Hacking Homebrew Nintendo warns against using “unauthorized services” such as online Wii U replacement

[J-Will]

https://nintendoeverything.com/nint...ed-services-such-as-online-wii-u-replacement/

A statement was posted on social media today in which Nintendo is cautioning fans against using “unauthorized services”. Specifics weren’t shared, but the company acknowledged that there are ways to continue playing Wii U games online. Nintendo claims that using these services “may pose unexpected security risks.”

Online support for Wii U – as well as 3DS – was discontinued last April. But there are ways to circumvent that. The open-source project Pretendo was previously established for this very reason, offering online functionality via custom servers and “clean-room reverse engineering.” Users need to hack their device in order to use the service.



Nintendo’s full statement reads:

“We have confirmed the existence of unauthorized services that replace functions such as online play for the Wii U, which ended service on April 9, 2024. Please refrain from using such services as they may pose unexpected security risks.”

Nintendo’s post does come at an interesting time. Pretendo, which is the biggest option when it comes to replacing online play for Wii U and 3DS, is far from new – it’s been known since the official shut down last year. It’s anyone’s guess why the company decided to share this statement now.

 

[ccfman2004]

Of course they are going to say that as they want you to buy a Switch, Online Subscription, and re-released game.

If they REALLY cared about customer's safety, they would kept the Wii U and 3DS servers online.

 

[CORE]

Fucktendo!

 

[SylverReZ]

It should be evident from the start that any 'revival service' for that matter can leave a big gap for vulnerabilities, yet few people consider this in mind. And, even though the code they used to replicate the communications with the server was reverse engineered, they are not legally obligated to do so without Nintendo's permission, to which they will always say "no" for an answer.

If they REALLY cared about customer's safety, they would kept the Wii U and 3DS servers online.

It would've costed them more money to keep the Wii U and 3DS servers alive.

 

[Bede]

"Please don't keep enjoying that."

 

[RedColoredStars]

If they REALLY cared about customer's safety, they would kept the Wii U and 3DS servers online.

BS. Nobody playing that shit anymore and it wasn't worth the cost to keep operating and maintaining them. Ever use Pretendo? Care to tell me about the hundreds of thousands of people using it and what game lobbies they are in? Mario Kart? Yay. Like one title worth keeping servers up for is certainly worth it. lol.

 

[PabloMK7]

BS. Nobody playing that shit anymore and it wasn't worth the cost to keep operating and maintaining them. Ever use Pretendo? Care to tell me about the hundreds of thousands of people using it and what game lobbies they are in? Mario Kart? Yay. Like one title worth keeping servers up for is certainly worth it. lol.

Only about 0.1% of 3DS consoles have CFW installed. The reason there is little people in pretendo is because not everyone wants to modify their console, not because "nobody plays that shit anymore".

 

[RedColoredStars]

Only about 0.1% of 3DS consoles have CFW installed. The reason there is little people in pretendo is because not everyone wants to modify their console, not because "nobody plays that shit anymore".

You know full well that "nobody" was not meant to be literally "no one in the entire world". There were not enough people still playing Wii U and 3DS online to make it worth keeping the servers up. Fact.

GBATemp: The Wii U was a shitty system and a complete failure!!! Fuck Nintendo!!!
Also GBATemp: Why the fuck Nintendo shut down Wii U servers!!! Fuck Nintnedo!!!!

 

[NinStar]

You know full well that "nobody" was not meant to be literally "no one in the entire world". There were not enough people still playing Wii U and 3DS online to make it worth keeping the servers up. Fact.

GBATemp: The Wii U was a shitty system and a complete failure!!! Fuck Nintendo!!!
Also GBATemp: Why the fuck Nintendo shut down Wii U servers!!! Fuck Nintnedo!!!!

Care to provide the data for your claims?

 

[RedColoredStars]

Care to provide the data for your claims?

LMFAO! I see what you're doing there. Care to provide data against my claims?

 

[NinStar]

LMFAO! I see what you're doing there. Care to provide data against my claims?

What the fuck is this logic.

 

[ChibiMofo]

BS. Nobody playing that shit anymore and it wasn't worth the cost to keep operating and maintaining them. Ever use Pretendo? Care to tell me about the hundreds of thousands of people using it and what game lobbies they are in? Mario Kart? Yay. Like one title worth keeping servers up for is certainly worth it. lol.

What kind of an a-hole says that no one is playing classic games? And would you care to tell the thousands enjoying the Wii U version of Splatoon online that they aren't doing that? There is NO place for airheaded trolls in THIS forum.

 

[SaulFabre]

Nintendo? More like... uh...






















