It finally happened! It only took 209 days as of November 3. Still, the last active user of Nintendo’s previously-shuttered Nintendo Network servers for Wii U and 3DS, Fishguy6564, was finally booted off when his Nintendo 3DS crashed after nearly two-thirds of a year’s constant connection to Mario Kart 7 servers [h/t GamesRadar]. The dream is finally over— though not in every sense.
Fortunately for users of this now-unsupported hardware and their diverse libraries, custom system firmware unlocks the route to Homebrew software and even Pretendo, a service enabling fan-run replacement Nintendo Network servers to be used for otherwise-shuttered Nintendo 3DS and Wii U games. The selection of Pretendo-enabled games is somewhat limited, but still helps preserve the history and playability of these relatively modern systems.
Before Fishguy6564’s Nintendo 3DS met its end to Mario Kart 7 server connection here, the system had been patched to keep a lobby with bots (previously with one other user) to run these conditions in perpetuity until such a crash occurred, avoiding the official shutdown. In an interview with GamesRadar earlier in this historic run, he said, “I didn't think we would even survive the official shutdown. From that point on, it had simply become a test to see how long we could keep this going.”
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Eventually, it seems that a hard limit has been reached. Fortunately, Pretendo servers still exist so that users of modded original hardware can keep playing some of their favorite games. Some of them, anyway. On Nintendo 3DS, Pretendo titles include Mario Kart 7, Kid Icarus: Uprising, and Mario Maker 3DS. Pretendo-enabled Wii U games include Mario Kart 8, Mario Maker, Splatoon, and Pokkén Tournament. Pretendo can restore basic online play or more complex server features depending on the specific game.
Unfortunately, many historic eShop exclusive titles for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are no longer playable through legitimate means unless installed. While none of those games are considered system sellers, it's still a shame they're effectively lost of time. Thus, the core downside of a post-offline gaming era is the true and permanent loss of official game servers and availability, leaving game preservation solely to historians, modders, and pirates.
