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The most dedicated Nintendo server survivor has Mario Kart 3DS hooked up to an uninterruptible power supply "tucked away in a cabinet where no one can touch it"

News
By Jordan Gerblick published 15 August 2024

Fishguy6564 is the last known person connected to Mario Kart 7 and the official 3DS servers more broadly

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Mario Kart
(Image credit: Nintendo)
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The Mario Kart 7 player still clinging to the now-defunct Nintendo 3DS servers has done so with extreme precautions to ensure his handheld doesn't lose power.

Speaking with GamesRadar+, the Mario Kart 3DS player going by Fishguy6564 explained how he's managed to stay online more than four months after the official 3DS and Wii U servers were shut down by Nintendo. He hasn't been the only one; the number of intrepid survivors still connected to 3DS and Wii U games like Splatoon, Smash Bros., and Mario Kart has slowly dwindled from around 23 to just one known player, and that's Fishguy6564.

"I didn't think we would even survive the initial shutdown," he said. However, he noticed that after the servers were closed, he simply stayed connected and found that the bots had survived and were in fact "racing as if nothing had happened." From there, "it had simply become a test to see how long we could keep this going." 

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In order to ensure he's connected for as long as possible, Fishguy6564's 3DS has been connected to an uninterruptible power supply "tucked away in a cabinet where no one can touch it." This is the kind of dedication to game preservation that I can truly admire. 

You can get the full story of Fishguy6564's refusal to go down with the 3DS server shutdown in our interview here. While a number of things completely out of his control could, at virtually any point, put an end to the 3DS and Wii U servers for good, he thinks his mission "could go on forever." That said, he adds that "there will be a point where I think it will be appropriate to send off the service on my own terms."

Now's a good time to reminisce on the best 3DS games ever made.

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Jordan Gerblick
Jordan Gerblick
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Staff Writer

After earning an English degree from ASU, I worked as a corporate copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. I got my big break here in 2019 with a freelance news gig, and I was hired on as GamesRadar's west coast Staff Writer in 2021. That means I'm responsible for managing the site's western regional executive branch, AKA my home office, and writing about whatever horror game I'm too afraid to finish.

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