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---
title: "Nintendo Network shutdown - The beginning of the end"
author: "Jon"
author_image: "https://www.github.com/jonbarrow.png"
date: "December 23, 2023"
caption: "Information regarding Nintendo's rollout of the Nintendo Network shutdown"
cover_image: "/assets/images/blogposts/12-23-23.jpg"
---
## EDIT December 27th, 2023: THIS INFORMATION IS NOW OUTDATED. SEE https://pretendo.network/blog/12-27-23. THIS POST WILL REMAIN UP ONLY FOR HISTORICAL REASONS
## Intro
First, we would like to apologize for the lack of blog posts this year. We planned to do more, but other priorities kept getting in the way. We continued to provide updates through our Discord and social medias during this time, but we plan to use this blog more often now.
This blog post will be a bit more serious than previous posts, as the subject matter is rather somber. We apologize for the lack of energy and quips you may have enjoyed in previous posts. This post will have information regarding several aspects of the shutdown, some of which have been covered on other social media posts. Please use the table of contents below to jump to your desired section.
## Table of Contents
1. [The Shutdown](#the-shutdown)
2. [Super Mario Maker](#super-mario-maker)
3. [New Accounts (Prerequisite)](#new-accounts-prerequisite)
4. [New Accounts](#new-accounts)
5. [Conclusion](#conclusion)
## The Shutdown
In October of 2023, Nintendo [announced the shutdown of Nintendo Network](https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/63227/~/announcement-of-discontinuation-of-online-services-for-nintendo-3ds-and-wii-u) for April of 2024. It was stated that a specific date and time would be announced later, and as of this post that has not happened yet. There have been no public announcements of any services shutting down early, though Nintendo stated they reserve they right to do so if:
> *"an event occurs that would make it difficult to continue online services for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U software"*
However, it appears that Nintendo has begun a slow rollout of shutdowns. Intentional or not.
## Super Mario Maker
This information was also detailed in a [Twitter thread](https://twitter.com/PretendoNetwork/status/1736325668412031255). You may read this there if you wish, or read the repost below.
Some time in early December 2023, Super Mario Maker began throwing error `106-0502` very often when trying to connect. It is unclear when this truly began, but the earliest occurrences we could find were around the 8th of December. Upon inspection, the cause for this error was clear: the server the game was attempting to connect to no longer existed. Our first assumption was that this was the beginning of the shutdown early, that Nintendo may have started turning off games without notice. After some more research, however, we discovered some users able to still connect.
Games on Nintendo Network function using 3 servers:
1. The account server, which tells the client the location of the game's authentication server and provides the client with a token to connect with.
2. The game's authentication server, which logs the user in using the internal NEX account (details on this in the [New Accounts (Prerequisite)](#new-accounts-prerequisite) section), and tells the client the location of the game's secure server.
3. The game's secure server, which is where all the game play content happens at.
Every game on Nintendo Network uses the same 2 authentication servers. However each game has many dedicated secure servers. When logging in, the authentication server gives one of many randomly selected addresses to connect to. We believe this is some form of load balancing, splitting connections between many servers. The issue resulting in `106-0502` is that the authentication server is now giving clients addresses to dead servers. So far, we have only been able to identify a single working address for the game.
We believe this is due to Nintendo attempting to scale back how many servers are running for each game, to save on costs as the shutdown date approaches. They most likely made an error in their presumed load balancer to not remove these now dead servers from the pool of available addresses. We believe this was done completely unintentionally, however Nintendo shows no signs of fixing this error.
## New Accounts (Prerequisite)
As briefly touched on in [Super Mario Maker](#super-mario-maker), Nintendo actually uses a series of internal accounts for several services. For games, these are called "NEX accounts". Some background knowledge is required for this section, which will be gone over now.
