This is not going to be a long article, but I need to discuss this topic.
So, tomorrow’s the day, Nintendo turns off Wii and 3DS online servers next morning. I may have played a lot more Mario Maker 2 than Mario Maker 1, but even so I’m quite sad about this. I know that with purchasing disabled online play being turned off as well was inevitable as few companies would spend money on servers forever for no return, but even so, it’s awful and should remind everyone yet again about how horrible for preservation our now ‘physical media is mostly dead’ world is. Sadly, only hackers can save us from companies shutting off servers the moment a game or platform becomes un-economical, and not all games or services get such work. I’d rather companies keep the official servers on forever, that is the best way. That isn’t going to happen, though, so all we can do is rely on other means to save exceptionally amazing games like Mario Maker 1 from the deletion of almost all of its content.
The thing is, though, I do not like having to install hacks or such and still haven’t put custom firmware on my 3DS or Wii U, though I should soon now that it’s been fully shut down and Nintendo has left us 3DS and Wii U fans no choice. And yes, I do still love these systems, and still use my 3DS almost every day. I love DS and 3DS puzzle games that control with the stylus! I just do not like touch controls designed for a finger anywhere remotely near as much as those designed for a stylus due to how much more precise styli are. There’s a reason why we write with pens and pencils, and don’t dip our fingers in ink: increased precision is much much better. It’s the same with games. I understand the reason for having a cellphone with a touchscreen for using basic internet functions, but for the precision you need in a game there is no contest at all between 3DS or Wii U touch, with their respective styli, and the finger touch design of the Switch or Vita. But anyway, I know I’ve said this before, and most people either don’t care or don’t agree. That is truly unfortunate.
I don’t think there is much else to say about this topic, though, really, I’ve said it all before. It is awful and will continue to happen more and more often as most media is now digital-only and thus can be deleted from existence much more easily than it could before. All it takes is a company who wants to cut costs or get a tax writeoff and presto, that thing you liked is gone forever now unless pirates saved it! Only consume new products, not anything old, that doesn’t make companies as much money. Capitalism is a fine system, overall better than any other economic system humans have invented (particularly with some socialist elements mixed in), but this problem needs to be solved: we must stop the destruction of media.
Fortunately this time all of the Mario Maker 1 levels that are about to be deleted by Nintendo HAVE been backed up by the community, but other times, such as that new Road Runner movie that WB decided to delete out of existence without releasing, things just vanish forever without any kind of reason. I know that the videogame market isn’t growing as fast as it was previously, while costs and development times continue to spiral out of control, so companies are trying to protect what profits they have, but some solution that allows for the continued existence of media must be found; we are going to lose too much of value otherwise.
Shutting down online play is one thing, and it’s sad; I deeply love Splatoon 1, it is my most-played Wii U game by a good margin. Sure, the game got partially ruined by hackers, but it’s an amazing experience regardless and it is one that its sequels do not come close to; I still greatly prefer Splatoon 1 over 2 or 3. That Splatoon 1 disc I have will be rendered mostly useless without online and most of its content will become inaccessible, as there is no botmatch mode. But at least that content exists ON that disc. Deleting millions of Mario Maker levels is something worse because they only exist on Nintendo’s servers. Sure, many of those levels are awful, but many others are great. A lot of truly amazing, fantastic levels were made for that game, levels which advanced the platforming genre in interesting ways. That Nintendo is getting rid of all of it without any kind of official way to back it up provided is horrible. Because we can’t assume that future consoles will all be hacked; some surely won’t be. Anything deleted from those platforms will vanish entirely. This day is another reminder of the great challenges game preservation now faces. I hope that somehow preservation wins.
