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Nintendo's Miiverse gets mobile access, web interface
Littered among Nintendo's promises for the year were plans to take Miiverse, the company's social platform, to the next level. That starts today, with the company launching a web portal for the community. Wii U owners can now access their Miiverse activity feed, user menu, notifications and communities through miiverse.nintendo.net using the same login information they created when they first set up their home console. The experience is limited for now, users can comment on and Yeah! (Miiverse's take on "like") existing posts, but can't create new threads. In addition to being Nintendo's first public foray into the social space, it also marks the first time the company has used its Nintendo Network ID outside of the Wii U ecosystem. According to the company's Twitter account, Nintendo considers this a beta expereince, and has said in the past that a dedicated Miiverse app and 3DS access will be available in the future. For now, Nintendo's social legions will have to settle for a web-based experience -- it may seem like a slow start, but for Nintendo it's a giant leap forward.
Miiverse now accessible through web browsers
You can't quite draw Mario tableaux on your smartphone to share with your pals yet, but you can load up Miiverse on your computer or smartphone's web browser to look at your friends' stuff. Browser access to the Wii U's adorable social network has launched, in beta.Load up the Miiverse site here and you'll be able to view your Activity Feed, friends list, and notifications, and "Yeah!" others' posts – pretty much everything but make new posts and new accounts.Even though it's now accessible outside the Wii U, you still need to make a Nintendo Network ID on a Wii U in order to use Miiverse.
Miiverse updated with community categories
Your Wii U-based drawing and "Yeah!"-ing life will change just a tiny bit as of today. Nintendo has rolled out two small updates to the Miiverse community, tweaks to make browsing a little faster and a little simpler.First, communities are now organized by categories, "like 'Wii U Games' and "Virtual Console,'" Nintendo noted in an alert posted on the service. That should help out in the event there are more Wii U games in the future. Second, comments now display 100 at a time when a post has more than 100.Miiverse will be coming to phones as a browser-based service later this spring.
Post death messages, mock friends in Resident Evil: Revelations Miiverse
The Wii U version of Resident Evil: Revelations will allow players to communicate with both the newly departed and the long, long dead, thanks to its Miiverse integration. After being viciously eviscerated by some horrible monstrosity, players can use the GamePad to scrawl their last, gasping message to the living world, which is then later seen by players who die under similar circumstances.Meanwhile, players can also use the "Creatures Voice" feature in Raid Mode to change what monsters are thinking and saying, which will be fun until one of them reveals your deepest, most traumatic secrets to your group of friends. After the ensuing argument, it's discovered that the message wasn't written by any of you, and that the only person who knew your awful secret died 10 years ago. How did the game know? Is that you, Uncle Dan?%Gallery-183219%
Zelda Miiverse community opens today on Wii U
No longer will you be forced to put your detailed Deku Scrub drawings in the Wheel of Fortune Miiverse community. Nintendo has opened a new group in the service just for that sort of thing.The new Zelda Miiverse community isn't tied to a particular game like most Miiverse communities, instead offering a gathering place for people to discuss and/or draw fanart from across the franchise.
Nintendo bringing its Miiverse social network to phones this spring
Nintendo seems to be getting more comfortable with the idea of its properties and services appearing on hardware it didn't create. Last November saw the release of an official Pokémon app for iOS and this spring will see smartphones gaining access to the Miiverse, its social network for Wii U. The announcement was made by Nintendo president Satoru Iwata earlier today in Japan. According to Joystiq, Miiverse will initially arrive as a mobile-optimized website, but Nintendo says it is planning a dedicated app as well. In its native form on Wii U, Miiverse allows players to share accomplishments, messages and even artwork and screenshots with others. Early mockups of the service on mobile devices have shown that at least the messaging and activity tracking features should make the jump to other devices. It also seems likely that the upcoming mobile web and app versions of Miiverse will be overseen by the same array of human moderators that prevent spoilers, adult content and other undesirable material from being shared via the Wii U. There was no specific word on an iOS version, but we're hoping Nintendo plans to create one.
