MiiPlaza
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Nintendo finally increases the 3DS StreetPass limit to 100
The ability to share information via StreetPass with other players has always been a fun reason to carry your 3DS everywhere. But you can only capture up to 10 users' Miis at a time, and going through them is a time-consuming pain. On this morning's Nintendo Direct the company announced a new "Quick Plaza" to make the process a lot smoother, as well as a new premium feature that can increase your number of potential encounters to 100.
3DS owners get tired of searching for StreetPasses, build their own Nintendo Zone relays
Unless you live in a densely populated city, you probably struggle to make the most of the 3DS' StreetPass feature -- it's why Nintendo implemented a StreetPass Relay program earlier this month. Now, less than a week after the Mii-sharing setup launched, the gaming community has found a way to exploit it. Users on the GBATemp forums have discovered that spoofing the MAC address of a known Nintendo Zone router while broadcasting the correct SSID creates a homemade relay that pulls the latest StreetPass data from Nintendo's servers. This trick allows gamers to remotely share StreetPass data from the comfort of their own home. It's not a gateway to unlimited passes, however -- just like with local 3DS systems, the relay stations will only share data with an individual handheld once every eight hours, requiring die-hard "homepassers" to manually change their spoofed MAC for each additional StreetPass they want to collect. There is also some concern that Nintendo will notice this remote StreetPass setup and block the known MAC addresses (or worse, infringing handhelds) in an attempt to combat exploitation. Convoluted? Sure, but it's still pretty impressive. If you're feeling bold, check out the adjacent source links to get started; the community has created tutorials for Android, Linux, OSX and Windows, complete with a spreadsheet of viable MAC addresses.
Nintendo 3DS update brings you more Mii Plaza pals with StreetPass Relay
Though StreetPass has proven to be extremely popular, you're much less likely to directly cross a fellow Nintendo 3DS user stateside than in the console's home country of Japan. But thanks to a new update, you'll now be able to pick up Mii avatar buddies via StreetPass Relay. When a 3DS user crosses a Nintendo Zone hotspot, their data is automatically stored and passed on to another 3DS owner who hits the same relay point. You'll find them in North America at Best Buy, Simon malls, Future Shop and AT&T WiFi hotpots located in Starbucks, McDonald's and Barnes & Noble. That'll help you scoop up friends to play new Mii Plaza games Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way and Monster Manor. They sold to the tune of $4 million in their first month, meaning you should have more potential players than ever hanging around your gate.
Nintendo 3DS to add 3D video capture, upgraded eShop and more
Satoru Iwata came on stage at Nintendo's pre-Tokyo Game Show shindig and announced the 3DS will be getting a few upgrades soon. No word on any hardware changes -- yet -- but owners can expect 3D video capture as well as upgrades to the Street Pass Mii Plaza and eShop. The press conference is still ongoing, so check back for more details as they're announced or watch the live video stream (in Japanese) embedded after the break. Update: And it's all over! Nothing else new to speak of on the hardware front, and we didn't catch any more news about those software changes either. We're just getting our TGS team on the ground in Japan now, so expect more news in the days to come.
Revolutionary: It Ain't Mii
As the New Year approaches and some of you are making your resolutions, it's a natural time to reflect on who you are and who you would like to be. Two years ago when I brought home my Wii and was sculpting a likeness of myself in Mii form, I was doing just that sort of reflecting. Recently, Sony opened up their new Playstation Home service to public beta and Microsoft unrolled the New Xbox Experience. With these additions, it has become possible to create an effigy of ourselves across each platform, so I'd like to give you my impressions of my own three representations. I can tell you right now, a couple of these ain't pretty.
Blast Works Depot open as part of MiiPlaza.net
Blast Works Depot, the official site for uploading and trading user-created Blast Works content, is now online (despite the game's current lack of availability). Rather than creating a fancy new corporate-designed website, Majesco worked with an existing Wii community website, Wii Fanboy Mii Plaza. It's kind of a brilliant idea -- (some) Wii owners are already used to sharing content on Mii Plaza, and Blast Works content now uses the same interface for trading levels, enemies, ships, bullets, and shapes. Oh, except you can upload and download directly from inside the game. Now all we need is for the game to come out, and for other people to buy it and create interesting things!
Mii Spotlight request: Who's in your Wii?
We just wanted to drop a friendly reminder that we're in the market for all sorts of Miis right now. We'd love to start collecting images of Miis you might use for the Check Mii Out channel, and we're still looking for more musicians and historical figures. Or, y'know, maybe even current government figures. Surely there are a few Dick Cheney Miis drifting around on readers' Wiis, maybe hoping to challenge a Hillary Clinton Mii to a round of Wii Sports boxing. Take some pictures and send 'em to us at mii [at] nintendowiifanboy [dot] com. We love to see your work, and our requests are only rough guides -- we'll take whatever you've got!