NEX is the software Nintendo uses for all 3DS and WiiU games (and some Switch games). It is based on a library called Rendez-Vous, made by Canadian software company [Quazal](https://web.archive.org/web/20040610104624/http://www.quazal.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=101&page=1). Quazal, before being bought out by Ubisoft, would license Rendez-Vous to anyone. Many games, on many platforms, by many developers, all use some variation of Rendez-Vous as it was highly extensible. This is why our server libraries are [theoretically compatible with Ubisoft games](https://twitter.com/PretendoNetwork/status/1727016210435641508).
Nintendo licensed Rendez-Vous and modified it quite a bit, stripping out some more complex features and adding in some custom protocols, rebranding it to NEX. The important takeaway here is that Nintendo did not build this system from scratch, and instead modified a system made for generic game server usage.
## New Accounts
Some time in late December 2023, new accounts could no longer go online in any games on both the WiiU and 3DS.
As mentioned in [New Accounts (Prerequisite)](#new-accounts-prerequisite), Nintendo did not make their game server software from scratch. Rendez-Vous comes with its own account system, likely due to it being designed for use in one-off games. At the time of its development, online multiplayer games were still very new and the concept of a unified account system (such as Nintendo Network or Uplay) spanning many different games made by the same company, was not a thing. Therefore, Nintendo needed to cope with this existing account system in some way.
On the 3DS, the console registers a new NEX account on the Friends server once during the console's setup process. Each 3DS, under normal circumstances, will only ever have a single account at a time (though this is not *always* true, but not relevant). This is why a NNID is not required to play most games online on the 3DS, as games use your NEX account to login to all game servers. Because of this, a new NEX account will never be created again unless the old one is removed using CFW or by factory resetting the console.
On the WiiU, a new NEX account is created automatically when the NNID is registered, and the NEX account is linked to this NNID. The console then alerts the Friends server of the new NEX account, much like 3DS. Despite using NNIDs, the WiiU also uses these NEX accounts to go online in all games.
Once a NEX account has been created, the Friends server synchronizes this account with all other game servers on Nintendo Network. This is due to the aforementioned account system provided by Rendez-Vous. Due to each game having their own server, and Rendez-Vous not having the concept of a unified account system, each game server has its own account system internally, which is synchronized with other games. It is actually possible to create accounts in other servers besides the Friends server if using a modified client, and those accounts will be usable in other games.
This synchronization process has been stopped. New NEX accounts are no longer being synchronized with any other servers on the network. This affects all games. Because of this, any attempt to connect to any game using an account made after this change was made will result in error `106-0303` on the WiiU and `006-0303` on the 3DS, internally called `RendezVous::InvalidUsername`.
It is not clear at this time whether this was intentional or not.
## Conclusion
We ask that you do not spam Nintendo's support lines with these issues. Doing so may cause Nintendo to pull the plug entirely early. There are only 3 possible scenarios:
1. Nintendo is aware of these issues already, and spam would annoy them to the point of pulling the plug.
2. Nintendo is not aware of these issues, and alerting them may cause them to pull the plug. They have already stated that anything making things "difficult" may come with an early shutdown.
3. These issues were intentional, and spam would annoy them to the point of pulling the plug.

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---
title: "Fortunate updates with Nintendo Network"
author: "Jon"
author_image: "https://www.github.com/jonbarrow.png"
date: "December 27, 2023"
caption: "Updates regarding our last blog post"
cover_image: "/assets/images/blogposts/12-23-23.jpg"
---
### *Edit December 27th, 2023 7:35PM UTC: Nintendo has fixed the friends sync issue during maintenance*
## Intro
This is an update to our [last blog post](https://pretendo.network/blog/12-23-23), where we discussed some issues regarding Nintendo Network and how they could possibly be linked to the upcoming shutdown. This post aims to provide updates on the situation, as things have begun to improve.
This is a developing situation. As such, this blog post may be updated at any time as new information comes in. Edits will be mentioned above this introduction.
