Nintendo Wiis Exploding In 2023

About

Nintendo Wiis Exploding In 2023 refers to a hoax that developed from a 2022 headline posted by the satirical tech news publication Hard Drive joking about Nintendo's tendency to phase out old gaming hardware. As people began posting about the headline as if it were real, some began to wonder if there was perhaps a technological flaw that could lead Wiis to break in 2023, leading multiple websites to clarify it was a hoax. Nevertheless, the headline inspired memes about the impending self-destruction of Nintendo Wiis in early 2022, ramping up further in early 2023.

Origin

On March 4th, 2022, Hard Drive^[1] (an offshoot of The Hard Times) posted a satirical story reporting that Nintendo Wiis would self-destruct in 2023 (shown below). The story was parodying Nintendo's recent announcement that it would pull support from and close the eShops for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.^[2]

Spread

While many were able to identify the headline as satire, some took it seriously or were at least confused about if it was real information. For example, on March 7th, 2022, Twitter user @SGamer1357^[3] expressed that they weren't sure if the headline was legitimate (shown below, left). On March 5th, Twitter user @pathetic_bean^[4] also seemed unsure if the headline was a troll (shown below, right). The confusion eventually caused Snopes^[5] and Nintendo Life^[6] to post articles clarifying that Nintendo Wiis would not explode in 2023.

Memes about Wiis exploding in 2023 picked up around the turn of the new year. Just after midnight on January 1st, 2023, Twitter user @Aiden1291^[7] used a SpongeBob clip to joke about their disappointment that the Wii didn't explode, gaining over 2,000 retweets and 15,000 likes in less than 24 hours (shown below, left). User @notthewoz^[8] also used a SpongeBob meme to joke about Wiis exploding that same day, gaining over 40 retweets and 520 likes in a similar timeframe (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

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External References