Nintendo is doing away with online social media hubs Miiverse and Streetpass in the Nintendo Switch. The newest game console, which is expected to be released on March 3, will be supporting another upcoming gaming social media hub instead.
New Social Media Hub For Gamers?
Nintendo has yet to confirm what social media platform will be integrated into the Nintendo Switch but it will neither be developed nor moderated by Nintendo.
"I can answer that we're not going to be using Miiverse for Nintendo Switch," David Young, Nintendo of America's assistant manager of public relations, confirmed.
Some gamers and geeks have already expressed their sorrow over Nintendo's decision, but whether they are truly sincere is up for debate since the content in Miiverse can go anywhere from great to nonsensical to just plain awful.
"Miiverse would've been perfect for the device. It's one of the best/worst experiments Nintendo has ever concocted, and we've come to mourn it," Jordan Minor of Geek.com writes.
Tweets and memes have surfaced since the announcement was made, and Twitter user Bad Miiverse Posts has actively retweeted several people who seem sad to see Miiverse go. Below are some of the tweets in reaction to the news:
Looks like Miiverse is dead. https://t.co/4dVLhrue8A pic.twitter.com/7oqYtaotv4
— BadMiiversePosts (@BadMiiversePost) January 13, 2017
pic.twitter.com/4nO3CTksHp — BadMiiversePosts (@BadMiiversePost) January 13, 2017
Press 'Yeah!" to pay respects.
— BadMiiversePosts (@BadMiiversePost) January 13, 2017
@BadMiiversePost I'm crying tears of nice-looking water. — CurtDogg (@CurtisBonds) January 13, 2017
It's been a long day without you, my friend,
And I'll tell you all about it when I see you again.@BadMiiversePost pic.twitter.com/hwmrY0fiGd— Daniel Switzer (@daniel_switzer) January 15, 2017
Miiverse was an extraordinary, gorgeous disaster and I'm so sad it won't be coming to Switch @BadMiiversePost https://t.co/rmkdimDVKo — Jordan Minor (@JordanWMinor) January 19, 2017
The Nintendo Switch is primarily a home console with the ability to transform into a portable gaming device, which is why the company decided to do away with Streetpass. In this respect, removing the 3DS Streetpass feature makes sense.
Why Gamers And Geeks Will Miss The Miiverse
The Miiverse was made available in the Nintendo Wii U and 3DS consoles where players create their Mii characters to serve as their avatar and interact with other players through gaming communities. Players also share content such as gaming journals, and send "Yeah!"s to other players whose content they like.
There are also verified Miiverse users who can share gaming news and announce contests for other Miiverse users. The platform really had some promise. Of course, not everyone plays by the rules.
Miiverse is supposed to be a family-friendly platform, but some users have proven to be notorious when it comes to pushing the boundaries of the content they share, so it may be possible Nintendo has gotten tired of banning deviants left and right.
We will all just have to wait and see what social media platform Nintendo has chosen to implement but, until then, geeks and gamers would most likely continue with the goodbye memes.
