Just take a pinch of Twitter and add a dash of Reddit.
When Miiverse was announced, I thought it would be a neat addition to the Wii U and a unique way to interact with the console, but I didn't think I would be super impressed by it.
Turns out, I am. Miiverse is surprisingly addictive and very fun to browse. The service takes the immediacy and enforced conciseness of Twitter and combines it with Reddit's deep categorical nature and ability to keep users on topic. It's a real chocolate-plus-peanut-butter scenario. I find it relaxing and entertaining to sift through others' thoughts on games and I am absolutley in love with all the neat doodles and nerd jokes people have been posting. My favorite so far has been a doodle of Nintendo Land's Monita as if she was the evolution of the ever-annoying Navi.
Scott has been reviewing the Your Shape fitness game. A clever post he made to the game's community popped up on my activity feed, which led me to explore the game's community. There I found loads of stupid drawings of peoples' abs and pecs. The crown jewel was a sketch of a giant cake with the text "You know you want it" written off to the side. I cracked up at that brilliant piece of trolling.
The ability to submit drawings in lieu of text allows for a lot of creativity, which is a welcome addition to the social network. Sure, Twitter lets you post photos, but Miiverse's doodles are better because they are hand-drawn and unique compared to most other social networks' visual mediums.
Miiverse is also an immediate way to learn about new games. After watching the incredibly bizzare trailer for Little Inferno, the game's Miiverse community was able to help me better understand what the game is actually about, and if I would like it or not.
I expect communities to boom and bust as games are released and people finish them. However, I really hope Nintendo is able to keep Miiverse going and expands on the concept over time. It's a really interesting concept and provides a new, much more social way for gamers to interact on the system beyond the traditional friend list.
