Pokémon Online services to terminate

[Abnegation]

Nintendo has announced that, as of May 20th 2014, all online services across the DS and Wii games will terminate. This means that you will not be able to go online with any of the following Pokémon games: Pokémon Diamond, Pokémon Pearl, Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon HeartGold, Pokémon SoulSilver, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokémon Black, Pokémon White, Pokémon Black 2, Pokémon White 2, My Pokémon Ranch, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness, Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, Pokemon Ranger: Guardian Signs, Pokemon Ranger: Shadows of Almia & Pokémon Conquest. All online features of these games will be inaccessible, regardless of the console you play them on. All 3DS and Wii U games will continue to be playable online, as will Pokémon Bank and Poké Transporter.

Pretty sad to see the functionality for these games to go, especially when such effort for online connection went into games like Pokémon Black & White (2). It's understandable why they would no longer want to cater for the users who still play these games, but I also feel they're more than likely trying to push users onto newer systems, and given how much went into this generation; I can understand why.

How do you feel about the older games losing online functionality?

 

[Drayton]

Darn it nintedoh. Why you people milking peoples money and eliminate their fun, it's not fair and ethical. Just because 3DS Wii u is better than their old counsel cousins

There's goes GTS trading and Poke Plaza :(

 

[Blueredemption]

we still have a few months to get done whatever we have not, and there are very few games that i used the internet capabilities

the only part that i am sad with is that i can no longer have my friends save me in mystery dungeon like we used to back in the day, going through dungeons like hidden land is going to be much harder.

 

[Cordelia]

I'm pretty shocked, tbqh. It'll be the end of 4th/5th gen trading here on PC and it'll force a lot of changes on us. I'm kind of annoyed about this, but nothing too serious really...

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Isn't it because it's too expensive to keep the online service for both Wii/DS and Wii U/3DS alive? Well now I have a reason to keep my event legendaries in my 4th/5th gen games in case I may lose them on a latter gen game if I plan to restart any of my games.

 

[Treecko]

Darn it nintedoh. Why you people milking peoples money and eliminate their fun, it's not fair and ethical. Just because 3DS Wii u is better than their old counsel cousins

There's goes GTS trading and Poke Plaza :(

I wouldn't saying they are trying to "eliminate their fun". There's still plenty of things to do on the DS and Wii games without Wi-Fi. This shouldn't be the end of your fun with these games. :) Keep playing them as much as you want!

I get why they're doing it, sort of. They've been trying to make the DS and Wii obsolete for years. The DS is almost 10 years old and the Wii is almost 6. It is about time for them to let them go and move on and this is one way for them to do it. Doesn't mean I agree or like the idea though. I was relying on Wi-Fi to help complete my Pokedex in White and Black2/White2. I guess I have to get all of my trading done before then. D:

 

[Nah]

It doesn't really bother me that they're cutting the online services for gens 4 and 5. I don't really need them anymore. Migration and transfer of Pokémon between the gens isn't Wifi based, so it's all good to me. and I have more than one DS at my place, so trading between gen 4 games or gen 5 games isn't a problem for me.


Though I do see how it can suck for some people.

Isn't it because it's too expensive to keep the online service for both Wii/DS and Wii U/3DS alive?

That's most likely it.

 

[Aiden Blue]

Here's my question; does the Wii use wifi between the DS, and the Wii to communicate together? For such games like My Pokemon Ranch, or Battle Revolution where you NEED a DS to play? If they cut of all the Multiplayer services, would that mean I wouldnt be able to use Pokemon Ranch with a DS, and Revolution? =/ I need to knows! >_< Please helps?

Also, does that mean they are shutting off the Wifi Compatibility with the Wii all together? Seems dumb because they JUST released Hulu Plus for it. Any info people????


Thanks for your time,

Aiden Blue~

P.S.

LOVE AND PEACE

 

[Palkia]

Considering how long the DS and Wii have been irrelevant, it was only natural that they would discontinue there services. I am annoyed how 5th gen games are effected with this as well. The fact they're discontinuing online support for a 18 month old game is really concerning.

 

[Pendraflare]

Ouch. :( I really liked the online connectivity for those games, even though I never Wi-Fi battled myself. And there are people moving on to XY, but this is still pretty sad news. We'll always remember that DP introduced Wi-Fi to Pokémon, so I won't be one to forget it, surely.

 

[fenyx4]

Pretty sad to see the functionality for these games to go, especially when such effort for online connection went into games like Pokémon Black & White (2). It's understandable why they would no longer want to cater for the users who still play these games, but I also feel they're more than likely trying to push users onto newer systems, and given how much went into this generation; I can understand why.

