Ah, Miiverse. While the rest of the world may have forgotten about this uniquely 'Nintendo' take on social networking, dedicated fans still get all misty-eyed when they talk about the short-lived portal. Miiverse was home to some truly amazing content (ahem), but when the Wii U died, it took the service with it.
Nintendo pulled the plug on what many were hoping would be a gaming-focused version of Twitter in late 2017, and would also shutter Miitomo – which felt in some way like an off-shoot of Miiverse – not long after its launch, too.
Taking this into account, it would seem that Nintendo has decided against creating its own unique social networking tool for the time being, then – but a recent Japanese job posting spotted online (thanks, Madison) has raised admittedly very slim hopes that Miiverse could be making a triumphant return:
While a job listing mentioning Miiverse clearly isn't a solid indication that it's coming back, it did get us thinking – would we want Miiverse to be resurrected in 2020? You could argue that Switch is just as suitable a platform for the service as the Wii U was – it has a touchscreen and is more portable, for starters – and we have to admit we do miss the idea of communities growing up around each game release, with people sharing hints and tips as well as some amazing artwork. We also liked the way in which Miiverse content could be integrated into games.
However, policing Miiverse was clearly a big task and we can understand why Nintendo might be reluctant to bring it back. We also know that not every Wii U owner made full use of it, so you could argue that Nintendo's energies are better spent elsewhere. If Miiverse were to return, it would most likely need something of an overhaul to bring it up to speed with the needs of modern players.
Whatever your opinion, vote in the poll below and be sure to leave a comment explaining your thoughts on Miiverse, and if you'd like to see it be reborn from the social media ashes.
Comments (98)
If Miiverse return to Switch, Mii features should be robusted into Miitomo style.
Yes but with some changes, miiverse was fun but the weirdos ruined some of that fun.
I need a new outlet for my crappy doodles and bad puns, because no one is paying attention to Splatoon any more.
I really loved Miiverse, but I don't think it would be as good a fit for the Switch. The GamePad was a great device to draw on, and even with a stylus, the Switch isn't. Miiverse was also launched when social media was a little different. You couldn't embed a game screenshot in a tweet back then. I don't think there would be much interest in a closed console-only platform today. I do miss privately sharing doodles with friends though. Maybe Swapnote/Nintendo Letter Box would be a better fit for the Switch.
Not sure, i definitely miss the community, but i dont think i can draw as well on my Switch screen as I could on my WiiU.
Aren't there lite versions of it in Splatoon 2 and SMM2? Best just to do away with it and let people talk about Nintendo in social media circles, now that the Nintendo Stigma has subsided a bit.
I want Miiverse to return solely for all the hilariously cringe content it provided. We were truly blessed.
Knew a lot of really talented people there and made the closest thing to "online friends" as humanly possible with some of them, I would love to see it return
I don’t care what anyone says. I’m 41 and I loved it. It was inane but great for chilling out.
Miiverse was brilliant and I miss the good old days of playing the Smash 4 stage with the tailored content depending on which character was playing. Nothing beats playing a stage on Smash with the immortal words ‘Ness is gay’ floating in the background.
To be honest... I don't really care about this. I'd prefer much more Nintendo focuses on other stuff, like themes and folders everyone is asking for, or improving the (crappy) online service they make us pay for.
With a dedicated page for Willem Dafoe drawings, please.
Booting up my wii U every morning for the Luigi U community memes was a highlight. I had 200 followers but forgot to save my account
Well... Of course, I would like something Better.
Still Voted Yes.
YES! I MISS IT SOOOOO MUCH
I'd like a mini version of Miiverse where interactions between friends and other players were permitted. Where I can organize for example a pinball tournament and let people know.
@nessisonett,
Is that you Ness from the old Amazon games forum?, Welshland is on here from time to time.
Yes I used to enjoy it
The Miiverse drawings were awesome, how some of them were done must of took ages.
Can't say I care much. I'd probably want it to return to 3DS because this was the only screenshot tool on the platform. But Switch has that aspect covered since day 1.
@johnvboy This is true.
It was a fine concept overall,
but the younger crowd kinda ruined the experience..
I didn't have much luck when I actually found myself in need of serious answers ..
Hated being notified about updates only to find It's just 2randos who've obviously mistaken miiverse for tinder..
and the grammar there! GOOD GRIEF!
