Miiverse is getting a big expansion in the future; deeper integration in games, more features, etc
Nintendo is really rolling out the “we’re-a-modern-company-too” artillery this week.
I say that partially in jest because we are very used to Nintendo being a somewhat “old-fashioned” tech company, but by and large the statement of mockery rings very true: With their updated support for HTML, CSS, and Java (all very “hip” development languages), the newly announced iOS-to-Wii U conversion tools, and this massive expansion of Miiverse, it almost feels as thought the Big N is, for better or worse, “getting with the times”. The latter of those three things is the newest announcement, and as of today we have a bunch of details on what they plan to do with Miiverse going forward. Here are the bulletpoints:
– Update will improve interactions with games, create a deeper integration with them
– Send and receive comments, follow users, view followers, etc all from within games
– Launch games at a specific point via Miiverse, such as New Super Mario Bros. U
– If a player tags a specific level in a Miiverse post (say, World 1-2), you could click the tag and start the game at that level to see what they’re talking about
– Miiverse could eventually be coupled with an online datastore, which would allow for “more advanced functions”
– User communities will become more widespread
– Limited access communities would have codes to join, and only those who own the game could join
– This would allow for tournament organization and hosting
– Potential to link “stage editors” to Miiverse, allowing users to direct an entire game from Miiverse (not sure what this implies)
– Nintendo is listening to developer requests on how to extend the Miiverse API to become more beneficial
Sounds like a heck of an improvement to me! Nintendo really seems to want to get back on top. And honestly, that’s sort of the unfortunate truth with the Big N: When they’re in trouble, they work a heck of a lot harder to get back on top. When they’re on top, the quality of their games and support tends to go down.