Mii Spotlight: 'Cause you're ugly
Well, you're not ugly, but there are a lot of ugly Miis out there. We just can't resist moving facial features around and into places they're not supposed to be. Sure, sometimes you do that and you get Admiral Ackbar, but other times, it looks more like what's under the hockey mask in the Friday the 13th films. Not pretty. But even ugly Miis need a little time in the spotlight, so we're dedicating this week's edition to the worst of the worst. Check out the parade of awful after the jump!
Mii Spotlight: Remember to send us those Miis!
Don't forget -- we've got two Mii requests for anyone who'd like to be in our weekly Mii Spotlight. Send us your ugliest Miis, the worst you can manage to make (funny is a bonus), and we also want reader Miis for a special edition Mii Spotlight. Don't be shy! Snap a few pictures and send them to us at mii at nintendowiifanboy dot com.We'd also like to ask: what challenges would you like? Television show casts (old and new), or cult movie characters, or ... what? Suggest it and we'll see about making it happen. There was a suggestion around here about requesting Welcome Back, Kotter Miis, and that made us think maybe what we really need is Travolta-through-the-ages ... but we're not sure our Mii Plaza can handle a disco inferno turned hitman.
Mii Spotlight: All Eyez on Mii edition
Now that we've introduced our Mii Spotlight feature and its star-studded cast, we're just about ready to get this party started -- this gangsta party that is. Before we start gettin' low and backing our things up though, don't forget that we're still on the lookout for new and exciting Miis! If you have any that you'd like to share, especially if they're music-themed like this week's collection is going to be, take a few pics and send them to mii at nintendowiifanboy dot com.So what's the rapper to non-rapper ratio in your Mii Plaza? On my console, it's an easy 3:1. I created most of the hip-hop cartoon figures out of boredom, but there's a number that were produced for the specific purpose of motivating other Miis to throw their hands in the air, waving them as if they didn't have a care in the world. Jump past the post break for some of my favorite rapping Miis and submissions from our own talented readers!
Mii Spotlight: The inaugural edition
We're test-driving a new feature here at Wii Fanboy, but there's an essential element we lack, and that's your participation. See, we know that Miis are the hotness and no one can resist twisting the system to produce Admiral Ackbar, but we want to see what you have to offer. Who lives in your Mii Plaza? This is your chance to show off all your hard work. Just send pictures of your best Miis to mii at nintendowiifanboy dot com, and the best of the best will appear right here in the Mii Spotlight on Saturdays.But don't just send any old Mii; everyone's seen the title character from V for Vendetta, and we've all seen Peter Griffin and the cast of The Office. Send us your creative Miis, or even just the Miis you made for yourself and your friends, perhaps along with a picture of the real deal. We want to see how good you are at making Miis.After the jump, we've got a few examples from around these interwebs, as well as tools that may help in the creation process.
Your birthday means nothing on the Wii
This threw us for a curve ball. See, we all know that when you enter Pictochat on your DS during your birthday, there's a message there waiting for you, so we always assumed that on the Wii something similar would be done. Why else make you input your birthday when making a Mii, right? Well, according to one blogger expecting a small Mii party to be taking place in his Mii Plaza, instead he was greeted with nothing but a crew of apathetic digital Miis.That's right, there was no party, nor were there party hats or confetti, nothing. So we're wondering just why we're asked to input our birthday when creating a Mii. Now, we assume this blogger's Wii is online, so we can rule out Nintendo sending a message congratulating us on another year of life on this planet.What do you guys think?[via Infendo]
Because Miis needed to be creepy
Webcomic Dueling Analogs has the proud distinction of being responsible for the most disturbing use of Miis that this blogger has seen to date. Of course, when you put it that way, we're not sure it's really much of a "proud distinction," is it? Well, whether it's merely a little weird or laugh-out-loud funny, they're using Miis in Friday comics this month. It's the Mii Plaza background that makes it work. We always wondered just what it was those little guys were chatting about ....[Via GoNintendo]
Share your Miis with the world
Making random Miis has turned out to be one of the most fun -- and most infectiously popular -- aspects of wasting time with our Wiis, so it was only a matter of time before someone dedicated web space to Mii creations great and small. Some of the Miis we've seen lately would fit right in at MiiPlaza.net, a new site that is slowly beginning to expand its Mii population. They're still working out the kinks, but the site has some interesting Miis and a lot of big plans, so check it out.Made any celebrity Miis yet? We're still working on perfecting Miis of friends and family, but we love to hear about your adventures in the Mii Channel. [Thanks, Jeff!]
