Miiverse gets a Much-Needed Update

Nintendo had a difficult task lined up for itself when it decided to make a social network hub for the Wii U: namely, in that it wanted the space to be safe, fun, and pleasant for all who come upon it, but were foiled by the sizable issue of people being jerks. Since a social network isn’t very social or have much networking without people, they had to enter the equation at some point and corrupt the whole thing with their jerkiness. And while the mods have a full-time job out of trying to keep those jerks from soiling the whole network, Nintendo has been quietly working to try to fix the problem behind the scenes. And today, their effort has been shown to the world: we’re getting a new and improved Miiverse, everyone!

…yep, I can just feel the excitement surge through the room.

The new Miiverse is going to have a suite of extra features that will help make games more fun, and add a sense of community, even in single-player games. The first new feature, a Screenshot Album, is just that: a selection of 100 pictures you can take while playing a game that will store itself on your Album. The album is private, and thus un-viewable by others, but presumably there’s some way to share individual images…?

The next feature, arguably far more interesting, is the "Your Play Journal." Not only does it allow you, again, to take snapshots, but you can also write notes and reminders next to each snapshot, and share them with friends. It can be used to give out tips, prepare people, or, in true Dark Souls fashion, downright mislead them and cause their deaths. Notably, the Your Play Journal replaces your activity feed, so… no more automatic updates from granny about her progress in Super Mario Brothers 2 Wii U Edition.

Other than these two new features, the old parts of the system, such as drawing and messages, have been moved around for formatting purposes, so, it’ll look prettier too.

The most exciting or impacting news? No, hardly. But it is still news, and thus, by reporting it, I get paid. Welcome to the real world, kids.