Nintendo Shutting Down Wii Online Services

[Austin]

I found YouTube channel to be unusable on Wii. Yes, too much buffering not enough playing.

 

I am finding a similar problem in the Wii U version, sometimes. The original Wii version may even be worse though--I've had that thing stall my system completely. Ugh.

[Atariboy]

That stuff and Nintendo never mixed for some reason. I've had probably a dozen lockups over the years on the Wii and it was always the internet channel, the YouTube app, and the streaming apps that did it. The only one that seemed stable was the one that Nintendo themselves programmed. The Nintendo Channel never gave me a single issue.

 

And judging by reports here and elsewhere, the Wii U counterparts of this stuff love to lock up your system, freeze, stall, etc.

[NinjaWarrior]

Will there be a updat to fix the YouTube Buffering on the Wii?

[Austin]

Hopefully they will do the same on the Wii U, it has problems as well.

[Mendon]

From what I understand, when the Wii U was released, people were accessing YouTube via the web browser (which is an excellent console based browser, IMO) and all was well. Then the YouTube app was made available and once available, people could no longer access it via the browser. Well, many people stated there were a lot of problems with the app and complained & complained. Nintendo responded by making YouTube available via the browser once again. So if you are having problems with the app, try the browser.

 

(Note: I base the above on what I've read on the forums, not from my experience as I rarely access YouTube via any means)

[Lord Helmet]

I wonder what kind of uproar Nintendo would cause if it closed its Netflix channel down on the Wii? Isn't that what 90% of Wii owners use the console for?

 

I use mine solely for the Homebrew channgel. There are tons of far better options for Netflix....heck the Wii is only SD...

[Bartsfam]

My in laws are totally depressed about the shutdown of Wii on line services.

 

Both are in their early 80's. They bought a Wii for themselves to keep in shape with bowling, Wii sports, etc....

They do not have a PC, but I convinced them to add internet to their cable tv subscription. I bought them a wireless modem, and hooked up the Wii to the internet.

I showed them the Wii news, and weather, and they were in their glory!! They thought that it was great, and they thought that they were really on the cutting edge of technology. I then put the local newspaper in their favorites on the Wii browser. My father in law enjoyed looking at the obits to see who died, and who was left from the old neighborhood. They really enjoyed the internet access.

 

Then it was cut off, and now they just use it for the occasional bowling game. They will never upgrade, and spend the extra money on a Wii-U. It is too bad that Nintendo couldn't keep the on line feature for their elderly users....

Edited August 10, 2013 by Bartsfam

[Atariboy]

I haven't had this on since the shutdown but I don't see how Nintendo could have killed the internet browser. Maybe you can find a weather site that works well for them on the browser that doesn't require too many resources to take the place of the weather app.

 

This one looks like it has a shot of not overwhelming the Wii's primitive internet browser and I have some family that regularly use it to check the weather on their PC's.

 

http://www.wunderground.com/

 

At least the more commonly used online functionality of the system still works. The media streaming apps definitely still work, online multiplayer still works in active games like Mario Kart Wii that still have server support, and the Wii Shop is still online. So thankfully for those of us at places like AtariAge, the impact so far has been minimum and hopefully these areas like the Wii Shop have a few years of support left ahead of them.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Atariboy

[Jinks]

Hell i used news weather all the time... I guess I like to be in the know.. My dad taught me about news you have to read everyday or you wont know wth is happening in the world.. most kids dont care..

Edited August 10, 2013 by Jinks

[Atariboy]

Just because someone isn't regularly using the news and weather apps on their Nintendo Wii doesn't mean that they don't pay attention to both subjects.

 

They both required Wii Connect 24 to be turned on. And while I don't have a degree in electrical engineering and never actually measured the heat levels even if I did, it sure felt like it kept the system more warm than was likely healthy for its long-term viability so I kept it turned off. When Wii Connect 24 was enabled, the WiFi would even be pointlessly active and cooking the system constantly if you were utilizing a wired USB internet connection instead of a wireless connection. And I already had long standing habits that in my opinion were vastly superior for accessing information on both subjects that I simply stuck.