## For the media
We deeply appreciate members of the media wanting to cover this situation, and using us as a trusted source for information. We saw a number of outlets covering our last blog post, and we think it's wonderful they are trying to spread the word. With that said, some outlets did a less than stellar job at reporting our last post, not covering some topics fully or accurately. We would like to ask that members of the media who wish to cover anything posted by us please contact us first to verify the accuracy and legitimacy of the information. We have contacts open on most major social media, and would be happy to discuss things.
## Table of Contents
1. [Thanks](#thanks)
2. [New Account Syncing](#new-account-syncing)
2. [New Account Syncing (Friends)](#new-account-syncing-friends)
3. [Super Mario Maker (Dead Servers)](#super-mario-maker-dead-servers)
4. [Super Mario Maker (AWS)](#super-mario-maker)
5. [Conclusion](#conclusion)
## Thanks
Before we begin, I'd like to thank members of both our community and Nintendo for their parts in this situation. In our last blog post we urged users to not spam Nintendo regarding these issues, which many followed. We would like to thank those who followed that advice, as we have been given confirmation that those actions may have led Nintendo to act "in a way that's negative". We were told this by our media contact, who will remain anonymous. This contact was able to reach out to Nintendo directly, and together we were able to privately forward these issues to the correct channels.
We noted in our last blog post that it was unclear whether these issues were intentional or not, and it appears that this was indeed unintentional. While we cannot confirm whether or not Nintendo will take action on all issues presented to them, we would like to thank Nintendo for taking the time to at least acknowledge the issues and look into correcting them. We would also like to specifically thank the engineers and other IT staff at Nintendo working to maintain these legacy servers despite the impending shutdown.
## New Account Syncing
In our last blog post we went into detail about how some parts of Nintendo's server architecture works, and how this led to new users on both platforms not being able to connect to game servers anymore. We are happy to announce that as of December 26th, 2023 at around 5:00PM UTC this seems to have been corrected. We have verified this with several people internally, on both platforms and in several games. New accounts may now go online as normal.
## New Account Syncing (Friends)
Shortly after our last blog post, we discovered that new friends on the 3DS were also not being synced to other servers even for existing users. This meant that games such as Animal Crossing: New Leaf could not be played with 3DS friends made after the recent server changes, as your friends were no longer being synced. This issue has not yet been confirmed to happen on the Wii U, however due to the Wii U and 3DS sharing a Friends server it is likely this happens on both platforms. We did not publicly disclose this at the time as we were still gathering information in order to accurately report on the issue. Following maintenance on December 27th, 2023 this has been fixed.
## Super Mario Maker (Dead Servers)
Previously announced via Twitter, and briefly touched on in our last blog post, Super Mario Maker's authentication server has an error with the list of game servers it gives to the client to connect to. Most of these servers are no longer online, meaning most attempts to connect to the game will fail. As of writing on December 27th, 2023, this has not yet been fixed. The issue has been raised to Nintendo.
## Super Mario Maker (AWS)
For several months we have been aware of a previously undisclosed issue with Super Mario Maker regarding their use of AWS, specifically S3. Super Mario Maker uploads content such as courses and maker profiles to S3 using a NEX protocol called `DataStore`. This protocol gives the client a way to interact with, and upload new, S3 objects. S3 is a service, originally created by Amazon, to manage objects in a secure, scalable, way. For more information on S3 see the official [AWS docs](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AmazonS3/latest/userguide/Welcome.html).
When a client connects to Super Mario Maker for the first time, it first checks if your account has a "maker" object in S3 using `DataStore`. If not, the server gives the client a URL it can use to upload your "maker" object. Think of this as simply a file with some metadata that will describe you and your stats as you play the game. This object is required for continuing online, and will not function without it.
On June 28th, 2022, AWS announced that they will be dropping support for clients using TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1 in [a blog post](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/security/tls-1-2-required-for-aws-endpoints/), making TLS 1.2 the minimum required version. These changes take effect in December of this year. The details of what TLS is is not important, but for more details [see here](https://www.cloudflare.com/learning/ssl/transport-layer-security-tls/).
