Even though it was promised, I was very surprised to see Nintendo opening up Miiverse, making it accessible via web browser. It is not like them to do something so…obvious. Could it be? Is Nintendo making a serious stab at a real social network, tailored to gamers? Are they finally starting to follow through on their years of insisting that they are serious about online social gaming?

Well, no, at least not yet. Although the browser version of Miiverse allows you to explore all of the same communities that you can access through the standard Wii U interface, you cannot directly post. So far you can only comment on others’ posts, and even then you are limited to text. No using your Wacom tablet to create masterpiece drawings to upload to Miiverse as of now. There is also no way to directly message your friends. The whole thing feels very light on functionality.

Still, there is something surreal about interacting with a Nintendo-controlled community outside of Nintendo hardware. I am hopeful that this may be a “crack in the dam” for Nintendo’s historically closed and onerous approach toward online gaming. One can easily envision an upgraded, web-accessible Miiverse that is more or less like Twitter, just packaged and monitored by Nintendo. I don’t even want to think about the possibility of iOS or Android apps. My head might explode.

What do you all think? Are these just scraps to mollify the Nintendo faithful while we endure an extended and inexcusable software drought? Or is Nintendo finally starting to get with the program?