The Nintendo Wii U is still pretty new to the market, and there are a lot of people talking up some of the features while some are getting thrashed. Sure, we could sit around and make jokes about processing power, and how Hoverboards don’t work on water unless you’ve got power, but honestly, that doesn’t accomplish much other than cheap laughs. Nintendo has never been known for overpowering their home consoles, and especially with their last few systems, have focused on innovative features that we’ve seen the competition sweat over and strive to compete with.
Motion controls were a dumb idea in gaming until Nintendo unveiled the Nintendo Wii, and even then, would it work? Then it was packed in with Wii Sports, which was simply delightful, and suddenly the competition was sweating and it resulting in the Sony PlayStation Move and Microsoft Kinect for Xbox 360. I’ve already discussed how I think that the Nintendo Wii U GamePad will be one of those features that the competition tries to emulate, but now I think that it is time to turn our attention to another feature of the Wii U that we could see emulated in a few ways by the competition, and that is the Wii U Miiverse.
The Miiverse is Nintendo’s stab at building up an online network for themselves but not doing it like Microsoft’s Xbox Live or Sony’s PlayStation Network. It is Nintendo, so they have to put their “Nintendo touches” on it to make it both unique and appealing to not only gamers, but to everyone. Think about the original Wii and when you’d view your Miis, having that, but having it be from actual people you’ve interacted with online and seeing what they’ve been up to. The big feature, though, is the built-in message board service. In a way, it seems like a no-brainer and a “duh” move — I mean, it is a message board, something that has been an internet-staple since as long as the internet has been around.
But the idea is that while you are playing a game, you can pause and read what the community is saying about the game, as well as talk about it yourself. Better yet is the ability to take a screenshot of what you are playing, and if you are stuck, being able to post it on the game’s community page and ask for help from other users. Of course you can provide drawings done with the Wii U GamePad as well. There are a lot of other cool features, as well, like community hints for games that you can turn on or off and can pop up during difficult parts of the game to help guide you and a lot more.
The Miiverse isn’t a revolutionary idea, in fact, it is a collection of basic ideas, which is what makes it work. Not everyone has a laptop or tablet next to them while they are playing and if they get stuck decides to Google how to get past a part, and Nintendo has found a way to help players while building a community. Sure, it is no party voice chat, but it is inherently different, which means that it is inherently Nintendo.
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