shame really.

[Sporku]

I used to have a blast playing Mario Kart Wii online. IIRC there was quite a lot to do and some pretty big incentives to keep playing (leaderboards, ghost battles, etc.) outside of the normal Kart races. That is perhaps the only fond memory I have in regards to the Wii's online service. Aside from that I remember trying Super Smash Bros. Brawl online a few times and was extremely disappointed that there was almost always a half-second or more of input delay.

Avoozl said:

I never got the chance to and won't ever be able to play the multiplayer mode in Goldeneye Wii, such a shame really.

Wasn't keeping four player couch co-op one of the big draws of the Goldeneye remake? You could always give that a whirl.

[Reisal]

If I recall correctly, they are removing wifi functionality from the Wii as well.

[Clonehunter]

Mr. Chris said:

If I recall correctly, they are removing wifi functionality from the Wii as well.

How exactly do they do that? Wouldn't the Wii technically have to go through an update in order to change this stuff? An Update you might just be able to ignore? I can't imagine their just being a shutoff code for the WiFi (And removing all of the relative options in the System Preferences stuff) as soon as you turn the Wii on (Or try to connect to the internet, for that matter). In addition, what would be the point of shutting down the WiFi? Does using Opera for some porn site affect some servers of their? Now, unless, maybe, they're trying to shoehorn in their newer, WiFi compatible projects, more or less telling you to move on. As such, they're probably disappointed that they can't force people to stop playing Gamecubes, N64s, and handhelds. If they could curb those consoles, and the secondary market, perhaps they would?

[Coraline]

I read that the servers were under license from Nintendo, and that it was getting too costly to run them (understandable given Nintendo's situation right now).

What a shame, though. Probably closed source shit, too.

[Cupboard]

Holy crap, what a death knell for Nintendo. Are the costs really that strenuous on a company which marketed the system toward casual gamers?

[Coraline]

TheCupboard said:

Holy crap, what a death knell for Nintendo. Are the costs really that strenuous on a company which marketed the system toward casual gamers?

Well, it's been over 10 years. Can't fault them for that. The service was too expensive for Nintendo to renew, and honestly, if I were them I'd want my customers to focus on the consoles they are pushing now, not a decade ago.

Besides, online gaming with the WiiU and 3DS is much more satisfying and I don't have to go around changing my wireless security settings to something so low that even the neighborhood crackhead can hack into it.

[40oz]

Holy shit I didn't know that. We just bought a bunch of new Wii games, that must be why they were on sale.

[Coraline]

40oz said:

Holy shit I didn't know that. We just bought a bunch of new Wii games, that must be why they were on sale.

What'd you end up buying? Mostly online-enabled stuff?

[geekmarine]

I seriously doubt they'd disable wifi. For one thing, that has nothing to do with anything on Nintendo's end. It's not like they need to run servers to allow wifi to function. They'd have to actually release a patch or something to shut down wifi, and I don't see what the point would be. At any rate, they specifically said it'd only affect online games, whereas disabling wifi would disable any of the Wii's online capabilities. But overall, it just makes no sense. It'd be like Microsoft saying, "We're retiring the 360, so not only are we shutting down online functionality, we're releasing a patch to disable wireless controllers."

[Coraline]

Summary of Changes:

The Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service, which provides certain online functionality for many Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo DSi software titles, will be discontinued. This service change does not impact the ability to play these titles offline.

By that, they mean local wireless is unaffected, which is what you are referring to. Their service is called the WiFi Connection, so I can see the confusion that would cause.

[Stygian]

Are they doing away with the Wii shop?

I have games that I've purchased that are neither downloaded onto my hard disk nor stored on an SD card and I wonder what will happen to them if they discontinue the store.

[Coraline]

Online play for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games will be unaffected (aside from the Wii mode on Wii U and Nintendo DS games on Nintendo 3DS family systems). Other online functionality, such as access to the Wii Shop Channel, the Nintendo DSi Shop and video-on-demand services, are also not affected at this time.

You should be safe with your Wii Shop purchases. This is only targeting online gaming.

[Waffenak]

Damn that they always have to close down online servers of older consoles, is it so expensive to keep them running? I personally dont know how much it cost.

[Quasar]

Well there goes any hope of ever getting enough friend tokens in Metroid Prime 3 to unlock all that bullcrap :P

[40oz]

Chu said:

What'd you end up buying? Mostly online-enabled stuff?

I had a hard time for the past year or two finding Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart for a reasonable price and just a couple days ago my wife saw them on sale at gamestop for pretty cheap and picked them up. We didn't buy it intentionally for the online play as much as just having something to do if we have a group of friends at the house, but the online multiplayer was definitely a sweet bonus. Sucks that I'm just finding out now that that part of the game is being disabled.

[Coraline]

40oz said:

I had a hard time for the past year or two finding Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart for a reasonable price and just a couple days ago my wife saw them on sale at gamestop for pretty cheap and picked them up. We didn't buy it intentionally for the online play as much as just having something to do if we have a group of friends at the house, but the online multiplayer was definitely a sweet bonus. Sucks that I'm just finding out now that that part of the game is being disabled.