The Wii U and 3DS do not support TLS versions 1.2 or higher, only supporting TLS versions 1.0 and 1.1. Because of the announced changes to AWS, any client using an out of date TLS version would no longer be able to connect to their services. Nintendo seems to have been aware of these TLS changes, as all games which use the `DataStore` protocol were updated at some point to no longer connect directly to AWS. They are now instead proxied through a Nintendo-owned server. We believe this to be simply a TLS proxy.
The exception to this being Super Mario Maker. Since its release it has always connected directly to AWS, and was not updated with the rest of the games to use this Nintendo-owned server. Because of this, Super Mario Maker was the only game vulnerable to these AWS changes. This would prevent the game from uploading the "maker" object for any new users, rendering them unable to play online.
As of December 26th, 2023, Super Mario Maker's game server has been updated to now use this Nintendo-owned proxy. The changes made to AWS will no longer affect the game.
## Conclusion
We would again like to thank our community members and Nintendo for their roles in all of this. Sorting these issues out is a complex task, and we thank our community members who have not spam contacted Nintendo's support hotlines regarding these issues. The customer service reps on these hotlines likely have no influence over the day to day operations of these servers. Additionally, the issues mentioned here have already been brought to the proper channels. We will continue to update this blog post as new information comes in.

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---
title: "The Future of Pretendo After Nintendo Network"
author: "Jon"
author_image: "https://www.github.com/jonbarrow.png"
date: "April 8, 2024"
caption: "Hackless Wii U connections, farewell to Nintendo Network, and more"
cover_image: "/assets/images/blogposts/4-8-24.png"
---
Today marks the end of Nintendo Network. As sad as this day is for many, it also comes with some positive developments. In this blog post we'll go over some new developments and plans, including official game support and a new way to connect to Pretendo ***without homebrew***!
# A Somber Farewell
As of today, April 8th, 2024 Nintendo Network, the online servers powering the Wii U and 3DS's multiplayer, has shut down. Launching in 2012, Nintendo Network lasted exactly 12 years, 2 months, and 14 days (longer than the Wii!). This era of Nintendo's history is often looked down upon, made fun of, even by those of us in the scene. But we believe it's important to highlight the good that came from it, sending this generation off with the respect it deserves.
Unlike the competitors at the time, Nintendo opted to continue with offering their online services free of charge. While it may not have had as many features as competitors, including staples like achievements, private messaging, etc. it cannot be denied that the low barrier of entry made it many users' first time playing online. The inclusion of Miiverse gave the games a sense of community still unseen in the current generation, and is something Nintendo fans and non-Nintendo fans alike would like to see again.
Nintendo's backwards compatibility with the previous generations, not only through hardware support with vWii, but further beyond through the Virtual Console, is an incredible feat. While plagued with low sales, and even lower developer adoption, this generation released some of the most beloved games/franchises to date. Mario Kart 8 and the Splatoon franchise began on the Wii U, as did Super Mario Maker. Most of the Wii U's library was eventually ported, or continued, to the Switch, where they sold incredibly well, showing that the console had a solid lineup.
The 3DS pushed hard for player interactions, going so far as to build systems into the hardware to reward players who passed each other in the real world. The charm of getting a StreetPass is something that still has people carrying around their consoles 12 years later. The barrier of entry being even lower on the 3DS, as most games did not require the user to create an account to play online at all.
We at the Pretendo Network team, as much as we poke and tease, love these consoles and the impact they had on gaming. The Wii U was truly ahead of its time in many ways, plagued with bad marketing killing its chances at success. We thank Nintendo for giving so many of us entertainment in this era, and bringing many of us closer together.
# SSSL
As a parting gift to you all, we are releasing our private SSL exploit for the Wii U: SSSL! Found by our very own [shutterbug](https://twitter.com/shutterbug20002), 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! 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!***
We hope this new method of connecting will be useful for those who have trouble installing homebrew, those who are worried about mods, and for users who may live in areas where local law may make it more difficult to install mods. For more information, see our [updated setup guide](/docs/install/wiiu)!
