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Breath of the Wild's minor characters are likely advanced Miis
For years, fans have theorized that Nintendo used Miis to build many of the NPCs (non-player characters) in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. A Mii expert with the handle HEYimHeroic has discovered that it’s possible to convert and import traditional Miis — the ones that you can craft on the Wii, Wii U, 3DS and Switch — into the game. HEYimHeroic has stressed that the Mii and UMii file formats aren’t identical.
Nintendo will pull the plug on 'Miitomo' in May
Before Super Mario Run and Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, there was Miitomo. A sort of social network in disguise, it was Nintendo's first push into mobile gaming on iOS and Android, but now the company has announced it will shut down May 9th. It rocketed to the top of app stores upon release in 2016 and gained more than 10 million users, but just as quickly fell off since it lacked basic features that would keep players coming back. Eventually, things like chat and increased customization arrived, but it was too little too late. A note on the website informs users that the sale of premium coins has ended, however, it will offer daily login bonuses from now until it shuts down as part of a "Final Thank You Festival." Once the lights go out at 3 AM ET on May 9th, users won't be able to see or use any of its features. They'll need to save Miifotos locally to their device before the shutdown, and backup any Sidekick Mii characters they'd like to save as a QR code usable on 3DS or Wii U. To save your Mii, you'll need to link a Nintendo Account, but all you'll get is its look -- the personality will not carry over. At least we still have Pokémon Go.
Nintendo still has a stack of 3DS games in the pipeline
Nintendo Switch titles ARMS and Splatoon 2 headlined today's Nintendo Direct presentation, but they weren't the only games with news to reveal. The studio has a solid lineup of games coming to the 3DS this year.
Nintendo's Switch won't have video streaming apps at launch
We've been up close with the Nintendo Switch, tried some of its games and heard the company's pitch for the system. But still, questions remain. Thankfully, the folks at Kotaku have managed to prise some new information out of the house of Mario. Namely that the system does support multiple users -- up to eight accounts can be registered on a single system -- and that Nintendo's colorful Miis will be making a return. "There is a Mii Maker on Nintendo Switch," a spokesperson confirmed. "Mii characters can be used to represent a user profile, but are not required. [They] can still be used in games if developers choose to include them."
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.
Nintendo is bringing 'Splatoon' gear to its 'Miitomo' app
Since its launch, Nintendo has held back from offering video game-related clothing in Miitomo. You can quickly earn a Mario hat, but otherwise there are few items to show off your love for a particular franchise, like Star Fox or The Legend of Zelda. That's now changing, however, as Nintendo readies its first batch of Splatoon-themed gear. From April 27th through to May 29th, users will be able to unlock inkling shoes, shorts, t-shirts and hairstyles through the app's Miitomo Drop mini-game. Colorful squid pins will also be redeemable using regular coins in the Miitomo Shop.
My Miitomo addiction proves social media is just a game
I used to think there was no room for another social network in my life. I already have Twitter for public interactions and jokes, Facebook for connecting with friends and family, Instagram for sharing closeup photos of my dinner and Snapchat for when I feel like goofing around. Upstart social networks like Ello, App.net and Peach never resonated with me. But for the past two weeks, I've been flirting with a new contender. It's called Miitomo, a game from Nintendo that's really a social network in disguise. And my Miitomo obsession has made me wonder if the social networks I use the most often -- Twitter, Facebook and Instagram -- aren't games of a sort too.
Nintendo explains its reward program and that smartphone app
Nintendo's first smartphone entry is gradually, actually, happening. During an investor call earlier today, the company showcased what is actually going on and how it'll attempt to make the most of your smartphone. You can also start registering for the game (and its corresponding "My Nintendo" online service) starting February 17th. This dovetails with the company's new rewards scheme, which was also elaborated on further in today's call. You'll have to ensure you have your "My Nintendo" account ready for all the above when it launches globally in March, but until then, here's what the gaming company had to say.
Nintendo toys with the idea of a Mii mobile app
Nintendo has been dropping hints for years about possible smartphone apps starring its classic characters or somehow tying into the Wii and Wii U. Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is back at it this week, this time with a specific idea: Mii for mobile devices. "It would be fun for players to use their Mii characters as icons on social media," Iwata said in an interview with Nikkei. "We are currently developing an application that will allow users to do that."
