Nintendo is going Social so prepare yourself
Nintendo's President Iwata states that social features will be heading to the upcoming WiiU.
In a recent interview with Kotaku, Nintendo's "head honcho" Satoru Iwata states that the addition of social features to multiplayer and single player games is "mandatory". With Nintendo's Miiverse coming for the WiiU it's clear that the big N is putting a lot of focus into the social aspect of their games.
A glance at Nintendo's social media driven Miiverse.
It's obvious that online gaming can be a very unfriendly place. Before June's E3 Iwata said in a pre-recorded video address that he wants Miiverse to make gamers feel "empathy" for one another. Yes... "empathy". One of Nintendo's biggest pushs for "empathy gaming" was the StreetPass function on the 3DS. It was a feature where gamers would exchange information and greetings when coming across another 3DS owner.
When asked about how Nintendo's online service will compete/compare to Microsoft's very popular Xbox Live, a place littered with hostile gamers, his reply didn't include how Nintendo plans to compare to Live instead he answered with how Nintendo is trying to create their own unique style social network with the 3DS, Wii U and any future console/handheld devices.
Iwata then went on to talk about his social interactions with friends while playing games like Legend of Zelda or Super Mario Bros.
When asked to compare Nintendo's social media to the Internet Iwata explains that the Internet provides a lot of interaction, however he also says that "It wasn't built for that purpose" He then uses Facebook as an example saying: "Facebook is something that connects you socially with a lot of different folk, but that doesn't guarantee that the people you are going to have interactions with via Facebook are interested in games" He explains: "I don't believe that the life experiences that you have-and those might be with the people you are connected with on Facebook-are not equal to the gaming experiences you might have with other folks".
Iwata describes how Nintendo felt that they needed to "create or present a new gaming platform as the place to create that 'social graph' for folks who are in gaming circles". He explains that is what the Miiverse is for and that is why they created it.
Some of the key functions of the WiiU edtion of Miiverse are as followed:
The WiiU's version includes a plaza where Mii's who you live near or close to gather around and talk via text chat and display which game they are playing with a overhead icon.
Gamers will be able to share helpful hints, ask for assistance or cry out in frustration with text chat.
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Now with a touch of the screen you can instantly send messages with hand drawn pictures attached.
With all of this being said don't let your expectations get too high. After all we saw how far behind Nintendo was in this generation of the console wars. So could this social platform work? Could Nintendo be a step ahead? We'll all find out when the WiiU launchs this Holiday season.
So g1s whatcha think? Would you give Nintendo a "Like" or are they on their way to being unfriended? Let me know in the comments below! -ThatPunkAdam
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g1 DISCUSSIONS
roberts
I think the platform is going to be a success, how many of you haven't looked for a social network to share your own interests? I certainly did so and in the process I learned how to be personable and where to find new job opportunities.
ColtonTristan20
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darkhyrulelord
Hopefully I'll be able to play with my ScrewAttack bud---I mean----minions more often thanks to this.
P.Suzuki
Okay; a message board/twitter type feed, that is closely monitored, and while not instantanious, would at least be done within a timely manner.
Not voicechat true, but so long as it keeps out annoying ten year olds who claim to have had sex with my grandmother "so hard in her teeth that she spits out blood", I have no problem with this.
...Am I right, Non-Specific Action Figure?
bonesy
you know what i really dont think nintendo knows what the term multiplayer is, so even though they say this im gonna wait till i see it and not get my hopes up
Contrast
I'm still not getting this... It's so hard to tell exactly what Nintendo's intentions are. Guess I'll just wait till the Wii U comes out. Fingers crossed that it comes bundled with Nonspecific action figure.
firehazard51
The concepts and ideas are good but I'm worried about follow through. Too much censorship, or hoops to jump through. If they make things as simple as joining friends as easy as PSN or Xboxlive and then having zero censorship that'd be good. But no step above completive consoles. Now if they start having "groups" you could join along with friends so that you can be indirectly "friends" with more people THAT would be new and interesting. Thinking about how awesome it would be to join the ScrewAttack WiiU group and instantly be able to play games and interact with all the g1s. Course the groups I feel like will have some censorship since you didn't directly friend the people in the group. But to be able to join a group and then play games with and communicate with people in that group would be a HUGE step in online gaming. And that is what I want the WiiU to do. Be like Facebook and have users make groups for users to join and interact.
Louzon
I think this is kind of neat, if it works out like they have it. Of course, I don't have a smartphone so I can't help people when I'm not on the system, but if the phone thing works well, it'd be a nice change to typing messages and waiting for the replies...plus, it makes it possible to have a "buddy list" type thing, if you're like me and most of your friends don't have children, and thus, have an XBox or PS3. lol
Hayamo
We can speculate all we want, because we don't know what this will function like until we get our hands on it. You can tell Nintendo is trying to do something different than the competition. Whether it will work or not depends on the user base. I'm rather indifferent for the MiiVerse features, I only really care about how their Nintendo Network works in relation to the games I play.
Dark_Link_Killer
now that I saw "non specific action figure" I want one. Nintendo, sell these things, they are the R.O.B of this generation, but better, stronger, non specific-er.