Ah, the Mii. We remember when we first made our own Miis back in 2006. Back then the most character customisation we had experienced was probably with The Sims, so making Miis of our friends, family and favourite video game characters was a fun pastime. It's a real shame, then, that Nintendo stepped away from their Miis, presumably in an attempt to distance Switch from the Wii branding. These fun avatars are still around, of course — the Switch has its own Mii Maker hidden away — but it's not as pronounced and they have certainly taken a back seat in recent years.
With that said, the launch of Miitopia on Switch this Friday sees Miis return in full force with its own enhanced Mii Maker utility, so we thought it would be fun to take a look back at the history of the Miis — what led to their development, their popularity and their eventual side-lining.
From the mind of Miiyamoto
The idea of making your own custom characters for video games was one that Nintendo had been brewing in their offices since as early as the NES days. Back on the Famicom Disk System, Shigeru Miyamoto thought it would be fun if players could use the console to create their own custom faces for characters that you could then control after inserting a separate ‘scenario disk’. As outlined by the man himself in a 2007 GDC keynote that charted the evolution of the Mii, a prototype was even developed but when Miyamoto presented his idea to the other higher-ups at Nintendo, they truly struggled to see how this could be turned into a fun game, and so the idea was shelved.
Miyamoto is known for his tenacity, however, and this idea wouldn't go unused. He bided his time, waiting for technology to catch-up to his concepts and they make an actual game to go alongside this character-making software. And it would take two console generations before this happened, when Nintendo launched their second disk system add-on, the Nintendo 64 DD.
Say chiise!
With the enhanced power of the Nintendo 64 and the space provided by the 64DD's proprietary disks, Nintendo revisited its character creation software and packaged it with a Japan-exclusive title called Mario Artist: Talent Studio, the second game in the Mario Artist line and a successor to the SNES game/creation suite Mario Paint. This 64DD game was all about making your own characters, called 'Talents', dressing them up in different outfits and then making short, 3D movies using the software. The Talents you made could even be imported and used to the other games in the Mario Artist line.
While you could just draw the Talents face using the in-game creation software, one of the big features that Nintendo promoted was the ability to take photos and use them to create your characters. A feature that was originally to be included in Rare's Perfect Dark (until Nintendo said it didn't like the idea of letting players shoot each other in the face), this face transfer could be done with either the Game Boy Camera, snapping a photo and using the Nintendo 64 Transfer Pack to import it to the game, or by using any camera that supported NTSC video output, and transferring the data using a bundled capture cassette. This allowed for incredible detail (for the time) on these characters, a level of fidelity that we are only really seeing matched with the new creator in Miitopia.
Talent Studio was unfortunately limited in its reach thanks to the 64DD never leaving Japan, so the vast majority of players worldwide never experienced it. Nintendo wasn’t about to let this creator idea go to waste, though, and so began working on a successor on the Nintendo GameCube called Stage Debut, eventually renamed Manebito. This title had a more advanced version of the Talent creator, retaining the ability to take photos of yourself with the Game Boy Camera, but also utilising Nintendo’s GBA e-Reader cards to allow you to transfer pre-made characters, like celebrities, into the game.
This concept was shown to the public in E3 2002 but it never found its way to release. Nintendo ran into the same problem again; once a character had been made, there wasn’t really anything to do with them, other than make goofy movies. The project was put on ice once again, and it looked like the end of Miyamoto’s character creation concept.
Time for Mii to shine
Unbeknownst to Miyamoto at this time, a completely separate team at Nintendo was working on Nintendo DS software and had developed a character creation suite of their own. Inspired by the look of kokeshi dolls, the models looked very similar to Miis and it impressed then-NCL president Satoru Iwata. He informed Miyamoto of the project and Miyamoto immediately jumped ship, abandoning his previous team and Manebito to work on this new 'Kokeshi' project.
The team still struggled to come up with a use for the characters, though. They could make a mini-game collection but were aware that eventually players would stop playing and the characters would go unused and unloved. Around that time, Wii was also in development and the team tasked with making Wii Sports was struggling to come up with an aesthetic. They had tried using Mario characters, which didn’t feel right. They wanted it to feel like the player was the one who was the Tennis pro, not some upstart Jack-of-all-trades 'plumber'.