Mario Kart 8 update adds Amiibo support
A downloadable Mario Kart 8 update, meant to steady the game for the initial volley of DLC cars and tracks, will also enable simple support for Nintendo's Amiibo lineup. A select number of characters from Nintendo's new toy army will unlock corresponding outfits for your Mii racer. Tapping the Kirby statue on the Wii U gamepad, for instance, will unlock a pink puffball-themed outfit for your Mario Kart Mii, complete with a helmet designed to resemble Kirby looking back at you, smiling in the face of a blue shell coming up. Mario Kart 8 will also have unlocks for Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Captain Falcon, Samus, and Fox McCloud. The Amiibo update will happen alongside the November 13 release of Mario Kart 8's first DLC - a pack of 8 tracks, 4 vehicles and 3 new characters, including Link and Tanooki Mario. The Amiibo toys, meanwhile, are coming out alongside the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros. on November 21. For more on the Amiibo and how they work in Smash, check out my impressions here.
Dress your Mii as Nintendo characters in Super Smash Bros.
Nintendo's Masahiro Sakurai revealed that players will be able to dress their Mii characters up in Nintendo-themed costumes in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The screenshot above shows off custom outfits inspired by Metroid's Samus and Meta Knight from the Kirby series. Nintendo announced at this year's E3 that Mii characters will join the melee with three selectable classes: gunner, brawler, and sword-fighter. The publisher has issued no word as to whether specific costumes will be tied to Mii character classes. Super Smash Bros. will launch first for the Nintendo 3DS in October, and a Wii U release will follow in the winter. [Image: Nintendo]
Watch Nintendo execs vie for the love of Princess Zelda in its latest game
Nintendo's had some success with approximating the mundanity of real life in the past, but its latest attempt looks like it'll amp up the crazy rather dramatically. In Tomodachi Life you import a collection of Miis (Nintendo's avatar system) and watch as they interact with each other on an island. We know what you're thinking, but trust us, it's the opposite of boring. For example, one scene from its recent unveiling involves Nintendo's senior product marketing manager Bill Trinen professing his love for Samus Aran on a beach when a shirtless, musclebound president Reggie Fils-Aime runs down the shore to do the same. And then, CEO Satoru Iwata emerges from the water and joins in on the action. Yes, really.
Nintendo gobbles up $4 million in a month with new 3DS StreetPass games (video)
Apparently a lot of people have followed the white rabbit hawking Nintendo's new 3DS StreetPass games, because the four new titles have moved like gangbusters. Nintendo sold $4 million worth of Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way and Monster Manor in a month (at $5 each or $15 for all four) to players champing at the bit for more games using the interactive feature. To the uninitiated, you can pick up StreetPasses just by crossing paths with another 3DS player or even someone who's recently been in the same place through proxy passes. That lets you play games with their Miis (avatars), but until recently there were only a couple of preloaded titles that use the functionality. There must have been some pent-up demand, though, considering the sales numbers -- after all, the 3DS has been Nintendo's bread and butter lately. As a reminder about how it all works, check the video after the break.
3DS update brings new Streetpass games, soft-selling rabbit
Ever dance with a rabbit who shilled new StreetPass diversions in the bright sunlight? No? Well, the latest 3DS update will fix that. Within the system's StreetPass Plaza dwells a white lagomorph with a penchant for salesmanship. After the anthropomorphic bunny describes each title and shows it off in the cutest and most Nintendo way possible, you can buy the quartet of new releases -- Mii Force, Flower Town, Warrior's Way and Monster Manor -- individually or as a discounted bundle. Each is $5 a pop, or with the package deal you can get all four for $15. The patch also brings another Puzzle Swap picture, Mii accessories purchasable with tickets earned from playing the new StreetPass games and new unlockable Mii hats. Nintendo says you can change your Mii's facial expression when StreetPassing with another user, too. Sure, Japanese and European owners got this a few weeks ago, but that shouldn't spoil the fun if you're in the US.
