Nintendo to Discontinue Wii Online Services
Some channels, such as the Wii Shop Channel, will remain active, although most will be going offline. The list of channels to go includes:
- Forecast Channel
- Nintendo Channel
- Everybody Votes Channel
- News Channel
- Mii Contest Channel
Also removed will be the ability to exchange data with Wii friends, which includes sending messages to friends.
Nintendo thanked the Wii community, while also apologising for the loss to those who still use the channels. They stated –
“We at Nintendo sincerely thank you for your continued patronage of our company’s products. We apologise to those of you currently using these services, and ask for your understanding.
“The above services will no longer be available even if they are started up from the Wii Menu. However, services other than those mentioned above, such as the Wii Shop Channel and ‘Today’s Accomplishments’ on the Wii Message Board, will remain available.”
This move could be seen as the transition of Nintendo to focus on the Wii U’s online infrastructure. Nintendo recently re-released the original Wii in the form of the Wii Mini, a heavily-streamlined version of its Wii console. The Wii Mini features no online support or GameCube backwards compatibility in a more minimal package aimed at the casual gamer and family market.
Quote Source – Official Nintendo Magazine UK Online
1 comment
What bugs me is that there’s still no iPlayer or 4OD for the Wii U, and whilst there’s a Wii BBC iPlayer Wii Channel, Wii U owners, launching into Wii mode, can’t access it…as we basically can’t add any Wii Channels to the Wii mode menu, =(, with the exception of file transfer or whatever, for transfering Wii game saves to Wii U.
So I’m stuck waiting for TVii to launch, but can’t access the iPlayer Wii app in the meantime, =/ Gah!
Okay…so I’m ranting…my point is, I wouldn’t mind not being able to access Wii Channels if I could get similar functionality on my Wii U, =P, but alas…no iPlayer app yet!
Good job they’re keeping the Wii Shop channel up – there are loads of cool titles to download, but again, I’m worried the moment I begin getting downloads to use in Wii Mode, they might appear on the Nintendo eShop for Wii U, so at the moment, I’m putting off any Wii Shop purchases, in the hope the titles will cross over to the Nintendo eShop soon, and I’ll be able to access them from the main Wii U menu and use the GamePad, etc, with them.
Whilst this is less likely to be possible with Wii titles, it’s already proven to be the case with Virtual Console titles – with Wii U Virtual Console titles Punchout and F-Zero both being able to be played via the GamePad, whereas if bought from the Wii Shop Channel, that wouldn’t be possible, as Wii Mode basically de-activates the GamePad, =/.
Anyway…waffle/rant over, ^_^. Good article/news post! =D.