11 days after Nintendo shut down 3DS and Wii U servers, six players are still clinging on in Mario Kart, Splatoon, and Pokemon XY

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The final days are not that final

Mario Kart 8
(Image credit: Nintendo)

Six final players are clinging onto shut-down servers in fan-favorite 3DS and Wii U games. 

Nintendo officially shut down servers for 3DS and Wii U games on April 8, meaning popular multiplayer games, such as Kid Icarus Uprising and Animal Crossing New Leaf, lost online functionality forever. But in a bid to cheat digital death by keeping their systems on and online, six devoted fans are seemingly clinging on until the bitter end. 

YouTuber GaffsNotLaffs previously archived more than 40 hours of footage showing the server's final moments, and they're now tracking how many players are still in-game via a Discord channel dedicated to the shutdown. According to their social media post, "six known players remain on the Nintendo Network." 

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Pokemon X and Y, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario Maker, and Splatoon each have one single player staring out into the empty void. Mario Kart 7 is bustling in comparison, with two known players still drifting across tracks. These numbers may be slightly smudged, however, as some players might be online in other games not accounted for.

The whole ordeal - players desperately embracing their beloved online games for the very last time - reminds me of Halo 2's final days, when a handful of players discovered that they could keep playing online as long as their Xbox consoles were powered on and connected. That small community lasted for three and a half weeks after the official server shutdown. The final six 3DS and Wii U players have gone for 11 days, in comparison, and I wish them a very Happy End Times, even if I'm secretly incredibly jealous. 

Players have decided to mourn, celebrate, and fight to preserve the 3DS and Wii U servers for months now. A Super Mario Maker community finally completed the game's impossible level just days before the server shutdown. The SpotPass Archival Project rallied to gather 23,000 data dumps and preserve nearly-lost DLC. And one Dragon Quest 7 superfan also raced to save the game's DLC in time. Godspeed. 

Rather look forward? Check out what to expect from Nintendo in 2024.

Kaan Serin
Kaan Serin
Freelance contributor

Kaan freelances for various websites including Rock Paper Shotgun, Eurogamer, and this one, Gamesradar. He particularly enjoys writing about spooky indies, throwback RPGs, and anything that's vaguely silly. Also has an English Literature and Film Studies degree that he'll soon forget.

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