### *SSSL is only available for Wii U systems running firmware version 5.5.5 or higher. SSSL is not available for 3DS users.*
# Archival
Over the past 6 months, we have been hard at work pushing for the archival of as much data as possible. To that end we created the [Archival Tools repository](https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/archival-tools), a selection of tools dedicated to archiving specific content from various games and services. Together with help from the community at large we have been able to archive several terabytes of this data from various services.
All archived data we have collected, including SpotPass data, Super Mario Maker courses, many games leaderboards, etc. will be posted on the [Internet Archive](https://archive.org) at a later date once it has finished being processed. The data will be freely available for anyone to download. Some of this data will also make its way onto our servers at a later time. Specific dates for these events will come in the future.
# Colors! 3D
As of April 7th, the day before the shutdown, Pretendo has collaborated with the developers of [Colors! 3D](https://www.colorslive.com/purchase/3ds), a drawing and art sharing game for the Nintendo 3DS. Together we have *officially* added support for each other, meaning Colors! 3D will continue to operate as normal when using Pretendo Network. Checkout their game, and their [Discord server](https://www.colorslive.com/discord), for more information on the Colors! franchise!

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If installed directly from your console for the first time, you will still be required to install the associated IPS patches from GitHub. Once installed, updates may be managed purely from Universal-Updater
</div>
Before you start, power off your console and insert its SD card into your computer.
Before starting, power off your console and insert its SD card into your computer.
Once inserted, download the latest [Nimbus release](https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/Nimbus/releases/latest).

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# Wii U
You can connect your Wii U to Pretendo using one of 2 methods. Each method has benefits and drawbacks, which will be described in their respective sections.
- [SSSL (hackless)](#sssl)
- [Inkay (homebrew)](#inkay)
Once you have selected a connection method and set up your Wii U, see ["PNID Setup"](#pnid-setup).
If you have save data from a Nintendo Network ID you would like to move to your Pretendo Network ID, follow [this](#transferring-save-data-to-your-pretendo-network-account) section.
# SSSL
**Pros:**
- Does not require homebrew
- Very easy to setup
**Cons:**
- Only a subset of services are supported
- Lacks additional features and patches
- May not function under certain ISP related conditions (self-hosted DNS tool is in development)
- Requires changing network settings to disconnect
SSSL is a (limited) hackless method of accessing most services by exploiting a bug in the Wii U's SSL module. All Nintendo Network games produced by Nintendo are supported by SSSL, as are the ***in-game*** Miiverse features. The main Miiverse app, in-game ***posting*** app, and any game which uses its own SSL stack (YouTube, WATCH_DOGS, etc.), are ***NOT*** supported by this method, as they are unaffected by the SSL exploit.
To connect using SSSL, open `System Settings > Internet > Connect to the Internet`. Open the settings for your network connection and open `DNS`. Select `Don't Auto-obtain`. Enter `88.198.140.154` as the `Primary DNS`. Enter another public DNS server address as the `Secondary DNS`, such as `8.8.8.8` (Google Public DNS) or `1.1.1.1` (Cloudflare-DNS). You should now be able to setup and login to your Pretendo Network ID as normal.
To disconnect from Pretendo Network either remove the `Primary DNS` address or change back to `Auto-obtain`.
# Inkay
**Pros:**
- All services supported
- Contains additional features and patches
- No ISP related issues
- Easy toggle on and off
**Cons:**
- Requires homebrew
- Requires several steps to setup
<div class="tip">
This guide assumes that you have a <b>Homebrewed System</b> using <b>Aroma</b>.
This part of the guide assumes that you have a <b>Homebrewed System</b> using <b>Aroma</b>.
You can follow this <a href="https://wiiu.hacks.guide/" target="_blank">guide</a> on how to homebrew your system first, then install
Aroma using <a href="https://wiiu.hacks.guide/#/aroma/getting-started" target="_blank">this guide</a>.
