Tag Archives: Miiverse
Interview: Nintendo Talks eShop Disparity, Miiverse, and Wii U’s Online Focus At Launch
While Nintendo’s press conference in New York City on Thursday revealed many of the key details on Wii U we had all been waiting for — namely its price and release date — there were many lingering issues left to be addressed. Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinen may be best known as the frequent translator for Shigeru Miyamoto, but he’s also the company’s Product Marketing Manager. Jose Otero and Anthony Parisi turned to him to find out more about transferring digital content from a Wii to Wii U, the reason for the disparity between the Japanese and North American eShops, plans for selling standalone GamePads, lessons learned from WiiConnect24, and why online play wasn’t an emphasis for Nintendo’s first-party games at launch.
1UP: From what you’ve seen, how is Nintendo adapting to the U.S. market right now, considering the state of the Japanese yen versus the dollar? How does that influence the approach?
Will Moderation Render Wii U’s Miiverse Ineffectual?
Nintendo has largely avoided discussing the subject of online when it comes to Wii U; we’re still in the dark on details regarding the presence of friend codes and other things that have hampered the online experience for owners of Nintendo’s previous consoles. The one exception to this has been Miiverse, which has the potential to connect Wii U owners with each other in a new, interesting way. There is, however, at least one issue that stands in the way of it being a major success (aside from Wii U itself selling well), and that is Nintendo’s desire to provide a safe environment for younger gamers.
Miiverse allows Wii U owners to share messages with others both inside and outside of games; New Super Mario Bros. U demonstrated this week how players’ messages can be shown on the level select screen or following Mario’s death. Messages can be either typed out or hand-drawn. Either way, the potential for spoilers or inappropriate messages to be shared through these channels is great, and Nintendo has several ways of ensuring those undesirable messages are seen by as few people as possible.
