Art JacobsonApr 9, 2024
Pretendo Network 

Today we say goodbye to Nintendo Network. As of writing this message, Nintendo has shut down their online infrastructure for the Wii U and 3DS after 12 strong years. We know many of you here have fond memories from this generation, playing iconic titles such as Mario Kart 7, Splatoon, Super Mario Maker, and more. Today marks an end of a chapter in gamings history, and I'm sure many of you wondered why we have stayed so silent for most of the day.

Despite this chapter ending for Nintendo, it's just getting started for Pretendo! We won't be going anywhere, and we have many more plans for the future (such as expanding our infrastructure to allow for 3rd party servers, to allow games not under our scope of support to be brought back seamlessly through other teams). We will remain hard at work improving our servers, both in terms of over compatibility with more games and improving the performance of said games as well.

Before we get into the main part of the announcement, I would just like to extend one last, giant, thank you to everyone who helped support us recently! The amount of network dumps we obtained is outstanding, getting data for nearly all games! This will be such a valuable resource for us moving forward, as we no longer have a way to see these servers in action. These network dumps are invaluable to life of Pretendo, and we couldn't have done it without you all :purple_heart:.

With that, we have 2 big things to announce:

Patch updates

A new release of both Nimbus and Inkay has been released! You MUST install these new releases moving forward, as they contain critical updates required to keep multiplayer match making working! Download the latest versions here:

Hackless Wii U Connections

Today we are finally announcing our private hackless Wii U connection method; SSSL! This new connection method exploits a bug in the Wii U SSL module introduced in firmware version 5.5.5 which allows us to support Wii U users WITHOUT HOMEBREW, using only a DNS change! For information on the setup and limitations of SSSL (as well as other updates regarding Pretendo moving forward), see our full blog post and updated Wii U guide:

PLEASE BARE WITH US AS WE HANDLE THE LARGE INFLUX OF NEW USERS. OUR SERVERS MAY BE UNSTABLE FOR A WHILE AS WE SORT THINGS OUT

Release v2.4.0 - NNCS · PretendoNetwork/Inkay

What's Changed Added NNCS server redirection Full Changelog: v2.3.0...v2.4.0

GitHub
Apr 9, 2024 at 12:16amWeb
Show threadforest Apr 9, 2024
@pretendo we love u pretendo network
Show threadMadagascar_SkyApr 9, 2024

@swiftyshq @pretendo

Yes we do!

Show threadStephanie 🎀Apr 9, 2024
@pretendo I haven’t been successful in getting my (unhacked) Wii U to connect to my WiFi network 🫠 I tried to get in last minute before Nintendo Network went offline, but my console wouldn’t connect even with a correct password.
Show threadAlexander The 1stApr 9, 2024

@BeamsAndBows @pretendo Have you tried, rather than trying to connect to the wifi network directly, seeing if you can get a connection test to run and have it get to the router but not the Internet?

That's at least my first thought regarding the issue, if it's not the firmware update being mismatched with the one they mentioned for the connectivity.

Show threadStephanie 🎀Apr 9, 2024
@AT1ST @pretendo It automatically runs a test when I try to connect, and fails at the router connection.
Show threadAlexander The 1stApr 9, 2024
@BeamsAndBows @pretendo Hmm - though my immediate thought is that you should be able to do a test without the automatic one during the connection step, my next thought is to move the WiiU closer to the WiFi router. At the minimum, that often works better for me for my Switch, so maybe it's a rather annoying thing where interference is getting in the way?
Show threaddiskyApr 9, 2024
@pretendo I don't have a Wii U or 3DS but your work means a lot to those who care about game preservation and extending hardware lifecycles. Thanks for doing what you do.
Show threadL'égrégore André ꕭꕬApr 9, 2024
@disky00 @pretendo Exactly this! It's not my thing, but it brings people joy, so it's good.
Show threadTonchApr 9, 2024
@pretendo You're the MVPs
Show threadDave from accountingApr 9, 2024

@pretendo

Outstanding 👌

Show threadfloyd aka floyd_chApr 9, 2024
@pretendo are there some more technical details available about this SSSL bug for those interested? Edit: sorry, weak search engine foo day, here we go: https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/SSSL
GitHub - PretendoNetwork/SSSL

Contribute to PretendoNetwork/SSSL development by creating an account on GitHub.

GitHub
Show threadComrade elronxenuApr 9, 2024
@floyd @pretendo This is why we can sometimes have good things.
Show threadhalcy​ Apr 9, 2024
@pretendo thanks for your work!
Show threadGames That I MissedApr 9, 2024

@pretendo I read through the blog post, and was surprised and pleased by the very end:

"As of April 7th, the day before the shutdown, Pretendo has collaborated with the developers of Colors! 3D, a drawing and art sharing game for the Nintendo 3DS. Together we have officially added support for each other, meaning Colors! 3D will continue to operate as normal when using Pretendo Network. Checkout their game, and their Discord server, for more information on the Colors! franchise!"

Show threadGames That I MissedApr 9, 2024
@pretendo Colors is such a great program. I use my 3DS as a scratch pad for terrible artwork when I'm out and about, and my children love it as well. Thank you for adding support.
Show threadAlecatApr 9, 2024
@GamesMissed @pretendo wow, I used the DS version of this app and had no idea that it's gone on to have newer iterations! I was aware of a painting app that had a pressure sensitive pen but didn't put 2 and 2 together. How wonderful that the DS homebrew spawned a franchise.
Show threadhalcy​ Apr 9, 2024
@GamesMissed @pretendo Colors started out as NDS homebrew, so it is not *entirely* out of left field. I remember it being quite nice, had a history replay function that was pretty cool!
Show threadcoldclimateApr 9, 2024
@pretendo absolutely astounding work
Show threadMarkAssPandiApr 9, 2024
@pretendo Ngl I feel that the update that allowed for SSSL to exist was done by some Nintendo workers on purpose, like they wanted to sneak in something that would allow this to work.
Show threadRedMage19Apr 9, 2024
@pretendo I hope the dlc services of Dragon Quest 7 will become available on this network, someday. DLC greatly improved the game, because there were extra quests to download, and dungeon maps could be shared.
Show threadgo follow @[email protected]Apr 9, 2024
@pretendo always wished I could be a part of this with my wiiu, but when I went back to try and use it, I discovered the motherboard in my gamepad died, so I'm kinda outta luck. I'm excited to watch this grow from the cemu perspective, though!
Show threadquaffApr 10, 2024
@pretendo amazing! Could you tell us what IP and domains to map? I run my own Pi-hole and prefer to map the IP on my own DNS server.