On Monday, April 8, Nintendo officially shut down the online servers for both the Wii U and 3DS consoles. The move ended an era of gaming that many weren’t fully ready to let go of. However, thanks to a third-party company, there is still a way that players can play Wii U games online despite servers being offline.
The Pretendo Network has announced that it’s going to be opening its servers to everyone who wants access without the need to do any major customization to their Wii U.
The SSSL is a private SSL exploit from Pretendo that allows players to play certain games online on their console without official Nintendo servers.
“Found by our very own shutterbug, this exploit allows users to connect to Pretendo Network from a stock Wii U, with no homebrew or custom firmware at all; only a DNS change,” the company said. “We’ve been holding on to this exploit for this day for quite some time, in case Nintendo decided to issue patches for it.
“Select services which use their own SSL libraries are unsupported. This includes several 3rd-party titles like WATCH_DOGS and YouTube, as well as titles which run in an embedded browser like TVii, the eShop, and the Miiverse applet. Miiverse functionality IN GAMES is still supported through SSSL!”
Games supported with the SSSL feature include Splatoon, Super Smash Bros., and even Mario Kart 8.
One thing to note, Pretendo’s SSSL exploit is only available for Wii U consoles with firmware 5.5.5 or higher. It also doesn’t work for the 3DS.
If you ultimately want access to more services and are willing to go steps further to get there, Pretendo offers more through its Inkay service that requires homebrew.
Are you going to try to get back online to play games on your Wii U? For more Insider Gaming, read about the latest exclusive details surrounding the Prince of Persia: Sands of Time Remake.
