Nintendo's fan-made replacement “Pretendo” no longer requires hacking the Wii U

Official online functionality for the Wii U and 3DS may not be there (as of today, April 9), however unofficial Nintendo Network alternatives already exist. What's more, a fan-made server replacement pretend network Now available even for those who don't want to hack their Wii U.

in Blog post Released today, the masterminds behind Pretendo are set to release “SSSL,” a “special SSL exploit for the Wii U” that “allows users to connect to the Pretendo network from the Wii U, with no homeware or custom firmware at all.”

According to the statement, a DNS change is all that's now needed to get the network replaced and up and running on the Wii U, giving anyone who previously resisted installing Homebrew the chance to get in on the action. Complete setup instructions are available on the Pretendo Network website.

This new connection method is based on a bug found in the Wii U version 5.5.5 The SSL module and the Pretendo team claim to have known about it for a while but did not want to make the information available to the public in case it needed to be patched as a result.

Online server rebuilds will not work with titles that use their own SSL libraries (Pretendo lists WATCH_DOGS and YouTube as examples) and the team stated in Twitter The non-cracked method is only available on the Wii U, with no such exploits applicable to the 3DS.