Miiverse available on phones this spring
Miiverse, Nintendo's Wii U based "empathy network" that allows users to chat and share hilarious drawings about their Wii U games and apps, will be available as a browser-based service for smartphones starting this spring.Though it'll be a simple browser experience at first, Nintendo says it "plans to create a dedicated Miiverse app in the future."
Nintendo's Wii U Miiverse getting user communities, mobile access
Nintendo's Wii U-based Miiverse social network is also getting a big update later this year, including user-created communities, more than one community per title, updated usability, and a more advanced filtering system. That's in addition to a mobile phone-based application, all arriving in 2013 -- you'll be able to access the Miiverse via mobile phone a bit earlier. "Initially the experience will be browser-based, but Nintendo plans to create a dedicated Miiverse app in the future," the official PR reads. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced the updates during a Nintendo Direct video presentation this morning, though he didn't give a concrete date for the Miiverse updates or the mobile app ("spring" was the closest he got, and that's only applicable to mobile access, not the app). He did say that you'll sign into the mobile app using your Nintendo Network ID, and be able to access (and interact) with the Miiverse on-the-go.
Wii U user stumbles into 'mock up' debug menu, Nintendo removes access
Nintendo is playing down reports of a Wii U owner accidentally hacking into Miiverse's debug interface, the company saying he only accessed a prototype. Nintendo released a statement to GamesIndustry International which says what the user found was "a mock up menu," and that it is now removed and inaccessible.NeoGAF user Trike claimed to accidentally hack into a debug menu for Miiverse, simply by hitting X over the network's exit button. The user gained access to what Nintendo claims are mock-ups of the system's back-end. Among the things Trike stumbled upon were administrator lists and forum posts from developers. However, the info within his photos does resemble that of a mock menu, with repeated email addresses and messages.Nintendo's official statement reads: "It has come to our attention that some people were able to access a mock up menu on Miiverse following the launch of Wii U in the US. Please note that this was only a mock up menu and has now been removed and is not accessible."Interestingly, one of the user's photos shows a list of game-based subforums, with 'Yoshi's Land Wii U' and 'metal gear solid' among them. Of course, if the subforums are part of a prototype menu - one of them is for 'resident evils' - we can't draw anything from it.
Wii U's Miiverse, Chat, TVii, and eShop features will arrive in a day-one software update
Are you ready for Nintendo's Wii U console to arrive in a couple of weeks, packing not only a GamePad but also extensive online-enabled features like the Miiverse, Wii U Chat, TVii and eShop? Good, because as IGN mentions, the Wii U isn't. Not unlike many games shipping lately, the console will see a software update available at debut that downloads all of those features for the first time. That shouldn't be a problem for early adopting gamers as long as everything goes smoothly, but so far early-arriving review / preview units don't have the functionality, although it should be delivered in an update before the launch. It's been a few years since we had a new console launch (relive the PS3 fat, pre-RROD Xbox 360 and Wii here) and quickly-changing software is certainly the name of the game, we'll let you know as soon as we can how the Nintendo Network delivers.
Nintendo planning Direct presentation for Miiverse details, Friend Codes not required
A month from launch, we're all still terrifyingly in the dark as to the Wii U's online functionality. Nintendo will help correct that soon, by hosting a Nintendo Direct streaming presentation about the Miiverse service.In an investor Q&A, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata described the primary purpose of Miiverse as a way to amass friends for gameplay opportunities, and for players to spread the word about under-the-radar games. " "As there are many excellent but buried games in the world, and you must be impressed by some of them," he said, "the important mission of Miiverse is to create opportunities to let you know about such games without spending our finite advertising budget on it." Please continue advertising games, Nintendo.The friend gathering will take place through "empathizing." Players can choose to become friends with people they interact with on Miiverse, rather than through a Friend Code process. "As Miiverse is not confined to dedicated gaming platforms and will be available on smart devices in the near future," Iwata said, "we hope that, even on a train where many people are using smart devices, you will know how your gaming friends are enjoying their games."
