Nintendo Shuts Down Forums - Indefinitely

The Wii and the DS may have been selling like hotcakes, but Nintendo has decided to redesign their official site, Nintendo.com, and have closed the forums “indefinitely”.

Nintendo says that the future of the forums past that redesign is “uncertain” and that the existing posts will be taken down after a week of availability in read-only format.

Outraged response by Nintendo fans were posted at the Joystiq article, with such sentiments as

• “Nintendo hates online, in all it’s nefarious forms. The Wii was the hint, this is the proof.”
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• “If Ninty is demolishing their forums just to cater to the casual gamers (as possibly evidenced in the statement, ‘Nintendo is working… to support the continued success of Nintendo DS and Wii.’), then I say, SCREW YOU NINTENDO.”
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• “How many hints do you people need that Nintendo not only doesn’t give a shit about ‘gamers’ anymore, but they don’t even want to be associated with them?”
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• “As a four year member of Nsider (well, it would be 4 years in November) I can honestly say the people who run the boards don’t know shit about what the actual members want. RPG board? Taken away. Chat threads? Taken away.”

What do you think? Is Nintendo getting rid of the forums for good? Is this a middle-finger at “gamers”, as another poster grates? Comment away.

(Thanks, Joystiq.)