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

 

[DragonMals]

Just linked my PNID to my 3ds just as you said this post. Time to speedrun getting banned since they're absolutely known for doing that.

 

[ShadowOne333]

Just linked my PNID to my 3ds just as you said this post. Time to speedrun getting banned since they're absolutely known for doing that.

Pretendo is banning people?

 

[DragonMals]

Pretendo is banning people?

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.

 

[ZeroFX]

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?

 

[ShadowOne333]

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.

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.

 

[DragonMals]

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.

You tell me. I wished that there was another alternative, but this is what we've gotten. Also about the Spotpass revival project... Why did it take people so long for them to do a project like this and not something during the 3ds infancy?

 

[gnmmarechal]

RIP, been a good while

 

[Robert Newbie]

There's also a post by @Painmeister explaining how Insignia brings the original Xbox games back online. I think there are fan projects bringing PS3 games, including PSHome, back online too.

Bringing all these consoles back online (after the big companies have abandoned them) just makes my head spin.

 

[Hanafuda]

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.

Dude ...

 

[ShadowOne333]

You tell me. I wished that there was another alternative, but this is what we've gotten. Also about the Spotpass revival project... Why did it take people so long for them to do a project like this and not something during the 3ds infancy?

Actually, why are they even censoring and doing moderation over people?
They could very well do the Nintendo way of doing things and just do a blacklist of words that shouldn't be allowed to be typed and that's it, no need to go the idiotic banning trend with things they don't like, just a black list and that's it.

 

[DragonMals]

Actually, why are they even censoring people?
They could very well do the Nintendo way of doing things and just do a blacklist of words that shouldn't be allowed to be typed and that's it, no need to go the idiotic banning trend with things they don't like, just a black list and that's it.

I don't know how that's possible, given the low knowledge of how making stuff like Juxtaposition works, but they could always look into doing stuff like that. I just wished that they weren't so harsh because that would entice people to just admit loss and to just pay for Switch Online. '

 

[J-Will]

Just use rverse guys

 

[MasterMan194]

Pokemon Ultra Sun´s GTS worked for me just now.
Will Pretendo support it anytime BTW?

 

[ShadowOne333]

Pokemon Ultra Sun´s GTS worked for me just now.
Will Pretendo support it anytime BTW?

The shutdown hasn't happened yet.
It's still a few hours off, try again in 5 hours and it won't go through.
As for Ultra Sun's GTS, I'm not sure, you have to check the compatibility list for specific games.

 

[Kioku]

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.

I vaguely remember similar reports. It's why I never bothered looking into it. Having an alternative online service is great, but if they can't keep the drama out of it then expect a bad time.

 

[SDA]

A quote from "Racist Mario" by FlashGitz:

"You're not Nintendo, you're... you're PRETENDO!"

Can't believe this network got its name from that, even if it's most likely unintentional.

 

[Ondrashek06]

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.

Paying to be unbanned. What a way to get a lawsuit, Yuzu-style.

Not to mention that they haven't replied to me on Twitter even after about 2 months...

 

[J-Will]

A quote from "Racist Mario" by FlashGitz:

"You're not Nintendo, you're... you're PRETENDO!"

Can't believe this network got its name from that, even if it's most likely unintentional.

Ah yes, I remember watching this video on YouTube, so many good memories.

 

[BeanMKW]

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