How do you feel about the older games losing online functionality?

Read about this news on Bulbanews; it's horrible. :( I get that Nintendo probably needs to cut costs and stuff, but news like this is still depressing... There goes my dreams of completing the regional Pokedex in Platinum and HeartGold (and likely Black and Black 2), never mind the National Pokedex... (where it was much more feasible to complete both compared to Generation 3 games...) And now I won't ever get to experience an Internet Wi-Fi battle in Generations 4 and 5 (as I likely won't have a Nintendo DS Lite or 3DS by the time that the services terminate...). ;-;

Spiritomb comes to mind... Is this Pokemon/the Underground affected by the termination of the online services, too...? Otherwise, I'll have to resort to getting one from the PokeWalker (unlikely) or receiving the traded one in Black 2/White 2 and breeding it..

Hmm..and now it appears I'll have to wait until at least Generation 6 to obtain a Lugia with Multi-Scale Ability or the event Pokemon Ranger Deoxys.

I thought that the Generation 4 GTS (and Generation 5 GTS?) were relatively inexpensive to keep operating even during Generation 6, but it seems this event is more of a Nintendo-wide thing as opposed to strictly Pokemon...

I wouldn't saying they are trying to "eliminate their fun". There's still plenty of things to do on the DS and Wii games without Wi-Fi. This shouldn't be the end of your fun with these games. :) Keep playing them as much as you want!

I get why they're doing it, sort of. They've been trying to make the DS and Wii obsolete for years. The DS is almost 10 years old and the Wii is almost 6. It is about time for them to let them go and move on and this is one way for them to do it. Doesn't mean I agree or like the idea though. I was relying on Wi-Fi to help complete my Pokedex in White and Black2/White2. I guess I have to get all of my trading done before then. D:

Given that Game Freak promotes the "multiplayer" aspect of the Pokemon games quite a bit, it does seem like they're detracting from the "fun". :/ I mean, one of the two main goals of most of the core series games is to "complete the Pokedex", which will now be unfeasible for players without any local friends nearby who own a "opposite version" in the same generation of a given game.. And this is going to be a major dent to Pokemon Battle Revolution; from what I've read, there's little to do in it if you don't own one of the corresponding Generation 4 DS games.. Online battles seem to be a major draw for replayability of a given save file, seeing how it offers more strategies and variation compared to in-game "battle facility" Trainers of Generation 4 and 5 games..

If Nintendo wants people to "move on" to the current console generation (consisting of Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo Wii U), they should release more quality products to incite people, then (the Nintendo 3DS has this area covered, IMO, although the Wii U is suffering a bit). Don't just cut Internet connectivity for older consoles to force people to move on.. >_> Sheesh, the Wii U doesn't even have many multiplayer online major apps out yet (in particular, Mario Kart 8 (although this game at least is planned for May 2014), Super Smash Bros. 4, and we don't even have a dedicated Generation 6 Stadium-esque Pokemon game for the Wii U announced yet..although that might be due to the XY fully-3D graphics serving that purpose..?). If the server costs are honestly getting expensive, then I can understand the cutting of the online functions for Wii and DS, but if it's just a method to "pump more sales for 3DS and Wii U", then we have a problem (especially for Wii U).
(by the way, AWSquared, the second paragraph here is more aimed at Nintendo's decision, not you personally)

Isn't it because it's too expensive to keep the online service for both Wii/DS and Wii U/3DS alive? Well now I have a reason to keep my event legendaries in my 4th/5th gen games in case I may lose them on a latter gen game if I plan to restart any of my games.

Here's my question; does the Wii use wifi between the DS, and the Wii to communicate together? For such games like My Pokemon Ranch, or Battle Revolution where you NEED a DS to play? If they cut of all the Multiplayer services, would that mean I wouldnt be able to use Pokemon Ranch with a DS, and Revolution? =/ I need to knows! >_< Please helps?

Also, does that mean they are shutting off the Wifi Compatibility with the Wii all together? Seems dumb because they JUST released Hulu Plus for it. Any info people????


Thanks for your time,

Aiden Blue~

P.S.

LOVE AND PEACE

I think local Wi-Fi is safe (someone on Bulbagarden Forums said that DS-to-DS local connectivity probably won't be affected; I assume that the same would be said for DS-to-Wii local connectivity)

Considering how long the DS and Wii have been irrelevant, it was only natural that they would discontinue there services. I am annoyed how 5th gen games are effected with this as well. The fact they're discontinuing online support for a 18 month old game is really concerning.