 

So they simply went largely unused and I really doubt that many other people got into the habit of relying on both apps in lieu of other superior means to access that type of information. Still, they were nice features unlike most of the other online functionality that they pulled a while back like the Check Mii Channel and it sucks for those like yourself and Bartsfam's in-laws that did regularly utilize those features.

Edited August 10, 2013 by Atariboy

[Jinks]

Now I dont use my old red wii much..cept I like the gcn compat on it.. and the homebrew stuff.

 

Yeah everybody chokes and check mii out sucked..useless..but to some kid who knows..

i probably just liked spinning the globe on weather channel..

Edited August 10, 2013 by Jinks

[Atariboy]

I think the Weather Chanel was legitimately nice and useful. With today's era of connected consoles that are all purpose devices, I'd be all for that idea being copied so you could easily with the click of a button receive your local forecast when you're doing something on your console.

 

I even still clicked on it occasionally if I had been using the Wii's horrible browser or doing something else online. If you had been online for a while, the Weather Channel would still display the current conditions for you where as if you clicked on it right at start-up with WiiConnect-24 disabled it would just inform you that it needed to be enabled in order to work.

Edited August 11, 2013 by Atariboy

[Bartsfam]

Just got back from the in-laws. My father-in-law assumed that the Wii browser was also off line, because the other channels were discontinued.

 

But..the browser still works, so all is not lost. He is still able to see the local paper, and then we added wunderground.com for the weather.

 

Thanks again Atariboy for the tip.

[Gregory DG]

Hmmm... Wondering if the Wii Netflix will get updated with the new profiles feature? Probably not. :-(

[Cybergoth]

Hmmm... Wondering if the Wii Netflix will get updated with the new profiles feature? Probably not. :-(

 

We got a Wii channel for amazons Lovefilm only two weeks ago, so they are still working on this kind of things.

[Mendon]

I have the Mario Kart channel installed and used to get regular updates on new challenges and trials but I haven't had a MK Channel update in several months now. I believe the online mode is still working for MK (I played online about 3 weeks ago) but it seems that the channel itself isn't supported any more.

[+wood_jl]

I can't believe they killed these services, as popular as the Wii was with the casual/non-gamer crowd. They could have made the Wii U services upwardly-compatible, if they tried, and kept the old Wii support going for a while. Instead, they figured they'd obsolete the Wii and force old Wii customers to the Wii U. Instead of that, they left a bad taste in the old Wii customers' mouths, who probably use a smartphone for most of those services instead, and will likely never buy a Wii U because of the bad taste. They didn't figure on the Wii U flopping like it did, or they'd probably have come up with a friendlier strategy to *gradaully* coax Wii owners to the Wii U. What they gave them - instead - was a slap in the face.

[Atariboy]

With the existence of an entire Wii redesign that doesn't even have online connectivity, I don't think that there's a conspiracy here. And if it is a conspiracy, it's a lousy one if they think what they've shut down so far will actually encourage Wii U purchases. Nobody is going to buy a $250 gaming console because their weather and news channels died.

 

The Wii was the last mainstream gaming console where online was almost an afterthought and wasn't integrated with everything you did. So even many early adapters never utilized those capabilities much. And now that it's in the twilight of its commercial life, the amount of people still using those features probably is a mere fraction of its heyday. And it's hard to imagine a new Wii owner in 2013 being the type that is going to take heavy advantage of its online capabilities so they're probably not losing much there either.

 

So I imagine it's diminishing returns at play here. There just wasn't enough activity left where they felt bothered to keep some of this non-critical functionality going that probably relatively few Wii owners were using on a regular basis. If they really wanted to push people to the Wii U, I don't think they'd release a Wii redesign or be keeping the gaming critical online components and the media streaming apps that were heavily used going.

 

It's going slowly, but it seems as if it's dying a natural death and isn't being forced.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Atariboy

[+wood_jl]

With the existence of an entire Wii redesign that doesn't even have online connectivity, I don't think there's a conspiracy here. And if it is a conspriacy, it's a lousy one if they think what they've shut down so far will encourage Wii U purchases.

 

Oh no, it's not a conspiracy, at all. Conspiracies are usually obscure. This was an in-your-face OVERT slap in the face shutdown.

 

 

The Wii was the last mainstream gaming console where online was almost an afterthought and wasn't integrated with everything you did. So even many early adapters never utilized those capabilities much.

