It is revealed that Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will no longer be able to play online earlier than planned

Nintendo announced that it would end online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in early April 2024, but it has been reported that some users are no longer able to play online.

Nintendo Network shutdown - The beginning of the end
https://pretendo.network/blog/12-23-23

New 3DS And Wii U Users Can No Longer Go Online In Games | Nintendo Life
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2023/12/new-3ds-and-wii-u-users-can-no-longer-go-online-in-games

Nintendo Wii U, 3DS online play appears to be shut down - Polygon
https://www.polygon.com/24015380/nintendo-wii-u-3ds-error-code-online-shut-down

Nintendo has announced that it will end all Nintendo 3DS and Wii U online play services in early April 2024. In addition, Nintendo stated, ``If an event occurs that makes it difficult to continue the service, there is a possibility that the service for individual software or all software may be terminated earlier than planned (early April 2024).'' 'There is,' he announced.

Nintendo announces that online play services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U will end in early April 2024 - GIGAZINE

However, a software update distributed for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in late December 2023 revealed that new users of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U are no longer able to connect to online services. The issue was first reported by Pretendo , an open source project that aims to make online services available for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U even after they are discontinued.

It is reported that when trying to play online with a new Nintendo account after applying the update distributed in late December, 'Error code 106-0303' is displayed on Wii U and 'Error code 006-0303' is displayed on Nintendo 3DS. It has been. The reason you are seeing this error code is because your newly created Nintendo account is no longer synced with the server.

In addition, in early December 2023, it was reported that ``Error code 106-0502'' was displayed on Super Mario Maker, making it impossible to play online. Pretendo has been able to confirm that 'error code 106-0502' appears to have occurred around December 8th. It seems that the cause of this error is that the server for online play has been closed, but it has also been revealed that some users are still able to access online play.

Some of you may have noticed that Super Mario Maker on Nintendo Network has been throwing 106-0502 quite a lot lately. The earliest instances we have found are December 8th. The reason for this is seems to be a configuration issue on Nintendo's side. A thread. (1/6)

— Pretendo (@[email protected]) (@PretendoNetwork) December 17, 2023

Games on the Nintendo Network function using the following three servers.

1: Account server
A server that tells clients where the game's authentication server is located and provides them with a token to connect to.

2: Game authentication server
A server that uses an internal account to log the user in and tell the client where the game's secure server is.

3: Secure server for the game
The server where all gameplay takes place.

All games on the Nintendo Network use two authentication servers, but each game has multiple secure servers. The two authentication servers randomly determine the connection destination, and it is thought that this is to share the connection between the servers.

Pretendo explains that the reason why 'error code 106-0502' occurs is that 'the authentication server gives the client's address to the stopped server.' Nintendo plans to completely end online play for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U in early April 2024, but this error occurs because it is closing some servers in advance to reduce costs. Pretendo pointed out.