Thumbs up for Miiverse?

So here we are, another Nintendo Direct broadcast to sink our teeth into, with the focus expected to be on Miiverse. The great news is that you can watch it right here: 11am UK time, 12pm Central European time, 6am Eastern, 5am Central and 3am Pacific.

It'll be in Japanese, of course, but we'll be watching with you and providing live text as always, with a few occasional switches to Twitter to try and understand the smaller details. Today may be the first chance to see Miiverse in its finished form, so get a comfortable seat and watch it with us.

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12:00

OK, we're going to write up some of this news. Let us know what you thought of the broadcast.

11:54

And so ends the NSMBU feature, with some tasty footage. Who's up for HD Mario?

11:53

Nintendo of Europe says subtitled highlights are on the way "later", so we'll keep an eye out.

11:51

The NSMBU visuals certainly look good in some environments, with the lighting from fire perhaps being a highlight.

11:47

Coin Battle: GamePad players determing where the coins will be; trolling possibilities abound.

11:41

Blue Bubble Yoshi. Best. Thing. Ever.

11:38

It must be said, the world in NSMBU is looking nice and expansive - secrets galore?

11:36

Some interesting details there, and Miiverse is looking nicely fleshed out.

11:35

First part over, now there'll be a New Super Mario Bros. U feature.

11:34

More footage of NSMBU, it's getting a lot of focus in this broadcast.

11:31

May not come out of Japan, but this karaoke app is rather cute.

11:30

Now we have some karaoke software, though it's perhaps doubtful that this will make it outside of Japan.

11:29

The Nintendo Life team are licking their lips at the prospect of drawing during Wii U Chat.

11:28

You can draw on the screen during video chat, and Iwata's too gentlemanly to troll Reggie.

11:26

Now we have video chat between Reggie and Iwata, using the GamePad. It works!

11:26

Miiverse will be available in all games, up to devs whether they add extra features.

11:24

Saw a good chunk of the New Super Mario Bros. U world there, EXCITE!

11:23

Apparently members of the community can be added as friends, as long as they accept.

11:23

A spoiler button means you can give a heads up, and you can filter messages marked with it so they don't show on your Miiverse timeline.

11:21

Miiverse community coming into play, post a screenshot for help in a game.

11:19

Lots of lifestyle ideas being shown, with switches between GamePad and TV.

11:17

Now we have some concept talk, explaining how Wii U changes the relationship between TV, game and internet. GamePad being shown off in some detail.

11:15

Details on Wii to Wii U data transfer (WiiWare and Virtual Console) to come soon.

11:14

Let any speculation end, the Wii U online store will be called eShop. We knew that, right?

11:13

Emphasis on Nintendo Network working with multiple devices, based on all these bubbles.

11:12

User accounts will store individual sets of save data and game settings.

11:11

A user account is one of the first things to set up, it seems like 12 are allowed.

11:10

User account details, here we go.

11:08

Iwata seems delightfully pleased to be unboxing a Wii U, which bodes well for the rest of us.

11:06

Gloves are probably a good idea with the black model, that thing will be a fingerprint magnet.

11:05

That's a little unexpected, Iwata's unboxing a premium Wii U.

11:03

There was the briefest of UI GamePad glimpses there, and it looked heavily inspired by 3DS.

11:03

Apparently this plaza is the first thing seen when the system is turned on.

11:02

WaraWara Plaza is first up, which we can assume will be Miiverse Plaza elsewhere.

11:00

And we're off!

10:59

Miiverse bubbles and cute little staff Mii characters are just moments away...

10:58

So little has been said about the Miiverse name, but it's undeniably catchy while being incredibly simple. We guess Marioverse wouldn't have been as snappy.

10:56

With an expected focus on Miiverse, hopefully we'll see more of it in action.

10:51

Ten minutes until Nintendo's Wii U Nintendo Direct, who's ready?