Picture: Zion Grassl / Nintendo LifeIt most likely says one thing concerning the system that the query ‘y cant metroid crawl?’ is among the most memorable nostalgia nuggets from the Wii U period.
Do not get me improper – whereas the preliminary messaging was poor, the GamePad’s killer apps by no means actually arrived, and the system itself was gradual and ponderous, I nonetheless liked my Wii U. However with Nintendo spending the final eight years selecting at its carcass and making its best hits accessible on 150 million extra consoles, many recollections made by the Wii U’s trustworthy few at the moment are muddled with the shinier ‘Deluxe’ variations.
Considering again on Wii U-exclusive recollections, it is Nintendo Land, Reasonably priced House Adventures, perhaps ZombiU, the primary (higher) Tremendous Mario Maker, and Miiverse that stick within the thoughts. And when you needed to sum up the latter in a single pic, it could be this one:
A platform for the large questions
Ahhh. You are feeling that? That is your nostalgia gland spurting. The truth is, as Wii U approaches the last-last-gen threshold, I’ve seen a common uptick in curiosity and affection – and that is nice! It was a enjoyable machine with good video games and attention-grabbing concepts, particularly Miiverse. Less complicated occasions, eh? Higher occasions, even…
Dangle on, I am going to cease you there. Because the world disintegrates and our information feeds make us lengthy for The Good Ol’ Days™, it is simple to pine for the quaintness and appeal of Nintendo’s social media experiment. The enjoyable little Miis congregating round video games in your plaza! The lovable screenshots and innocence of the posts! The cool white and vibrant inexperienced look and the unbelievable art work! Even the ‘dangerous’ posts have been enjoyable, proper?
Erm, no. Possibly the previous decade has numbed us to it, however regardless of the appeal, Miiverse was an undeniably clunky platform; a walled backyard crammed with horrid takes and a complicated mixture of naive Nintendo followers, seasoned trolls, and children dashing ideas off and not using a second one.
There have been rumours suggesting Nintendo needs to get social once more with a brand new platform. It has been steered that the mysterious ‘C’ button may hyperlink out to some new social hub, however wild speak of a TikTok-style platform known as ‘Vidmiio’ has at all times had our collective eyebrows brushing the ceiling right here at NL. Are we not social sufficient already? Do folks not keep in mind what occurred the final time? You assume Nintendo needs that once more!?
Picture: Nintendo Life
Whereas watching some outdated movies on the subject, I got here throughout the beautiful Alex-from-Nintendo-Life discussing Miiverse on the cusp of its demise. Although he highlighted its neighborhood of artists as a specific spotlight, he usually did not get a lot out of the platform past that. Asking across the NL workplace for Miiverse ideas, past a wistful, faraway look, the service does not issue massively into our recollections.
“I genuinely don’t assume I ever used it,” got here one response. “Ineffective, however charming,” was one other, referring to Wii’s enjoyable lineup of ‘channels’ in the identical breath. “Wii Climate Channel was the bomb.” Certainly it was, however in 2025 it is not one thing we’re gagging to see make a return on Swap, and Miiverse falls into the identical class.
Possibly we have been all a bit too outdated for it. Maybe that walled backyard was a protected area for a youthful technology to precise themselves, interacting and exploring a platform that, although policed by Nintendo, nonetheless managed to shock and shock from time to time.
This is a reminder of Miiverse’s appear and feel that Alex whipped up… 9 years in the past? Whats up there, outdated folks!
Would Miiverse have shut down if Wii U had been a blistering success? It was on 3DS too, keep in mind, so it is not only a case of Wii U underperforming. Miiverse was additionally tied into the outdated Nintendo Community ID system, however that might have been funnelled into the present Nintendo Account setup with some effort. The very fact is, although, that it merely wasn’t value pursuing from Nintendo’s perspective.
Trying again, the obscure, wishy-washy aim for the service — and the acknowledged cause it shut down — does not give us an enormous quantity to go on:
We began the Miiverse service in 2012 together with the launch of the Wii U system as a result of we wished to supply an area the place customers may share their emotions about video games with one another. Because of customers’ help all through the years, we expect we have been in a position to obtain that aim. We determined to finish the service at the moment as a result of, amongst different causes, many customers are shifting to social networking companies.
The mainstream social shift to Twitter and different websites within the mid-2010s was undoubtedly an element, though “amongst different causes” is doing a whole lot of heavy lifting in that sentence.
Moderation apparently caught Nintendo off guard (see additionally Swapnote) and having dipped its its toe within the social pool, the platform holder quickly realised it simply wasn’t well worth the intense effort required to maintain issues family-friendly, one thing that is vital to its model. By 2017 there have been a great deal of locations to “share emotions about video games” – locations the place Nintendo did not must take away the fixed D pics.
If Wii U had loved Wii or Swap ranges of success, I nonetheless do not assume Miiverse would have survived any longer than it did. Paradoxically, Wii U’s decreased viewers was a blessing in disguise for this social experiment. Are you able to think about the hours and sources that moderating the posts of 100 million+ customers would have sucked up?
Now there’s one thing we would prefer to see make a comeback! — Picture: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life
When folks lament Miiverse’s demise, I see it extra as a want to recapture the innocence and novelty of Nintendo’s off-the-wall social strategy in a world the place cynicism can really feel like the one device you’ve got bought in opposition to the downright terrifying doomscroll. Lately it is exhausting to see something however two selections: stick your head within the sand, blanking and blocking something adverse within the title of self-preservation (and on the threat of showing frivolous or ignorant); alternatively, get entangled within the each day discourse, which inevitably devolves into knee-jerk snark, ill-informed takes, accusations and awfulness. No surprise persons are eager for the Nintendo distinction!
Of the issues sacrificed within the transfer to Swap, it is StreetPass that we actually need introduced again – a characteristic that inspired interplay, cooperation, and getting out of the home with video video games in your pocket. StreetPass bolstered the Nintendo distinction in such optimistic methods. However whereas we will look again on the olden occasions with a nostalgic tear and revel in recollections of memes so viral that even Nintendo referenced them, Miiverse is greatest left previously.
Trying by outdated movies as I wrote this up, I got here throughout the highest touch upon Alex’s video beneath. @gavin2601 (a well-designated particular person, for positive, however not me) summed it up completely as one thing to be remembered and discovered from… however not repeated.
“Miiverse was probably the most lovely mistake Nintendo has ever made.”
Would you prefer to see Miiverse make a comeback on Swap 2? (217 votes)
Completely! Miiverse was unbelievable!38percentI suppose it might be enjoyable, with refinements24percentI do not care by hook or by crook tbh9percentMiiverse? No. However some spin on it, perhaps?9percentEr, most likely not12percentCompletely not! Jeez, are you mad?7%
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Gavin first wrote for Nintendo Life in 2018 earlier than becoming a member of the location full-time the next 12 months, rising by the ranks to develop into Editor. He can presently be discovered squashed beneath a Swap backlog the dimensions of Normandy.
