Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection was what you used to connect to other players online and play games, but as from May, the service will no longer be available on the DS, DSi or Wii. I found this out when my Wii was giving out that blue glow around the disk slot.
Yes, as from May 20th, you will no longer have access to online features of any DS, DSi or Wii game which uses the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service. It’s understandable really since Nintendo want to concentrate all their efforts on the Wii U and 3DS.
It was only January of this year (2014) that saw Pokémons Black, White, Black 2 and White 2 lose the service. Of course, you can still play those kind of games locally through infra-red and wireless, but no longer online.
Official info:
As of May 20th, 2014, the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service will be discontinued and it will no longer be possible to use online features of Nintendo DS/DSi and Wii software such as online play, matchmaking and leaderboards.
Affected games include:
- Animal Crossing: Let’s Go to the City
- Mario Kart Wii
- Super Smash Bros. Brawl
For a full list of which Nintendo-published games are affected, please visit our Support section.
The Wii Shop Channel and Nintendo DSi Shop will not be affected however, and will continue to be accessible after May 20th.
You will still be able to access the shops due to there still being software available for both systems, mainly just Virtual Console stuff I would think.
The included screenshots were taken directly from the message I received on the Wii, but you can also see more information on the official Nintendo website.
Most of the old Wii services are now defunct, it’s like they’ve realised their mistake and are sweeping it under the carpet by shutting it all down.