</div>
You can get a Wii U onto Pretendo in just 3 steps:
1. [RCE Patches](#rce-patches)
2. [Connecting to Pretendo](#connecting-to-pretendo)
3. [PNID Setup](#pnid-setup)
Make sure to also check out [this](#switching-between-pretendo-network-and-nintendo-network) section to learn how to switch between Pretendo Network and Nintendo Network.
If you have save data from a Nintendo Network ID you would like to move to your Pretendo Network ID, follow [this](#transferring-save-data-to-your-pretendo-network-account) section.
# RCE Patches
~~Unfortunately, some of Pretendo's supported games have major security and safety problems. While Nintendo fixed these
games on the 3DS, thus far they have neglected the Wii U. Pretendo has a patcher which attempts to fix these problems -
this is **essential** to play online safely, whether on Pretendo Network or Nintendo Network.~~
This is no longer true, as Nintendo has issued updates to all affected games fixing all known issues. These docs will remain up, however, in the event that any future bugs/exploits are found and require patches
<div class="tip">
⚠️ <b>Don't skip this step!</b>
</div>
To install the fix, navigate to the
[latest release of the RCE patcher](https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/rce_patches/releases/latest) on GitHub and
download the `rce_patches.wps` file.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/rce-wps-highlight.png" width="100%">
Place the downloaded `rce_patches.wps` file on your SD card at `sd:/wiiu/environments/aroma/plugins`. It's normal for other Aroma plugins to be in this folder too.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/rce-sd-card.png" width="100%">
Place your SD card back into your console and boot like normal.
# Connecting to Pretendo
<div class="tip">
Already have Pretendo installed? Skip ahead to <a href="#pnid-setup">PNID Setup</a>!
</div>
To connect to Pretendo Network you must use the [Inkay](https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/Inkay) plugin with Aroma.
The stable version is recommended for most users, however betatesters and others may be interested in the bleeding edge version.
The stable build is recommended for most users, however beta testers and others may be interested in the bleeding edge build.
## Stable
The stable builds have been widely tested to ensure everything works as intended. Navigate to [Inkay's latest release](https://github.com/PretendoNetwork/Inkay/releases/latest) on GitHub and download the `Inkay-pretendo.wps` file from the latest release.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/wps-highlight.png" width="100%">
## Bleeding Edge
Bleeding edge builds have not been widely tested, and do not guarantee any stability. Download the latest build from <a href="https://nightly.link/PretendoNetwork/Inkay/workflows/ci/main/inkay" target="_blank">nightly</a>. Extract `inkay.zip`.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/inkay-nightly-link.png" width="100%">
## Installation
Place the downloaded `Inkay-pretendo.wps` file on your SD card at `sd:/wiiu/environments/aroma/plugins`. It's normal for other Aroma plugins to be in this folder too.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/sd-card.png" width="100%">
Place your SD card back into your console and boot like normal. If it worked, you'll see a notification of your connection:
Place your SD card back into your console and boot like normal. You should see a notification of your connection:
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/working-notification.jpg" width="100%">
You are now connected to Pretendo Network and can continue with [PNID Setup](#pnid-setup).
## Bleeding Edge
Bleeding edge builds have not been widely tested, and do not guarantee any stability. Download the latest build from <a href="https://nightly.link/PretendoNetwork/Inkay/workflows/ci/main/inkay" target="_blank">nightly</a>. Extract `inkay.zip` and place the extracted `Inkay-pretendo.wps` file on your SD card at `sd:/wiiu/environments/aroma/plugins`.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/sd-card.png" width="100%">
Place your SD card back into your console and boot like normal. If it worked, you'll see a notification of your connection:
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/aroma/working-notification.jpg" width="100%">
You are now connected to Pretendo Network and can continue with [PNID Setup](#pnid-setup).
# PNID Setup
After installing Pretendo, you will need to create a PNID to use our services. There is currently two ways of creating a PNID, by creating an account with the website and linking it or creating it on your Wii U.