 

I don't know. You didn't have to pay monthly like Xbox Live, and tons of people had wirless networks anyway. Also unlike the Xbox 360 and it's rip-off Wireless Adapter, it was built in. It was an excellent deal, by comparison.

 

And now that it's in the twilight of its commercial life, the amount of people still using those features probably is a mere fraction of its heyday.

 

The number of people buying Wiis (of *any* type) are a fraction of the heyday. Consequently?

 

 

And it's hard to imagine a new Wii owner in 2013 being the type that is going to take heavy advantage of its online capabilities so they're probably not losing much there either.

 

I disagree. Why would they not take advantage (heavy or not) of online capabilities? If anything, online has become *more* important, rather than less. News still worthwhile? Weather still worthwhile? Multiplayer still worthwhile? Check, check, and check. Actually, it's not hard to imagine at all. It's just impossible, now.

 

 

So I imagine it's diminishing returns at play here. There just wasn't enough activity left where they felt bothered to keep some of this superfluous functionality going.

 

It's diminishing returns for the Wii user, that's for sure. Since they sold 100 MILLION Wiis, how can continued online functionality be considered "superfluous?" Even if we assume that a mere 3% of orignal Wii owners had such expectations, that number would equal the Wii U's current sales.

 

If they really wanted to push people to the Wii U, I don't think they'd release a Wii redesign or be keeping the gaming critical online components and the media streaming apps that were heavily used going.

 

I don't think "pushing" people to the Wii U is/was a realistic strategy, to begin with. Pushing people away from Nintendo is the only push, and they've done that, obviously. Cutting services (amongst whatever else) certainly didn't help. Attracting people to the Wii U is the only option, and they've obviously failed to attract a significant portion of those 100 million Wii purchasers. I merely submit that cutting Wii services abruptly to those who used it as an information device did little to motivate that 100 million fanbase (mostly casual/non-gamers) to invest in another Nintendo. Articificial obsolescence (even if merely perceived, rather than contrived) is hardly a selling point.

 

It's going slowly, but I think it's dying a natural death and isn't being forced.

 

Sure, if abrubptly cutting Wii services as soon as the next (and flopping in the marketplace) console is released - is considered "natural" and "not-forced."

[Atariboy]

Since it still doesn't seem 100% clear, the Wii is still an online game console. The vast majority of the online functionality remains in place and continues to be supported.

 

The media streaming apps still work, the internet browser still works, the online shop still is supported and is still getting new games, online multiplayer still works in games that haven't been taken down already by the publisher, new things are being added, etc. Only a few minor bits and pieces of the online experience on the Nintendo Wii is gone today and there's no reason to expect something like the Wii Shop when it's still getting new games to be threatened anytime soon.

 

They've simply stepped back a little to focus on the basics that were always more commonly used and likely still have enough activity to justify further expenditures by Nintendo to support.

 

Oh no, it's not a conspiracy, at all. Conspiracies are usually obscure. This was an in-your-face OVERT slap in the face shutdown.

 

The more heavily used online components remain online. And what I meant is that there's usually a veiled reason for why something is done. Since I can't imagine this move selling many Wii U's, I really don't think it goes any deeper than there aren't enough people utilizing the functionality they discontinued to make it worth continuing to support. For this online retrenchment to have been to sell more Wii U's, it has to encourage people to leave their Wii behind and purchase a Wii U.

 

And you haven't explained how the Weather Channel being discontinued does that.

 

I don't know. You didn't have to pay monthly like Xbox Live, and tons of people had wirless networks anyway. Also unlike the Xbox 360 and it's rip-off Wireless Adapter, it was built in. It was an excellent deal, by comparison.

 

But the new customer suddenly entering the console world of circa 2006 in 2013? I can't imagine that the first thing they're going to do after setting up their Wii is to connect to the internet, buy every online connected game left, spend a lot of money in the Wii Shop, etc. I imagine they're going to tend to stick with the basics or at most try that Netflix thing they've heard so much about and a few other odds and ends. So the impact this has on incoming Wii owners sure seems minimum to me.

