Miyamoto on Miis migrating to 3DS, evolving network play on the handheld

Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime may be committed to improving the online experience on the Big N's platforms, but legendary designer and Guy Who Makes Things Happen™ at the company, Shigeru Miyamoto, doesn't seem inclined to exactly reinvent network play with 3DS. "We look at [online] more in terms of what can we do to provide that Nintendo flavor or magic to that community or connection experience," he told IGN Australia in an E3 interview the site just now found behind its virtual sofa cushions.

"One of the ways that we're looking at doing that, is the idea of really strengthening the tag mode functionality," he explained, referring to an "always on" data-sharing feature most famously employed by Dragon Quest IX on DS. "We think that there will be some unique ideas that come out of that, and that it will have a very unique Nintendo flavor to it." So, not voice chat or friend code-free multiplayer then?

Speaking of exchanging things with other 3DS owners: what of Miis? Already transferable from Wii to current DS titles such as Tomodachi Collection and Personal Trainer: Walking, Miyamoto commented that the pint-sized avatars moving to-and-fro between future platforms is "something that we're definitely giving consideration to," and that there's a desire to "continue to try to allow people to use their Miis on different Nintendo systems going forward." We can certainly get down with the idea of 3D Miis — or, as we call them, "3Miis."