Miiverse cares not for your Twitter and Facebook accounts, won't work with either
Miiverse may be Nintendo's latest baby step toward embracing the modernity of social media, but that doesn't mean it's actually going to integrate with modern social media. GamesIndustry reports Nintendo has confirmed its Miiverse won't play nice with Facebook nor Twitter. The long-term plan is to allow Miiverse access sometime after the Wii U launch from devices such as 3DS, smartphones and PCs. "On the Wii U we do have additional reasons for connecting, we talked about things like the video chat system, nothing revolutionary but it's going to be convenient, it's going to be easy," said Nintendo of Europe's Laurent Fischer. "The community will be the Wii U owners, who will have this common interest for video games and our expectation about that is it's going to be a way to enhance the idea of sharing information on the video game." Remember that Miiverse is also on a potential 30-minute communications delay due to family friendly moderation. At least we know Nintendo is doing its best to keep another console generation of children safe from the big, bad internet.
Nintendo's Hideki Konno discusses the 3DS and the element of surprise
As E3 was coming to a close, we sat down with one of the men responsible for Nintendo's 3DS, Hideki Konno. Konno's official title is manager / producer, but because he's involved at such a high level with both software and hardware development on the 3DS, our conversation covered quite the range of topics. When asked about the handheld's performance in the last year, he drew parallels to the success of the DS that preceded it and he hopes that the 3DS will experience a similar growth curve. Due to the mention of the DS, we inquired about the possibility of a larger 3DS. While Mr. Konno wasn't able to confirm plans for a super-sized version of the current-gen handheld, he did express his affinity for the DSi XL's increased real estate -- he finds the larger screen is much easier to gaze upon. You can draw your own conclusions as to exactly what that means. When chatting about mobile gaming, we asked about the impact of smartphones on the outfit's handheld. Konno offered that Nintendo prides itself on surprising gamers with new "compelling experiences" that handsets can't provide. We asked if any of these new experiences would involve the integration of both 3DS and the Wii U, and Konno replied that he's confident about those explorations taking place in future. In fact, a version of the Smash Brothers series is currently being developed for both 3DS and Wii U simultaneously. He indicated that it would be hard to believe that the two versions being developed in parallel wouldn't provide some unique interactions between them and their respective platforms. Additionally, while it sounds like the Miiverse will only be available on Big N's next-gen console at launch, Mr. Konno communicated that -- depending out how well it's received -- we're likely see the social element brought to the mobile gaming arena, too. Michael Gorman contributed to this report.
Miiverse messages will be subject to moderation before posting
You'll be able to communicate with friends using simple text and drawings through Nintendo's upcoming Wii U (and later 3DS/smartphone) Miiverse service – but Nintendo, famously concerned with keeping profane or otherwise improper communication away from younger users, has some safeguards in place for this seemingly more open system.Speaking to Hero Complex, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed plans to implement three forms of filtering for Miiverse content. The first is algorithmic – automatic content filtering. The second is really, really hardcore: having a moderator read all posts before they're published. Finally, users can flag inappropriate content.Iwata didn't say how long of a delay the moderation would cause, but he suggested "personally, I think 30 minutes should be acceptable."
'Miiverse' announced for Wii U, greatly expands Mii Plaza from Wii
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata announced Miiverse today, a "Mii universe" for Wii U, during the company's Nintendo Direct pre-E3 livestream. Miiverse is an online system planned for the company's upcoming system that displays a Mii plaza on the Wii U GamePad – it's looking like a much expanded version of the Wii's Mii Plaza feature.The plaza will show Mii characters gathering around game icons and feature a messaging system for players to connect with players they both do and do not know, as well as a variety of other asynchronous functionality. The messaging system includes a "spoiler" checkbox to prevent players from wrecking a friend's game experience (should they choose to use it), as well as the ability to send images and drawings to one another. Miiverse will also feature a social networking-style "wall" of sorts, where players can post screenshots from games.Miiverse will also inhabit the 3DS and mobile devices (Android, iOS) in the future, though it will not be available immediately at launch. %Gallery-156765%