*I swear I almost had a taste of what it's like to be dyslexic!
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I'm in the camp that believes Ninty ought to be focusing efforts on expanding the Switch's interface,
it's so barebones compared to the much more ancient, 3ds.
Badly in need of social support,
(preferably a Miitomo 2 >.> )
or toss in a Swapdoodle port!
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And I'm probably in the minority here, but a few games aside..
WiiU was the better console -imo
Definitely enjoyed it more than I am with the Switch so far.. :/
Having said all that.....
I would probably give Miiverse a second chance if it made a comeback..
the art was cool..
I really enjoyed Miiverse, right up until it came to 3DS. At that point, it became flooded with 10 year olds talking about Minecraft and cyber dating.
With an older demographic of Switch owners, however, I would definitely welcome its return! It was definitely one of the best features to come from the Wii U.
Just basic social features that are taken for granted on other consoles would be nice.
Yes I loved mii verse and would be very happy to see it return.
y cant metroid crawl?
Miiverse drawings were really cool.
That JoyCon pen patent may point to a renewed interest in user-created drawings on Switch.
@Ardisan aka me.
I loved Miiverse and would love to have it back! It was cool to have a community for every single game, so you could easily interact with other fans of those games. That sort of thing doesn't happen on Twitter unless your followers also happen to be interested in the same games as you.
I particularly loved the SmileBASIC community as it was a fantastic way to share games and offer help to people trying to learn how to program with it. Having it all built into the system made it the absolute best way to do that at the time. With SmileBASIC Switch released in Japan and likely to release in the west at some point, it would be so nice to be able to have Miiverse back again to create a new community for it.
The best parts of Wii-U were always its interface. I could change it from single line of icons to grid like a tablet and adjust the size of that grid - you know, things the 3DS could do. It had folders. And Miiverse was an awesome place for artwork. I completed a whole pokedex just by chatting with people in Miiverse and setting up trades for some of the rarer 'mon like Shaymin.
Really threw the baby out with the bathwater on Wii-U Nintendo.
Miiverse is the only social media-ish thing I've ever really taken to. No interest in the bigger communities on Facebook, Twitter, etc.
I also want Swapnote back. Age-gate it if you have to, but it was a lot of fun sending pictures and messages to friends on the 3DS.
@Ralizah Yeah, it was an awesome place to meet other gamers, or connect with gamers you already know and share your gaming experiences.
@duddy That’s what I miss the most. I miss the community interaction. I felt like a kid in a candy store on Miiverse. If Iwata was still here with us I believe he would have brought it back.
If the admins are more laidback , sure.
You'd get your post deleted for the smallest things.
Please no, Nintendo has to move to the year 2020. Some Artworks were nice, but most of the part was useless. Nintendo should focus on standards like using my profil and game son any console i log in at, global achivements and a some more personalisation on my profile - but not my black and whiteb drawings....
Absolutely.I loved it.Left a goodbye message too,thats part of the collage shown in the picture at the top of the article(i was probably the only italian that did it).
As long as NSO isn't required for Miiverse.
It added a nice personalised touch to a lot of games, but there are other times when they seemed just a little too intrusive, and I would appreciate the option to turn off Miiverse posts altogether (without having to go into Flight Mode).
It was really jarring to play Miitopia for the first time and the software recommending me SpotPass'ed Miis bearing the likenesses of Spongebob and other real-world people/brands that were obviously not authorised by Nintendo.
I also didn't appreciate some of the ridiculous censorship that had gone on (with no option for appeal). I understand why obscene content ought to be removed, but I do not appreciate the suppression of free speech purely because some humourless and small-minded moderator has a lobster embedded in their backside.
I really do think Nintendo should consider revisiting things that made the DS line of handhelds fun, while also considering the fact that services like Miiverse are very temporary and we're already a ways into the life of the Switch. I mean, Nintendo still hasn't implemented a trophy/achievement system, standard integrated voice chat, or a Metroid, Mario Golf, console specific Mario Kart game... I could go on and on with the things they NEED to do first before Miiverse
I am all for it. The Miiverse could be very effective as a binding social network for current Switch and Switch lite owners. I can see many possibilities where the Mii become the face for Nintendo going forward.
It was a lot easier to draw on the GamePad. But yeah I'd still love to see Miiverse return XD
I'm hoping it's more different from Miiverse or else, shutting down Miiverse in late 2017 would've been pointless.
