We were surprised to find out that Nintendo has closed its official message boards, the famous NSider forums. There was no announcement made (not one that we know of), but don't worry as this is all part of a major change happening at the Nintendo.com site. I'm sorry for the NSider members, but the web content supervisor, Andy Harpence explained that gamers can still keep in touch with Nintendo through numerous other sites.

Harpence also stated that: "For more than four years, these NSider Forums have fostered engaging, robust debates, a strong community and friendships. While their future remains uncertain, in the interim we invite our fans to build on the spirit of community by starting their own Nintendo discussion sites. Remember also that the unique features available with Nintendo DS and Wii give Nintendo the opportunity to communicate directly with fans, while also enabling fans and friends around the world to communicate with each other."

For now you can view the NSider Forums as read-only content, but they'll be taken offline on September 24. The idea of creating your own virtual community of Nintendo fans sounds appealing, but this requires time and we're lacking that right now, as there's a heavy rain of fresh new titles to play upon our troubled gaming heads. What's the deal with forums nowadays? First, a week ago Sony banned homebrewing chit-chat from its official forum and now the Nsider Forums shut down...

Will we see some official Xbox 360 forums closing down as well or banning people? We pray that this won't happen as we praise those forums, which can be seen as the daily rumor vault, or simply a place for people to connect, communicate and share their gaming experiences. The importance of forums was once again stated when the gamers found out about BioShock's widescreen bug while chatting on such a virtual community. Gamers really need a place to chill and chat, virtually so forums are a must in the era of speed and mass communication.