Millions of Nintendo Switch owners have not experienced a Nintendo as social as it once was. I’m not talking about having a TikTok account or using other social media platforms. No, there was a time when Nintendo users could talk to each other, share, and play against each other without any extra effort. They didn’t need to use an app to do it, either.
Of course, I’m talking about Miiverse. This isn’t a simple plea to bring back Miiverse because things were always better then. Rather, the situation that led to their discontinuation has changed.
Started in 2012, Miiverse was a social network that existed within the confines of the Nintendo 3DS and the Wii U. You could share text, screenshots, drawings, and sometimes videos with other players in curated communities for each game. There were also general-purpose categories, or you could simply post to your own “feed.”
At the time, social media use was accelerating. Instagram had started two years prior, Twitter was a small, fledgling site not owned by a narc billionaire, Snapchat was still in its infancy, and TikTok was years away from existing. By the time Nintendo decided to shut down Miiverse in 2017, the social media world was thriving, and Nintendo didn’t see a reason to keep it going. Apps like Discord also became the de facto standard for gamers to hang out, post pictures, and use voice chat.
This was their official explanation.
We started the Miiverse service in 2012 along with the launch of the Wii U system because we wanted to provide a space where users could share their feelings about games with each other. Thanks to users’ support throughout the years, we think we were able to achieve that goal. We decided to end the service at this time because, among other reasons, many users are shifting to social networking services.
Miiverse Service Discontinuation FAQ
It probably didn’t help that the systems Miiverse lived on weren’t long for this world either. The Wii U, as we all know, sold terribly, and Nintendo was moving on to the Switch. The 3DS would live on for a while longer, but almost everything online about that system is now dead too.
But if you look at Nintendo’s statement, the reason for Miiverse’s existence was to “provide a space where users could share their feelings about games with each other.” The reason for its shutdown, “many users are shifting to social networking services,” is even more relevant today.
Since 2012, and especially since 2017 and a pandemic later, we’ve learned a lot about the ill effects of social media. These sites have become hives of scum and villainy, and despite people still using them, people are regressing into their own cliques again—just like the internet of old. When I started writing this, viewable likes were still a thing on Twitter, but in the last few days people have started replying to Tweets using the “Yeah!” reply made famous by Miiverse.
Just this month, Nintendo removed the ability to post screenshots and videos to Twitter, and has suggested that even Facebook sharing may be removed in the future. There’s a dedicated button on the Switch for taking screenshots and videos; we hope it will also be there for future consoles. What better place to share them than a new Miiverse?
However, the same divisions and tribalism we see on social media today would still be an issue. Nintendo manually moderated most of Miiverse as well, and any form of input, whether text or image, is susceptible to abuse—there will be penises. Despite these challenges, we need Miiverse more than ever.
Can a utopia-like social media network exist now, even with the chokehold Nintendo will put on it, even solely for discussing games?
Credit: “Yeah” button SVG created by @KaihatsuYT on Twitter