Helltendo lol

 

[The Real Jdbye]

They're technically correct, but they're obviously being vague as to scare people, because being upfront about the amount of risk would be less effective.
There is a risk as far as data being transmitted to and from "untrusted" servers and any data you transmit might not be private.
But none of it is important data, besides your password if you used the same one on important sites/services (which you shouldn't)
So even in the worst case where one of the server administrators goes rogue or there is a data breach (which could happen to any server, even the official servers), very little harm could actually come from it.

 

[4d1xlaan]

they're just covering their asses if undiscovered vulnerabilities come up that could end up being exploited remotely

pretendo doesn't even need to be malicious for undiscovered vulnerabilities to end up being exploited in the wild by other pretendo users

remember the recent vulnerabilities in basically every nintendo game online play, modders were able to make patches to protect against the vulnerabilities, but there is no guarantee that if vulnerabilities are found 5, 10, 15 years down the line, that anyone would still be around to make unofficial patches, or that malicious users wouldnt be the ones discovering the vulnerability and exploiting it before patches can be made

and because people just connect years out of date hardware to their lan where it can reach every other device on the network, yeah

acknowledging that isnt nearly as fun as "nintendo bad" though

 

[V10lator]

there is no guarantee that if vulnerabilities are found 5, 10, 15 years down the line, that anyone would still be around to make unofficial patches

No Pretendo dev around would equal to nobody paying the server bills anymore, so no more Pretetendo.

There were not enough people still playing Wii U and 3DS online to make it worth keeping the servers up. Fact.

Let's play with some numbers...

Here are some statistics. We currently have about:

• 53,000 Discord members
• 158,000 PNIDs
• 418,000 NEX accounts (every PNID and every connected 3DS each get a NEX account)
• On average, 1000-2000 people connected to the friends server at a time (which is basically the number of people actively using Pretendo; as I’m posting this it’s at about 1500)

(Source: https://forum.pretendo.network/t/ho...r-how-many-pretendo-accounts-are-there/3119/4 )
Now if that are just 0,1% of users that means there are roughly 400000000 Wii U and 3DS users.
We also see that Wii U (PNID) users are around 33% of these which would make ~132000000 Wii U and 268000000 3DS users.

Care to provide data against my claims?

That's not how argumenting works, especially not if you claim something as a fact without providing any source but anyway, you have hard numbers aka real facts now. Your turn to prove them wrong.

//EDIT: Also how is Pretendo getting donations to keep the servers up and running if it's not worth it?

 

[RedColoredStars]

No Pretendo dev around would equal to nobody paying the server bills anymore, so no more Pretetendo.


Let's play with some numbers...

(Source:ttps://forum.pretendo.network/t/how-many-people-are-active-or-currently-using-pretendo-so-far-how-many-pretendo-accounts-are-there/3119/4 h )
Now if that are just 0,1% of users that means there are roughly 400000000 Wii U and 3DS users.
We also see that Wii U (PNID) users are around 33% of these which would make ~132000000 Wii U and 268000000 3DS users.


That's not how argumenting works, especially not if you claim something as a fact without providing any source but anyway, you have hard numbers aka real facts now. Your turn to prove them wrong.

//EDIT: Also how is Pretendo getting donations to keep the servers up and running if it's not worth it?

Ummmmm. What a failure of a try to twist shit around to fit your narrative. Why did you leave this part out, from a Pretendo dev and forum admin?

"On average, 1000-2000 people connected to the friends server at a time (which is basically the number of people actively using Pretendo; as I’m posting this it’s at about 1500)"

Try again.

 

[Lostbhoy]

Just replace your wii u and come out the dark ages!

I loved it when i had it but will refuse to turn it on now (its still plugged in under the tv) due to the fact I haven't got a week for the menu to load. The things a fucking tractor on the motorway and will love life along side the vr boy and the core cult following. It's time to let go....

My phone is far superior and I can even get a wii u on it but there is literally nothing I want to play from its library.... Thats just me tho and none of the afore mentioned services were ever appealing.

 

[V10lator]

Why did you leave this part out, from a Pretendo dev and forum admin?

Didn't leave anything out, it's in my quote but nice strawman argument.

 

[RedColoredStars]

Didn't leave anything out, it's in my quote but nice strawman argument.

Ok, you got me there. It was in your quote. At least i'm able to admit when I'm wrong. You? Not so much. The fact remains you tried to use a bunch of big numbers to twist things to fit your narrative. Pretendo dev themself said about 1500 users. Meanwhile you're trying to push some bullshit 400000000, 132000000, and 268000000 digits. LMFAO. Try a simple Google search and see what others have to say about it. My thoughts on the matter are far more common and realistic & I don't see many with your point of view at all. Keep trying if you'd like. I've already proven my case with your bogus numbers and I don't have anything left to say on the matter. You even proved yourself wrong by quoting a Pretendo dev. But I'm the one that's wrong?