### PNID Setup - Website
You will want to register an account from [here](/account) and click `Don't have an account?` to register.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/pnid/register-account-web.png" width="100%">
Right before registering a PNID, please make sure to save your password on some sort of note. This isn't necessary, but it prevents having to reset your password if you forget it. After registering just simply change your birth date, gender, timezone, country/region, etc to what you see fit. Once you have it set up we can switch back to the Wii U. Within your Wii U you will want to reconnect to Pretendo.
_**Note:** How you reconnect to Pretendo depends on how you installed it on your Wii U!_
Once you are reconnected, you will want to press the top left profile icon and press `Switch Account`, then press `Add New User`. Go through the user set up normally, but when it asks if you have an account, press `Yes` and put in your username and password. If it asks you to confirm your email afterwards, simply skip it. You will now be able to use Pretendo servers.
### PNID Setup - Wii U
Right before registering a PNID, please make sure to save your password on some sort of note. This isn't necessary, but it prevents having to reset your password if you forget it. You will want to go on you Wii U while Pretendo is still active and press the top left profile icon. After pressing the icon, press `Switch Account`, and then `Add New User`. Set up this account as normal, but once it asks if you have an account, press `No` and go through the account process normally. When it asks you again to link after adding a Mii, press `Link`. Choose your language and then accept the Pretendo Network Service Agreement.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/pnid/pretendo-eula.jpg" width="100%">
Finally, set up your PNID, email and password. Once all of this is done, you will be able to use Pretendo servers.
# Switching between Pretendo Network and Nintendo Network
To switch between your Pretendo Network and Nintendo Network profiles on your Wii U:
You are now connected to Pretendo Network.
## Disconnecting
Press `L + Down + SELECT` on the Wii U GamePad to open the Aroma plugin menu.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/pnid/aroma-plugins-list.jpg" width="100%">
@ -109,11 +77,32 @@ Locate and select 'Inkay', then choose 'Patching'. Now, set 'Connect to the Pret
Press `B` twice, followed by the `HOME` button. The console will reboot with Pretendo Network patches disabled, as confirmed by the 'Using Nintendo Network' message.
Now, switch to your desired Network ID via the Account selection screen.
To return to Pretendo Network, repeat the process ensuring 'Connect to the Pretendo Network' is set to **true**.
# Transfering save data to your Pretendo Network account
# PNID Setup
After installing Pretendo, you must register a Pretendo Network ID (PNID). There is currently two ways of creating a PNID: Creating an account with the website and linking it, or creating it on your Wii U.
<div class="tip red">
<strong>CAUTION:</strong>
A Pretendo Network ID may not use the same username as an account already linked to your Wii U! If you have any existing Nintendo Network IDs on your Wii U which share the username you wish to use, those accounts MUST be removed from your console first.
</div>
### Website
You will want to register an account from [here](/account) and click `Don't have an account?` to register.
<div class="tip yellow">
<strong>NOTE:</strong>
Account settings cannot be modified at this time. Feature updates to the website have been paused as we migrate the codebase, and the account settings app on the Wii U requires additional patches.
</div>
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/pnid/register-account-web.png" width="100%">
Once your account is registered, link it to your console as you would a Nintendo Network ID.
### Wii U
Create the Pretendo Network ID as you would a Nintendo Network ID.
# Transferring save data to your Pretendo Network account
Pretendo Network is not compatible with existing Nintendo Network IDs. This means you must create a new account. Because of this, you may want to move existing game save data to your new account.
@ -136,7 +125,7 @@ Select `Backup savedata`.
<img src="/assets/images/docs/install/wiiu/savedatabackup/savemii-backup.jpg" width="100%">
Select a new slot to backup the save data to. If you select a non-empty slot, the backup data in that slot will be overwritten.
Select a new slot to backup the save data to. If you select a non-empty slot, the backup data in that slot will be overwritten.
Select the profile to backup the save data from. This should be your ***Nintendo*** Network ID.

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