Nintendo will take a handful of Wii network services offline this summer, resulting in the discontinuation of five Wii channels, Nintendo of America announced today.
On June 28, the following channels will be discontinued: Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, Nintendo Channel and Check Mii Out Channel. In addition, data exchange between Wii friends through WiiConnect24 will be come to an end. Messages exchanged via Wii Message Board, Mii Channel and unspecified game titles will no longer be possible.
Games such as Wii Music, Mario Kart Wii and Animal Crossing: City Folk that allow users to send messages and other game information could be affected by the shutdown of data exchange on WiiConnect24.
A statement from Nintendo says those services "will not be available, even if they are started up on the Wii Menu." Other Wii services, including receipt of "Today's Accomplishments" on the Wii Message Board and Wii Shop Channel will be unaffected.
Other channels, such as the Wii Shop Channel, will not be affected, a Nintendo rep confirmed to Polygon. Video-on-demand services such as Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, YouTube and Hulu Plus also will not be affected by the change.
"We at Nintendo sincerely thank you for your continued patronage of our company's products," reads a statement from the company. "We apologize to those of you currently using these services, and ask for your understanding."