Although I guess the Wii is irrelevant in Japan (due to being discontinued there already), Nintendo of America made a point of stating that the Wii and Wii games were still available to purchase for the 2013 Holiday season, so at least American videogame developers should still be able to maintain online services for their games.. But yeah, as Nintendo is Japan-based, the discontinuation of online services was essentially inevitable as Technology Marches On.. The 5th-generation games' online discontinuation is quite jarring, though, especially for Black 2/White 2... Losing Pokemon Dream World/Pokemon Global Link within 2 years after release was a downer for B2W2, but the impending loss of all online features already just sucks, considering how long they've been available for Diamond/Pearl/Platinum...

 

[Timbjerr]

This...happens across the entire gaming industry. When a developer deems its online games technically obsolete or not nearly popular enough compared to their later iterations to justify continued service, the servers get turned off. Why should Pokémon be the exception to the standard, especially since Game Freak has gone to great lengths to make it easy to transfer your monsters forward every generation?

 

[The Feves]

I was a little confused when I first read this news. I could see how getting rid of online would probably save GameFreak and Pokemon some money and trouble by not having to worry about maintaining/bug-fixing older, outdated games. I don't really see how it would affect standard players' gameplay. If you're looking for long-distance people to trade with, then you're outta luck I guess, but it seems like the number of people actually playing those games online is at a minimum at this point.

You can still trade via infrared, and you can still play the story and whatnot. I'm not endlessly bummed or anything. I feel like a lot of people who are still playing the older gen games are using them to transfer their pokemon up to the bank (which is what I'm up to).

At the very least there are a few months to get in as much online usage with the old gen. games. So get it while you got it!

 

[Masterge77]

Well guys, it was fun while it lasted, we're facing the end of an era here, though it will be a problem for some people, given the Wii U's sales in the past few years, as well as the countless players who don't have a 3DS yet. Not to mention that the only games we have that would be compatible are Pokemon X and Y, to which some people do not like the changes made in Gen 6, and the next main-series game has yet to be announced, be it the third Kalos game or Hoenn remakes.

As for players of Brawl, no definite release date for SSB4 has been given as of yet, so I feel like they're shutting down the services far too early, especially given the fact that so many people have no Wii U or a 3DS, and I feel they could have kept the servers up for another year or so, or at least until the sales get better.

 

[Hikamaru]

This is definitely a stab in the heart to those who used the wi-fi features in 4th and 5th Gen, but as others said, the DS and Wii have been outdated for years now and I guess keeping the servers up would have been expensive.

Anyways, like most people I have already moved onto the 3DS and X/Y. It's there to also encourage you to get a 3DS and/or Wii U, and I do recall the latter's sales struggling so yeah all for the better for increasing Wii U sales I guess.

Also, as stated by Mac (aka CC, Cordelia whatever) earlier, this will probably also see the end of 4th and 5th Gen trading here on PC as well, because everyone will only be able to wi-fi trade with X and Y once the server closes.

 

[Flushed]

Even as someone who hasn't used the Wifi all that much in gen IV or V, it's still sad. It reminds me of when I recently tried logging onto Guitar Hero 3 servers to play against people, but of course, those are out of commission. But I digress. I did actually use GTS quite a bit in the latter days of BW2 (downloading Pokechecked hacks and shinies for fun), so those will be but memories.

Looking on the bright side, I do hope the prices for HGSS go down, because they're still ridiculous.

 

[Shhmew]

the only part that i am sad with is that i can no longer have my friends save me in mystery dungeon like we used to back in the day, going through dungeons like hidden land is going to be much harder.

This for me too; Like I haven't played those games in ages but Explorers of Sky is one of my favoritest games ever, and I loved getting rescued/rescuing my friends, it's sad to think that I'll never ever be able to do it ever again ;___;

But, well, you know... Nintendo can do what it needs to do... :(

 

[LyokoGirl5000]

This was inevitable. I was just hoping that Gen 5 would stay online a little longer.

 

[Aeroblast]

I think it'll be a final nail in the coffin in moving Gen V games out of the "current generation" territory.

Plus, this had to happen at some point. Nintendo cannot keep up the servers for outdated systems forever.

 

[Charlie Brown]

Considering how long the DS and Wii have been irrelevant, it was only natural that they would discontinue there services. I am annoyed how 5th gen games are effected with this as well. The fact they're discontinuing online support for a 18 month old game is really concerning.

I wouldn't say it's concerning, just that it's unfortunate that BW2 were released so late into the DS's life, since they're terminating all online services for DS/Wii games.

It's a shame that this is happening and like others have said, the final nail in the coffin for Gen V. I didn't use wi-fi much on Pokemon so it doesn't affect me too much, but it's a sad thing nonetheless.