So, Wii Sports lacked characters and DS team's character creation tool lacked a game. You can see where this is going.
Miyamoto approached the Wii Sports team, some of whom had worked on Talent Studio, and tasked them with turning this DS software into something that could work for Wii. The decision was made to open up the software to the entire Wii system, not just Wii Sports, to get around the issue of these avatars making a one-off appearance. There were even plans to bring back the option to turn your own photos into Miis by plugging an SD card into the Wii — this would be scrapped due to concerns that not many Wii users would want to go through the hassle of doing so.
The upcoming Mario Golf: Super Rush enables you to play using a Mii, although for a community who've now sampled Miitopia's expanded toolset, it might be tough to go back to regular 'old' Miis.
And from that we have the Miis as we know and love them today. They would go on to be a Nintendo system staple for the Wii, 3DS and Wii U eras. The various 'Wii' line of games (Wii Play, Wii Party, Wii Music, etc) would stick to using these characters and the Mii would get further chances to shine in Tomodachi Collection for DS (in Japan) and the 3DS follow-up, Tomodatchi Life. The original 3DS Miitopia gave the avatars their own RPG, they would form an integral part of the Wii U's much-missed social hub Miiverse, and would also go on to be used in other games such as Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. which let players race and fight alongside Nintendo’s iconic mascots. And who can forget the ill-fated mobile experiment Miitomo? We certainly can't.
So, that brings us to the end of our look at the long and turbulent history of the Mii, a concept almost 20 years in the making. The announcement of Miitopia for Switch was something of a surprise, and its more advanced Mii creator has attracted a talented base of players going to town with some seriously impressive creations, much like we did back in 2006 when the Wii launched. The upcoming Mario Golf: Super Rush enables you to play using a Mii, although for a community who've now sampled Miitopia's expanded toolset, it might be tough to go back to regular 'old' Miis.
Regardless, perhaps Miitopia on Switch is a sign that Miis have more life left in them yet. If that's so, we cannot wait to see what crazily creative plans Nintendo has in store for them.
Comments 38
I wouldn't be surprised if Miis become a staple of nintendo consoles for years to come, they still haven't died down. I see the day a nin console releasing without miis as the day people riot
I love Miis. Really wish they were still truly part of the system software. Interesting to see where they came from!
I feel like if Miitopia does well, Nintendo will see that there's still people interested in Mii games.
Still using the same Mii since I bought a Wii in late 2008. It would seem almost heretical to change it now.
It's a shame that they never brought back the option to use real faces for Miis considering that the 3DS and Wii U both had in-built cameras.
Moi were fun , but streetpass a real hit... so exciting to pass by someone twice... quite a new friend...
Still think the Wii U menu with all the miis running around an talking was one of the cooler social aspects nintendo has ever done.
it always seemed like one of those "cool if you're a creative type, and total waste of time if you're not" type thing. I've known people that spend more time building Miis than playing games. Me? I just slapped the default did a color swap or something and got on with it. I also couldn't draw a stick figure to save my life.
@VoidofLight I would love a suite of Streetpass style mini games for Miis.
Society if we got this kind of article instead of every "Switch Pro rumour":
@Silly_G didn't 3DS have an option to base the Mii on the user's face in the front camera? I think that was even what I used myself way back when.
As for actual photos, they also made a comeback in Face Raiders. Forget players "shooting one another in the face", here you got a whole game about shooting YOURSELF in the face, repeatedly.😄
@Nalverus that really was awesome! Another feature I would love to see returned...
I miss Miiverse and Miis.
I'm convinced the Switch version of Miitopia is an afterthought considering how Miis are kind of a "hidden feature" this time around. If only they hadn't discontinued Miitomo and implemented it in such a way it acted as pretty much the NSO app (and maybe the Parental Control app) and your Mii's hub.
I am so glad miis are making a come back. miitopia and mario golf and i would love to see a sequal to wii sports resort.
I'm an artist as in I used to make a living on commissioned pieces.