I would rather have the Street Pass feature return. GBA games. Some Metroid love. Maybe an original IP or new character.
I kinda miss it in a way. It was always kinda fun to interact with the community and get ideas/help on games and share opinions. Though it was toxic in some parts of the miiverse community.
I learnt so much on Miiverse. Life-changing, mind-blowing insights such as "Mario is good" and "Nintendo rocks".
No, in all seriousness, I think the world already has enough social media platforms, we didn't really need another one. If you want to discuss games online with other people you can already do that, and with a hell of a lot more freedom than on Miiverse.
Please add it so I can have the fast and snappy OS of the Switch slow down for Nintendo Twitter.
Eh, I don't really care either way. Twitter is basically my Miiverse anyway, except more fun because I don't have to censor my vulgar comments.
Miiverse was the first social media platform that I made use out of and I still think it holds up today. It was cool being able to interact with indie developers over some high score or glitch.
The wiiu died for me the day miiverse was shut down. Its so lifeless without it.
I don't know how Miiverse as a whole would work on a Switch. The dual screen nature of the Wii U was perfect for it. But I do think some individual features could work
@westman98 that's my thinking also.
Yes please.
And if so, they should rerelease TWWHD and TPHD, which both made great use of Miiverse.
I'll take Switch menu themes, Netflix, more optional Switch Menu and a more advanced Eshop menu much before I would care about that.
I never used it anyway. So it doesn’t bother me if they brought it back or not.
@Ardisan Welcome to the Internet
Swapnote please, I used to love sending my friends messages with silly doodles in them. It was also fun to see my friends messages be drawn out in from of my eyes. Love the whole letter style thing!
Bring it back!
It was rather pointless, like PlayStation Home. Give the gamers, games, and the social media people another mobile app. Keep the two separate.
I would much rather see Virtual Console back, even if they only limit it to first party games, every console going forward should allow you to buy (meaning keep) Super Mario World and ALttP.
No. It was a total waste of time. There's enough online tools already available for social interaction. I used it for a bit out of novelty, then the only time I really wanted to take advantage of it, I posted in the Mario Power Tennis thread for 3DS, "I'll be online at 7pm Sunday looking for matches". That got deleted for violating some rule (I think about offering or requesting personal information). That game only had local servers so it was tough getting a match.
I'd like it. But not just a return, I would want it to be improved. Have it be the messaging, party chat and invite system that people have been clamoring for. And make sure it can be restricted by parental controls - so all the "protect the children from the evils of the interwebs" people can be placated.
I'd just hope that, if they can do it, they do it in a way that doesn't slow down the home menu. Make it an app that you run on its own, not something always on in the background.
Yes I miss it all the nice drawings and all the stuff like that and the smash community was cool
I just want some way to communicate with my friends on the Switch itself. It's ridiculous we cannot.
As long as the content is good then yes let it come back. Problem is you will need a NIN subscription to access it though that will be a bummer though.
I would love it!! But they need to put it back to the way it was before that awful revision they did.
I actually do, yes.
Miiverse was one of the best things about the Wii U. Such a shame they abandoned it alongside the Wii U. Seems like they made the false association of the systems failure with the service.
Just watched the whole Nicole-Allan romance for the first time. Reminded me of the even older "You touch my hands for stupid reasons" video. We need it back for this! Less policing, let it become hilarious outlet for naive minors and a troll filled chaos arena.
Yes, definitely. I would want to keep the ability to tweet screenshots. But would love to see the return of that.
I remember, before I had NintendoLife for all my news and sources, Miiverse was the way I learned about games. When new games released, (Breath of the Wild, for example) I was able to be apart of the hype without having the game.
How about they work on the eshop first...like why can’t I gift games from the eshop (or browser eshop) yet when many games are eshop only?
Not really, it was a pretty useless feature.
I’d rather they organized the E-shop properly, added folders for games/wallpapers and be able to play our MP3s/MP4 files with ease.
I would love a proper instant messenger system so I can talk to my pals online.
Also- I still very much want a proper virtual console, the rental service they have now is a complete rip off.
It’s obvious there can be a lot more features and functions on the Switch but to have them drip fed to us like this is insulting!
@PixelViking64 Unrelated, but I love your profile pic. Animals is my favorite Pink Floyd album!