You're not missing out on Smash - the online play was terrible (always lots of lag, even to this day) and sucks about Mario Kart but those games are just as strong (if not moreso) with local multiplayer. How many players on MKW does it support (I'm assuming 4)? The cool thing about Mario Kart DS is that it supported Download Play - get 7 others even if they didn't have the game and play an 8 player local WiFi match. It's still a lot of fun to this day.

I'm more hurt about the lack of multiplayer for the DS than the Wii, though. Always found it more fun on the handheld.

[Doomkid]

Yeah, the ONLY Wii game that has a good online connection is Mario Kart. I love Smash Bros but the lag is unacceptable, and other games don't even seem to have anyone online. (Playing Doom online I usually ping at least 300, and it's smoother than Smash Bros. Like, what the fuck.)

The real reason they're shutting down online Wii gaming is simple: The Wii U is a major bomb compared to the Wii and the Sony/Microsoft consoles, and they want any excuse to attempt to move them off the shelves. No one really wants a Wii U, especially not here in Australia, I know I certainly have to reason to get one as it has about 20 (or less?) licensed games at the moment, the only 2 that look any good are (big surprise) Mario Kart and Smash Bros... Which look very same-y, if you ask me.

Nintendo, my inner child's favorite game company, has started to kinda suck balls more and more recently. The Wii was actually pretty disappointing compared to the Gamecube (Same hardware/graphics but with motion control? That's pretty cheap..) but the games were fun and the online was free, so it had two major reasons to get one right off the bat. Not to meantion, it was very low cost compared to the 360 and Ps3. The same can't be said about the Wii U (I saw it for $350 AU in store the other day! What a rip!)

They're grabbing for cash. The Wii U doesn't look completely awful, that is until you compare it to everything else out there. I'm not gonna spend all that dough just to get Mario Kart online, which I already had for years.

[Coraline]

Grab a 3DS then. Mario Kart 7 is a blast to play online. Plus the new Smash Bros is coming to 3DS first, and it has a MUCH better game library and more support it seems from third-party developers. That's where Nintendo has always been strongest, in my opinion, was hand-held gaming.

Seriously, screw the WiiU and get a 3DS.

[40oz]

Well that's good to hear. I was never any good at any of the smash bros games. Its always been such a nonsensical button mashing mess loaded with unpredictable special moves and confusing controls.

I've observed that people who've played super smash bros either REALLY love it or just don't like it. I'm giving it a chance but as of yet I'm leaning towards the latter.

I played a little bit of mariokart last night and I'm just embarrassingly bad at it that I preferred to play against CPU opponents instead.

shame Nintendo is under economic pressure. I appreciate their persistence and pursuit of originality. Ps3 and Xbox are like a handshake away from being seemingly identical machines (IMO). The only thing really getting in the way of competition is brand loyalty. At least Nintendo is getting itself out of that triangle and focusing on gaming from a different perspective and free from competitive influence. I'd hate to see them go under. Except I do think the Mario and friends party games are on life support at this point.

[Doomkid]

40oz said:

shame Nintendo is under economic pressure. I appreciate their persistence and pursuit of originality. Ps3 and Xbox are like a handshake away from being seemingly identical machines (IMO). The only thing really getting in the way of competition is brand loyalty. At least Nintendo is getting itself out of that triangle and focusing on gaming from a different perspective and free from competitive influence. I'd hate to see them go under. Except I do think the Mario and friends party games are on life support at this point.

You're right about the xboxes and play stations, virtually identical brand loyalty aside. Nintendo never seems to copy the competition at all, which is like a breath of fresh air really. I just wish the wii u was... Good.

About smash bros., I really enjoy the game, but it's a "party" fighting game. Although I'm pretty damn good at it, I don't understand how people could possibly play competitively. There's no balance whatsoever, aside from maybe the 64version. Street fighter 2 will always be my 'competitive' fighting game.

@Chu, maybe I should get a 3ds, I've gotten all their old handheld consoles and loved every generation so far. I wasn't sure what to think though, as everyone seems to just use it for Pokemon. I loved the 1st gen Pokemon games, but after that.. Meh. Got really stale.

[Doomkid]

Chu said:

Well, it's been over 10 years. Can't fault them for that.

Has it really? I thought the Wii was a 2007 release? I certainly could be wrong though. Even so, that sits them at a good 6+ years, which is pretty old. Compared to Dwango or x-band and the likes, thats a pretty solid run. I just wish they would extend it by a few months! I'm still loving Mario kart, just got finished with a small marathon and there's always a ton of players online.

[Varis Alpha]

i'd get a 3DS if there was any games on there i actually cared about. they seem to be putting popular games on the WiiU's download library, like Earthbound and Advance Wars, instead on the 3DS to garner publicity i think? i'd only care about either consoles if there was a new AW game on them. i mean yeah there's a new Fire Emblem available, but i don't want that, i want fucking Advance Wars. kind of a weird feeling that they're putting GBA games on a home console though, at least Earthbound makes sense in that regard.

...i'm sorry, what were we talking about?