The Heartbreaking Casualties of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection Shutdown
We lament the most tragic losses to result from the end of Nintendo's Internet service for Wii and DS games.
This article first appeared on USgamer, a partner publication of VG247. Some content, such as this article, has been migrated to VG247 for posterity after USgamer's closure - but it has not been edited or further vetted by the VG247 team.
As someone whose editorial beat over the past decade involved a ridiculous number of Nintendo DS games, I've been feeling a little melancholy about the end of Nintendo's Wi-Fi Connection service for both that system and the Wii, which happened earlier this week.
For those of us who believe in the idea of video games not as disposable amusements but rather as something that can be returned to months, years, even decades later, seeing a core feature stricken from hundreds of games in an instant frankly seems like a blow to the legitimacy of the medium as a whole. Admittedly, it's more of a blow with regard to some games more than others; I don't really anticipate many people clamoring to go back to online play in FIFA 08 for Wii, but what about Mario Kart Wii, a game 30 million people own?
With that in mind, we've put together a tearful look at the most tragic casualties to result from this week's WFC shutdown. So grab a hanky —you're bound to get a little verklempt — and watch our emotionally devastating look back at the fallen.
(And be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel, please!)