 

Nintendo surely must not disagree me. The widely used functionality remains online but appears to be to support existing users rather than new Wii owners since they seem so confident of new Wii owners in 2013 wanting to go online with their new Wii that they've excised the online capabilities right out of the hardware.

 

The number of people buying Wiis (of *any* type) are a fraction of the heyday. Consequently?

 

The impact that the amount of user activity has on the status of an online component utilizing company resources should be obvious. The Wii is approaching 7 years old, has been on a decline for years, and online definitely was never as crucial to the Wii experience as on the competition.

 

That they're shutting down some likely little used and non crucial corners of their Wii online functionality at this point when Wii activity as a whole is at its lowest point so far sure doesn't strike me as a suspicion laden move.

 

They're not going to support things when they're not gaining much. That these disappeared tells me that what traffic they may of had at one time has largely disappeared so the justification to maintain servers for these features no longer exists. Thus, they've discontinued those components. It's as simple as that.

 

I disagree. Why would they not take advantage (heavy or not) of online capabilities? If anything, online has become *more* important, rather than less. News still worthwhile? Weather still worthwhile? Multiplayer still worthwhile? Check, check, and check. Actually, it's not hard to imagine at all. It's just impossible, now.

 

A: Online isn't nearly as integrated to the core Wii experience as it is on something like the Xbox 360.

B: The individual finally purchasing a Nintendo Wii in 2013 is hardly ahead of the tech curve.

 

I can't imagine someone suddenly acquiring a Wii in 2013 and proceeding to heavily invest in the remaining online multiplayer capable games, proceeding to spend a lot of money on the Wii Shop, subscribing to services like Hulu and Netflix that they probably don't subscribe to if they're buying a generation old game console in 2013, etc.

 

It's diminishing returns for the Wii user, that's for sure. Since they sold 100 MILLION Wiis, how can continued online functionality be considered "superfluous?" Even if we assume that a mere 3% of orignal Wii owners had such expectations, that number would equal the Wii U's current sales.

 

The Wii remains online so clearly there's economic justification in continuing these services even if it's just goodwill that they can't tangibly judge the exact economic benefit it has for Nintendo. What we can deduce when a few odds and ends have been eliminated though is that those particular components simply weren't being used much at this point so Nintendo feels that the benefits they gain by supporting them no longer justify the expenditure to maintain those services.

 

And if that's the case, the discontinuance of something like Everybody Votes isn't going to have much of a impact on us since if a lot of Wii owners were still using it, they'd be keeping it up. Instead they seem to expect that what they've cut isn't going to be missed by many.

 

I merely submit that cutting Wii services abruptly to those who used it as an information device did little to motivate that 100 million fanbase (mostly casual/non-gamers) to invest in another Nintendo. Articificial obsolescence (even if merely perceived, rather than contrived) is hardly a selling point.

 

I don't disagree with you that it's a mistake. The Wii U hasn't even been on the market for a year yet they've eliminating Wii services. Even if only half of 1 percent of their install base was using this stuff they cut and no matterhow gimmicky and useless some of it was, it's too soon.

 

You should be able to expect a reasonable length of several years of post-replacement support before seeing things start to be discontinued.

Edited August 13, 2013 by Atariboy

[Gregory DG]

Just discovered that the Wii version *IS* doing the new profiles feature for Netflix! And it didn't even need to be updated. Whew... No more of my daughter's "My Little Pony" watching messing up my recommendations!

[Bartsfam]

Does the Wii-U have it's own weather and news channels??

[Atariboy]

It has a news feed but no weather channel. But the internet browser is much more capable than the Wii's counterpart was so that should fill that void.

 

It was a good idea though so hopefully Nintendo rolls a Wii U version out one of these days.

[alienslayer44]

The Wii can be softmodded to play dvds and cds, but thats illegal as hell.

Still, had a good run, sold 100.30 million units, according to wikipedia

[jd_1138]

Just discovered that the Wii version *IS* doing the new profiles feature for Netflix! And it didn't even need to be updated. Whew... No more of my daughter's "My Little Pony" watching messing up my recommendations!

 

Yeah, we've used the profiles for a while. You set them up with a real computer and then they will appear when you log into the Netflix app on Wii. My wife is lazy and just logs into my profile and saves her sappy romance and holiday movies to my profile. Even though she has her own.