When it comes to the online components of the online elements of video games, it’s not as simple as just making it so that various players can have fun with one another in games. A security element must be monitored and upheld, so that bad things don’t happen. Each publisher and developer that puts gamers into the online space for their title has an obligation to ensure that their online connection is safe and, if something is wrong, fix it. For Nintendo, they had a massive security breach that shut down two games’ online modes on the Wii U.
Yes. There are still playing the Wii U, and many are playing the original Splatoon and Mario Kart 8. However, as a result, they have been hit with a massive shutdown of the online capabilities for those games due to a security breach that was commented on via Twitter.
After the shutdown was confirmed, Nintendo made a statement on the matter:
“We have identified vulnerabilities with online play for this network service and have begun temporary emergency maintenance. We expect an extended maintenance duration while we address these issues and have not determined when online play will resume. We sincerely apologize for this inconvenience and appreciate your understanding.”
According to those “in the know,” the belief is that the breach was caused by a thing called “ENLBufferPwn.” How it works is that players would somehow connect to it, and then that thing would have complete control over your console. That’s a very bad thing to have to happen. If this exploit sounds familiar, it’s because it’s also affected the Nintendo Switch and the 3DS over the years, so going after the Wii U feels like the next “link in the chain,” if you will.
What might be the biggest problem here is that it could take a while for this security breach to be fixed. To be blunt, the Wii U isn’t the most played system in the world right now. We’d even wager that those playing it are in a grand minority versus the Switch, which has sold almost ten times the amount of the previous console so far.
That’s not to say that Nintendo will leave these gamers high and dry. That would be a grand disservice. However, fixing the breach and getting everything back up may take a while. So if you’ve been one of these gamers enjoying these titles on the older system, you will be on a break for a while.
