Today, April 8th, 2024, at 4PM PT, marks the day in which Nintendo permanently ends support for both the 3DS and the Wii U online services, which include co-op play, internet rankings and data distribution, according to Nintendo's own news post.

This means that games that heavily rely on online services, like the original Super Mario Maker for Wii U (and 3DS), Mario Kart 8 and Splatoon's online multiplayer, and several other games will effectively stop working, more so for Super Mario Maker since that game is entirely relying on online user-created levels for the gaming experience.

However, all is not lost, as the fan and homebrew community is here to save the day (as is always the case), even in the most dire of events like the closure of all online service for said consoles, with the great community network known as Pretendo.

Pretendo is basically an entirely open source project that aims to replace Nintendo's network for both the 3DS and the Wii U, and even their respective emulators like Citra (or its forks given its recent demise) and Cemu, which will allow all users to interconnect with each other even after the demise of Nintendo's own servers later today, and while their compatibility isn't entirely 100%, they developers behind the Pretendo network are still hard at work developing the service so that more and more games get proper compatibility.

Those interested in trying out the Pretendo network can follow their own installation instructions found at their site, which includes installation guides for both Citra (or its forks) and Cemu, and in the case of the original hardware, the user will require a hacked console, be it a hacked 3DS and/or a hacked Wii U, depending on which console the user has. Just be aware that your current Nintendo ID (and everything that it entices, like friends list and other things) will not be carried over to the Pretendo servers, as Nintendo's servers hold that data, and repurposing the original ID for Pretendo could pose a severe privacy violation, so a new ID will need to be created for usage with Pretendo's servers.

A recommendation for a more detailed look into the Pretendo network is a recently released video by renowned game developer and homebrew enthusiast, Modern Vintage Gamer (MVG), gives takes a deeper dive into it, as well as its current status, usage, game tests and installation of the fanmade network into your own consoles.

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Source
Pretendo Network

 

[MVG]

Hmmm this one smells fishy. Also, mvg...
Btw, can you self host it if you don't want to (possibly) send your console data to some community project?

been called a ton of things in the past but never 'fishy' lol.

its free, and open source. use or it dont. but what is here is quite good and i wanted to cover it

 

[Dontuuch17]

I'm glad for pretendo, but I can't help but feel a tinge of anxiety with the warpath Nintendo has been on lately.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

The Pretendo mods turned me into a newt.

 

[Poptheweasel100]

Well, I'm going based on what some of my friends and what I've seen online. I've heard someone got banned for accidentally saying "dude" to a transfem without knowing that they're trans, and another one had to pay money for them to get themselves unbanned. I also saw that today that they gotten banned, but I don't know the cause for that one.

If they're gonna be that ban happy I'll probably have to stay off their Miiverse replacement then just so I can keep playing the games I want to.

 

[Costapk]

Well, I'm going based on what some of my friends and what I've seen online. I've heard someone got banned for accidentally saying "dude" to a transfem without knowing that they're trans, and another one had to pay money for them to get themselves unbanned. I also saw that today that they gotten banned, but I don't know the cause for that one.

The dudes name is @Khentendo (person who got banned for saying dude)

Apparently later in the thread, turns out dude was just being an asshole and there was more of a reason for him getting banned lol

 

[linuxares]

If they're gonna be that ban happy I'll probably have to stay off their Miiverse replacement then just so I can keep playing the games I want to.

well it's opensource so just fork it and make your own network in the worst case

 

[Sir Tortoise]

The dudes name is @Khentendo (person who got banned for saying dude)

Apparently later in the thread, turns out dude was just being an asshole and there was more of a reason for him getting banned lol

Wait, you mean we can't just trust banned people to be accurate about the reason for their ban? Like, they'd just go on the internet and tell lies?

 

[ShadowOne333]

well it's opensource so just fork it and make your own network in the worst case

That's the way to go tbh.
Just fork it and make an uncensored version of it, mods free and all, let all hell break loose like the good old CoD days.

 

[linuxares]

Wait, you mean we can't just trust banned people to be accurate about the reason for their ban? Like, they'd just go on the internet and tell lies?

*looks at the GBAtemp ban list* You would be surprised

 

[J-Will]

yeah i got banned from the discord for "targeted harassment of a mod" in 2021 but i may have actually been harassing someone lol, i contacted an admin and im hoping i get unbanned

similar to what happened to me at the NH Discord Server.

 

[Costapk]

Wait, you mean we can't just trust banned people to be accurate about the reason for their ban? Like, they'd just go on the internet and tell lies?

Missed the point of my reply lol

 

[KingCornWallis]

So is it open to all now? I recall there either being a waitlist, or a subscription/registration fee initially...granted that was a while ago.

Also...could Pretendo 'theoretically' use an existing NNID? Is there a technical limitation or is it just 'a privacy violation'?

 

[cvskid]

Wondering if this open for everyone too instead of being locked behind a paywall.

 

[Xdqwerty]

Wondering if this open for everyone too instead of being locked behind a paywall.

I think it IS open

 

[CrazySquid]

So it's free but they're censoring people.
Well I guess is not that different from Nintendo's own servers then, but paying to be unbanned is just bs tbh.

I mean, Nintendo banned you for posting things like dicks on Miiverse, which makes sense I guess... but just because you called accidentally "dude" to someone? Come on...

Anyway, the servers are already kind of dead, not need to shut them off for that.

Try to play Splatoon in Squad, it's impossible, no people.
I tried Smash U online... the same, no people. We are not losing much here, at least, on Wii U side.

 

[Costapk]

So is it open to all now? I recall there either being a waitlist, or a subscription/registration fee initially...granted that was a while ago.

Also...could Pretendo 'theoretically' use an existing NNID? Is there a technical limitation or is it just 'a privacy violation'?

It is open to all, I think there's a limited list of games you can play online ATM tho

The fee was just for access to the testing/beta servers (via donation). You don't need to pay to play on pretendo.

The owner responded to something similar in the past (scroll to RedDucks reply)

https://gbatemp.net/threads/please-do-not-trust-pretendos-paid-services.644955/

 

[Xdqwerty]

Anyway, the servers are already kind of dead, not need to shut them off for that.

Try to play Splatoon in Squad, it's impossible, no people.
I tried Smash U online... the same, no people. We are not losing much here, at least, on Wii U side.

Same as wiimmfii

 

[DragonMals]

That's the way to go tbh.
Just fork it and make an uncensored version of it, mods free and all, let all hell break lose like the good old CoD days.

Juxtaposition: GBATemp version. If anyone actually does that, then I'm STICKING to that.

 

[Sir Tortoise]

Missed the point of my reply lol

I know, I'm being sarcastic. Blows my mind how people see something as vague like "I heard someone got banned for X" and don't question where that information is most likely to come from.

 

[Bladexdsl]

The dudes name is @Khentendo (person who got banned for saying dude)

Apparently later in the thread, turns out dude was just being an asshole and there was more of a reason for him getting banned lol

if your gonna be a dick online your going to be banned nuff said. serves him right