I have always thought Miis are fugly. I'm glad for those who like/love them but I just don't.
@k8sMum I can see how these aren’t for everyone, but I kinda like them bc you can personalize the magic of Nintendo
I remember creating my first Miis on the launch day of the Wii, and the massive Mii collection of all my friends along with freakish creations we made when drunk in my uni flat. It was a brilliant part of owning the Wii, and helped everyone get up for playing whether they were gamers or not.
Ridiculous, the amount of successful ideas Miyamoto has seen through. Or should that be Miiyamoto (soz)
Miis are okay, but they are somewhat outdated. They really need a big "HD" update. To bring them more in line with XBOX avatars .
@nhSnork "didn't 3DS have an option to base the Mii on the user's face in the front camera?"
Yes both 3DS and Wii U had this option
I like racing as my Mii in Mario Kart.
I still have all my original Mii's from the Wii's launch in Dec 2006 as well as Mii's from every console since :') They hold so many memories for me so I'm really glad they exist
@Tandy255 The ONLY driver I ever use (once unlocked).
Up until that point, its 🍄Toad🐸
@k8sMum Still better looking than Funkos.
Ngl I kinda miss the Mii craze and the MiiVerse / Mii Plaza of DS & Wii era. Lots of creative creations with limited tools. And they were easier to transfer and share then. Think the Miis are something they should've integrated & expanded more on and kept it going on Switch! Glad they aren't fully forgotten.
Neat article! Loved the Mii’s and hope they’d make a return via Wii Sports and Tomadachi Life. Miitopia is a good sign though
I really love the Miis and I‘m glad they’re making a comeback recently. They have this fun Nintendo charm and remind me of the old days, back when the UI of Nintendo consoles had a personality…
I‘m still mad they banished the Mii Editor into the system settings on Switch and made it as bland and generic as possible. Just having them aligned in a grid is dull 😕
And don’t get me started on how they got rid of all the catchy music in the Switch UI… 😭
Well, it's not like the Switch system Miis aren't still useful. While not as good as the system in the new version of "Miitopia," the Switch Miis still provide more options than the 3DS Miis do, and they can be used in games like "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate" and "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe".
@BulbasaurusRex Yeah, it has more options on Switch but without some catchy background music and seeing the Miis running around afterwards, creating them isn’t half as much fun
And up until now, Miis were rarely used in Switch games and almost all games that use them are ports: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_video_games_featuring_Miis#Nintendo_Switch
They even removed Mii support in the 3D All-Stars version of Mario Galaxy.
But I’m glad that Nintendo started using them again lately and I hope they use them more in the future…
If/when we get a switch pro, tomodachi life and some sort of switch sports/switch sports resort would be an essential
A little FYI regarding the term "talent."
"Talent" is an English loanword in Japanese that refers to TV personalities.
@PBandSmelly Yeah. I've made great mii's on all 4 platforms and have always loved them. Its great fun swapping them from platform to platform
I really like the Miis and I'm a bit sad to see them being placed in a lower position on Switch compared to the Wii/Wii U/3DS days.
Hopefully Miitopia (amazing and underrated RPG, in my opinion) is a sign of Miis getting a second chance in the spotlight on Switch. I would very well like to see them get a "Wii Party" successor and Tomodachi Life on Switch, among other things.
Tomodachi Life is one of the best games on 3DS.
Miitomo was awesome. I just used it to take stupid screenshots and say stupid things.
I'm annoyed that the Switch version of Miitopia gave them this awesome upgrade...but only in Miitopia. Would be nice if the system Mii creator got this makeup system and we could use these Miis in other games. :c
Mannn nowbi miss my WiiU menu, where all my friends (Miis) running around greeting lol.
WiiU was a great console.
Seems like Mii's peaked with the 3DS and Wii U and were all but abandoned by the team who designed the Switch. I miss them.
@VoidofLight it achieved a million, which is pretty impressive for a first party game outside of the major franchises, and given how similarly casual experiences like 51 clubhouse games and ring fit adventure have done, I would not be surprised if the miis still have life in them.
Miis are soo awesome
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