'Family Game Night 4: The Game Show' got bored with board games
The crazy thing is: Yahtzee played with a giant rubber bawl and bowling pins, instead of the traditional cup and dice, is actually a better idea for a video game -- especially one compatible with Kinect and PlayStation Move. The crazier thing is: The Family Game Night 4 video game includes fewer than half of the minigames featured in the Family Game Night television game show on which it's based. You can't even begin to imagine how "Operation Relay" is going to work in your living room -- you just have to wait for the EA Hasbro division's next sequel. Family Game Night 4: The Game Show will be released this fall for Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and features support for motion control on all three platforms. It includes five minigames adapted from The Hub channel's Family Game Night game show, including "Bop-It Boptagon," "Connect 4 Basketball," "Scrabble Flash," "Sorry! Sliders" and "Yahtzee Bowling." [Image credit: Hub Television Networks]
Arttoo: 3DS fan gets AR card tattoo
Most people who don't happen to have their Nintendo 3DS AR cards handy just, you know, load them up on a smartphone. But a fellow who goes by the handle Cranberryzero decided to go for a more permanent solution -- he got a tattoo of the Mii AR card on his arm. As you can see above and after the break, the tattoo actually works. Whenever the 3DS camera is looking at his arm, the Mii of his choosing appears to be standing just below his wrist. Cranberryzero says the tattoo works best in dim light; in bright light, the device seems to have trouble sussing out the card's border from his skin color. It's pretty cool -- and clever -- but he'd better start preparing an explanation to give his future grandkids now.
Man buys Nintendo 3DS, goes wrist-on with augmented reality tattoo (video)
According to his post on I Heart Chaos, Cranberryzero's next logical step after purchasing a Nintendo 3DS was to head down to Blue Flame Tattoo in Raleigh, NC to have the gaming system's augmented reality card permanently etched onto his arm. Our reaction lies somewhere between stupefied bewilderment and geeky adoration. Call it paranoia, but we wouldn't be able to sleep knowing our Miis were always lurking on the underside of our most-prominent appendage. CBZ, as he refers to himself on the blog, was kind enough to share some video of the finished product. Naturally, things are a little shaky, but you try standing on someone's wrist suspended in mid-air and see how you do.
Giant AR card used to create a Mega Mii
Follow us on this one: The way augmented reality cards work is that a camera (like the cameras on Nintendo's 3DS) sees a certain marker image at a certain size on screen, and then displays video from the camera along with a virtual object that matches that size. The closer the camera is to the card, the bigger it is on screen, and thus the bigger the object is displayed, as if it really exists in the on-screen world. So what if you took one of the slightly-smaller-than-a-credit-card-sized images, blew it up, pixel for pixel, into a 22 foot long swimming-pool-sized poster, and then looked at it with the Nintendo 3DS? Answer: You'd get a three-story tall augmented reality Mii. See it in action after the break.
3DS can import your Wii Mii, too 'robust' to export them back
Connectivity used to be a big buzz word for Nintendo during the GBA/DS era. Yet, the 3DS is oddly lacking interoperability with a Nintendo home console. At launch, only one feature will be available that caters to owners of both a Wii and 3DS: transferring your Mii from the console to your handheld. But what if you want to send a Mii back to the Wii? "It's a one way transfer," NOA Product Marketing Manager Bill Trinen told Joystiq. "You can send your Miis from your Wii to your 3DS. But, because the Mii Maker on the Nintendo 3DS is a more robust program and has newer features, like hairstyles and eyes and things like that, the Miis you create there can't go back to the Wii." Too bad, because Mii Maker's ability to automatically create new avatars by taking pictures would expedite an otherwise lengthy process. Can we expect any other connectivity between the two Nintendo devices? Perhaps, but Trinen didn't even offer a tease. "Beyond that, that's the only Wii connectivity we've talked about."
Microsoft executives get their own public avatars, may never age
Ever wondered what your favorite Microsoft executive would look like if transformed into an Xbox Live avatar? Wonder no more, as the aforementioned company has done the honors for you. Joey B. definitely looks like his real-world counterpart, but Steve's just looks... doctored. Why give the man forehead lines when he's still so young and vivacious? Hit the source link for lots more where these came from.
