Tag: wii
Nintendo’s Wii U and 3DS eShops shut down tomorrow
The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS digital storefronts are shutting down tomorrow, March 27th, 2023. While you’ll no longer be able to purchase games or DLC from either eShop, you’ll still be able to redownload the games you’ve already bought and play online for the time being.
Nintendo first warned us of the shutdown last year and started barring users from loading money into the Wii U and 3DS eShops in August. Sadly, this imminent shutdown means we’ll have to bid farewell to the hundreds of great digital-only titles available on either store, such as Dr. Luigi, Pokemon Rumble U, Pushmo, Pokémon Picross, and many others.
The closures will also make it impossible to purchase the full range of Virtual Console games on the 3DS and Wii U, which…
How to Buy These 3DS and Wii U Games Before They’re Gone Forever
YouTuber purchased every Wii U and 3DS eShop game for $22,000
Ahead of the Wii U and 3DS eShops’ closure, YouTube’s most prolific completionist bought every game
The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShops are both shutting down at the end of this month, so YouTuber Jirard “The Completionist” Khalil’s solution was to buy them all.
Last year, Nintendo made the unfortunate decision to shut down the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS eShops, and that date is almost upon us. From March 27, you won’t be able to buy any games from either online storefront, though you will be able to download any that you have previously purchased. There’s a whole heap of problems there, one of them being that up to 1000 digital-only games will just completely disappear when this happens. So of course, that left Khalil with one option: buy them all (thanks, VGC).
To put this into perspective, that’s 886 Wii U games, adding up to 1.2TB in storage size, and $9,673 (£7943) in cost , and 1547 3DS games, DSiWare, and DLC, making up 267GB in storage size, and $13,118 (£10,772) in cost. That’s a grand total of $22,791, or £18,715, an absolutely heft sum of money.
Nintendo takes Wii U games ‘Mario Kart 8’ and ‘Splatoon’ offline over security issues
Nintendo has taken Wii U titles Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon offline indefinitely while it attempts to resolve security issues. “This network service is currently unavailable due to urgent maintenance required to fix a vulnerability related to online play,” reads a message posted to Nintendo’s website at 11:30PM ET on Thursday. “We do not yet have information on when network services can be restored. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
As VGC notes, the vulnerability could be related to an exploit that allows an attacker to take control of a victim’s system simply by way of being matched with them in an online multiplayer game. Dataminer OatmealDome suggested the issue is “almost certainly” due to ENLBufferPwn.
Mario Kart 7 on the 3DS was previously vulnerable to that exploit. Several Switch games apparently were too, including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Nintendo Switch Sports and Splatoon 2 and 3. Nintendo has seemingly patched all of those titles to protect them against the exploit.
A video posted by YouTuber PabloMK7 in December shows ENLBufferPwn in action on Mario Kart 7. It’s used to inject custom firmware onto the targeted console. PabloMK7 wrote on GitHub that “it would be theoretically possible” to steal an account or credit card information and to record a victim using the 3DS’ mic and cameras.
With nearly 8.5 million copies sold, Mario Kart 8 was the biggest-selling game on the Wii U. The original Splatoon sold almost 5 million. Those who are still playing the games on the discontinued system might be disappointed that the online features are currently unavailable, but it seems Nintendo was left with little choice but to take them offline for now.
The issue emerged only a few weeks before Nintendo shuts down the Wii U and 3DS eShops. After March 27th, owners of the systems won’t be able to make purchases on the digital storefronts, but they’ll still be able to download titles they previously bought. Meanwhile, Nintendo just revealed the latest courses that are coming to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on Switch next week as part of the Booster Course Pass.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/nintendo-takes-wii-u-games-mario-kart-8-and-splatoon-offline-over-security-issues-183052954.html?src=rss
Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon on the Wii U go offline due to vulnerability
Nintendo has taken down the online features of the Wii U versions of Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon today due to an unspecified security vulnerability. VGC reports that the games were taken offline at 11:30PM ET last night and that the company suggests the fix could take days (via IGN). The Nintendo Switch versions of the games are not affected.
At time of writing, Nintendo’s server operational status page currently has this message posted:
Splatoon , Mario Kart 8 — This network service is currently unavailable due to urgent maintenance required to fix a vulnerability related to online play. We do not yet have information on when network services can be restored. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. (Error Code: 106-0811)
As VGC notes,…
The 3DS And Wii U Games You Should Buy Before Their eShops Shut Down
We’re now just weeks away from the shutdown of the eShop for two Nintendo platforms: the 3DS and Wii U. Both systems are home to a variety of great games, a number of which are only available through the eShop (or can otherwise only be purchased physically at high prices). That wasn’t necessarily a huge issue before now, but with these two eShops being closed, that means the simplest route for buying such games is going away.
Digital storefronts shutting down is nothing new; we previously saw it happen with Nintendo’s Wii Shop, which still allows you to download and play your purchased games, but does not allow you to buy any new ones. That will also be true for the 3DS and Wii U eShops as of March 27, 2023.
For an industry that already struggles with preservation, that’s disappointing to see. The closure of both eShops will mean losing the ability to buy digital-only games released for the two platforms, as well as a means for buying games at a reasonable price that have seen their physical versions dramatically increase in value. The latter scenario may only get worse once the shutdown happens, as fans scramble to collect games they were never able to get their hands on previously–just the sort of situation that profiteers look to take advantage of.
Wii? More like Woof, as video games for dogs become a thing
File this in the “did not see that coming” category; JoiPaw, an U.K.-based startup, is building a series of video games for dogs, with the ultimate goal of helping do further research into dementia among our four-legged furry friends. Check out the video below and go “awww,” if you like, but the company’s founder is […]
Wii? More like Woof, as video games for dogs become a thing by Haje Jan Kamps originally published on TechCrunch