As for Miiverse... I used it a ton back in the day, and would love to see it make its triumphant return, or something new entirely
It's not like I want it really badly. But if it returns, you bet I'll be using it for the sh#t posts lol. I wonder what community would replace NSLU?
Mooverse! It was actually mooverse.
I’m still banned on Wii U miiverse 😖
they should hire some "how do i make super mario maker 2 lag free" devs ;P would be better than bringing mii-verse to switch.
and i don't really need playgrounds like mii-verse - a messaging system with notification-light support would be perfect.
it kinda suxx that you're not be able to communicate with switch only friends - to invite them to a game or ask them to play online multiplayer in e.g. team sonic racing ;D
I'm a bit neutral on this. One of the few things I didn't like were the cringy memes it spawned.
@Anti-Matter yes most definetly :]
Loved it. Miiverse was great for uploading screenshots to show progress, highscores, and bugs, and for talking about specific games in general, or to ask for help, or to talk to devs, and to find people to play with, or just to watch the art some great people painstakingly pixeled.
This is a no-brainer and one of the many features still missing on the Switch after almost three years... come one Nintendo, when are we finally getting a finished product here?
I would be happy with THEMES and perhaps a return of the Nintendo Badge Arcade from 3DS, at least.
Strangely, Nintendo has actually passed up a LOT of opportunities for profit with the Switch.
Miiverse is not coming back. Nintendo could decide to develop a successor...in fact, they have with their silly phone app but they might come up with something considering how poor their app is receiving with the critics and fans but this is Nintendo we're talking about, a company that generally does not listen to feedback...well, at least they don't until a few years down the line when they finally acknowledge their failures when it is far too late. I am convinced nothing is coming regarding social media.
@bleedinmagic81 It's definitely one of theirs as well, if not my favorite. The ending solo on Dogs is the stuff of pure legends!
It was a good start, but was very basic. Maybe a revamped new better version wild be good.
@PBandSmelly go to archiverse and search your account there
No thanks the coummunity it was kinda cringe but at least I was having good friends in Miiverse
They made it less and less accessible over its short and miserable life, while never fixing most of its basic issues.
It'd be fun to have it back, but I really think Nintendo could invest their time and effort better elsewhere.
If they completely resurrected it, or just parts of it, I imagine they will plop in into their Switch app for mobile. I also suspect that Nintendo would somehow tie it to NSO subs, which would technically make sense, as it would be something server-related we would be paying for; although we weren't paying for it, when the WU was current. But, it goes a little beyond that rudimentary argument.
I liked Miiverse, but it definitely needed improvements. The WU itself wasn't a bad system, but Nintendo seemed to not really even attempt saving it, from 2015 onward.
I miss miiverse. Although the mods and kids ruined it a bit.
I do miss Miiverse a lot. I wanted to keep using Miiverse
I hope so. Call it NSider, call it Miiverse, call it whatever, I just want it back again.
I liked the overall Mii focus and how many games supported your own Miis in different ways. Also the crowds showing which games were popular at the moment was a nice touch that I miss. I can't say I used the forums too much though due to the clumsiness of the interface, but OK if coupled with a mobile app.
I can't remember how Raymand Legends used it, but I think that game had a good implementation. At least I loved and somehow followed the weekly (?) challenges at launch.
Anyway, I think the overall Mii focus created a personalisation aspect of the console and its games that I cared for. I'm for bringing Miiverse back as well, could always avoid it if not for you.
I'm in the minority here, but I'd love to have it back. Posting to regular social media sites isn't even remotely the same.
Heck ya, I'd like to see it return! I'd like to be able to reconnect with some old friends of mine that I haven't spoken to in close to 5 years. I took a break in 2016 and just never came back to it and I would like to go back. I miss my old friends, I've almost forgotten about them till I remembered about Miiverse today.
Ending Miiverse was a massive mistake. It would have been the largest gaming social network today due to Switch success. But I understand it had to go in the massive DOWNGRADE of Nintendo network.
Sitting 3 years on the abandoned Wii U network, no longer looked after and stripped bare is still more feature rich than their pathetic Switch service.
I would like it to return and this time my sister won't take over
It was uniquely Nintendo. It was amazing to see some of the creativity it produced.
Nah, the touch screen is barely used on the Switch. Let it stay dead.
And when does Nintendo ever do the same thing twice? I loved Streetpass, and they didn't even carry that over to Switch.
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