Nintendo’s My Nintendo program for the Nintendo Network – which simultaneously acts as a replacement for Club Nintendo and the Digital Deluxe Pro programs, while also giving Nintendo a program analogous to PS Plus and Xbox Live Gold – will be launching this March, Nintendo has confirmed.

Nintendo also confirmed multiple details on the new system- your previous Nintendo Network accounts transfer over to the new program automatically, for example. My Nintendo will be used with all Nintendo services, including Nintendo eShop, Miiverse, Nintendo’s smartphone games, as well as on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. My Nintendo will have two tiers: Gold and Platinum. Gold will function similarly to Club Nintendo, where you earn points that you can trade in against games and software to earn discounts (for instance, having 100 Gold coins may get your $10 off on Xenoblade Chronicles X), while Platinum coins are given out for engaging with Nintendo’s services.

Nintendo confirmed that the My Nintendo service will also eventually include universal friends management, social features, and cloud functionality, so it looks like Nintendo are going all in on this. It is set to launch in 39 different countries in March. It will be available on the Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, PCs, smartphones, and any future systems Nintendo launches, such as the NX.

It has long been known that the NX will be doubling down on game sharing via a (finally) proper online service, thanks to DeNA constructing the Nintendo Network, and now, we are finally beginning to see inklings of what Nintendo may have planned for their next system.

According to a new patent that Nintendo has filed, spotted by NintendoEnthusiast, Nintendo has patented a form of gameplay and achievement sharing. Essentially, Nintendo seems to be implementing not just a form of Achievements into the NX, but also a way to share what led to those Achievements- meaning that that sweet boss battle that you just won that got you that achievement can be shared with other players, possibly via a system like the Miiverse.

Of course, this still is just a patent, so it is entirely possible that Nintendo does not do anything with this. On the other hand, it is far more likely that Nintendo will in fact have Achievements in the NX, and that they will have some unique twist similar to this, so Nintendo can keep them differentiated from Sony and Microsoft’s versions.

Nintendo will be redesigning Miiverse, the cross platform online social network and message board at the center of the Nintendo Network, has been a source of goofy entertainment, and a platform for players to share their best moments and impressions with each other, and for developers to communicate with the players, ever since it launched; and now, Nintendo will be giving the service its first major makeover since its original launch in 2012.

The redesign will promise a number of ways to document and share your gaming experience with other Miiverse users, making the process far easier than it has been so far. The first of these changes is the Screenshot Album, which lets you store and optionally share up to 100 screenshots at a time. The Activity Feed will also be revamped: it will now be the Play Journal, and it will allow you to take notes as you are playing a game to document your experiences. Each entry will also be saved with a screenshot to help you keep track of where you were and what you were doing when you started writing.

Finally, Nintendo will also be overhauling the community hubs- players will now be able to check in on a particular game and navigate between three main types of posts people have been sharing, journal entries, drawings, and discussions, which means you should be able to filter out all the useless fan art or ‘I found this ? block in Mario!’ post with ease, and get to what you want.

The menus and UI will also be touched up, meaning we should theoretically see a Miiverse that is more pleasant to use. Whether or not users actually use it as intended is, of course, something that remains to be seen. The re-design comes this summer.

First, let me explain how this process works on a Wii U, just in case you don’t know. On a Wii U, at any time that you are playing a game, you can press the Home button on the controller. From there, you can launch the Internet Browser or Miiverse, and you can choose to post the image on your screen (either your TV screen or your Gamepad screen) exactly as it is either on the Miiverse or on any website of your choice in full resolution.

It’s a very simple and great way to share screenshots, with no downgrade involved, and especially on Miiverse, it can make for a vibrant community with players sharing their best moments in games, and just showing their game off.

Apparently, this is not an option with Watch Dogs- head on over to the Miiverse community, and you’ll notice a distinct lack of any screens. It soon becomes clear why- “No screenshots allowed. I tried attaching one to this Miiverse post, I also tried the web browser method at i.nintendo.net,” one user said.

I wonder what Ubisoft is trying to hide, here. By all accounts, Watch Dogs on Wii U is a good looking game, albeit obviously not as good as the PS4 or Xbox One versions. What are they trying to achieve?

Nintendo’s Mario vs Donkey Kong series of puzzle games is making its way to the Wii U, with a new release in the franchise planned for Nintendo’s console for next year. Mario vs Donkey Kong on Wii U shall also be the first instance of the series showing up on a home console- previously, the games have been confined to Nintendo’s handhelds, with at least one installment each showing up on the Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi, and Nintendo 3DS.

In addition to the regular puzzling action that the Mario vs Donkey Kong games allow for, the Wii U game- which is still untitled- will also come with a full level editing suite, allowing players to make their own levels, and then to share them and get feedback on them over Miiverse. Until yesterday, I would have said that that is unusually progressive for Nintendo, but Nintendo has been surprising me continually since their Digital Event, so I’m not as taken aback anymore.

Update: Added screenshots.

Nintendo’s systems have largely existed as disparate entities (in spite of the handheld/console interaction that the company has pushed for since the Super Nintendo days), which has increasingly become a problem for the company in the age of digital ecosystems. When the PlayStation 4 and Vita can interact seamlessly as an extension of each other, the Wii U and 3DS’s complete insularity from one another might be construed as a problem.

On Monday night, Nintendo took the first steps towards alleviating that problem with what might be the biggest update the 3DS has ever had; the update introduced a full fledged multitaskable Miiverse to the system, along with a unified eShop, and the ability to link your system to your Nintendo Network ID (or to make a new one if you didn’t have one already).

All of these measures unify the 3DS and Wii U ecosystems that much more. We’re still a far cry from simply being able to log in with our Nintendo IDs on any new Nintendo hardware that we buy and having full access to our profiles, Miis, Activity Logs, friends lists, and downloaded games, but it’s a start.

Yesterday’s Nintendo Direct gave us a lot of 3DS related news, but some of the best stuff had nothing to do with games, it had to do with the system’s capabilities- more than a year after the launch of the Wii U, the 3DS will be getting Miiverse, the integrated social network that lets players post on game boards, interact with each other and developers, share messages privately or broadcast them, share screenshots and videos, chat, ask for help, and more.

Like the Wii U, the 3DS Miiverse will be a fully multitaskable application (meaning you can suspend your game, use it, and then return to your game without having to quit anything); alongside Miiverse, the 3DS is also getting Nintendo Network IDs at long last. Whether this means that the system wide Friend Codes are gone or not remains to be seen, but for now, you can link your 3DS Nintendo Network ID with the same one that you use on your Wii U.

Finally, the 3DS and Wii U eShop storefronts will now be unified, sharing a common wallet balance and everything (which was not previously the case). Although cross platform purchases have still not been confirmed, and although it is unclear whether this means that your purchases will no longer be tied to your hardware, these are all small steps towards a unified online ecosystem that Nintendo has taken.

Stay tuned for more information.

According to the tweet from Miiverse the port version of Sniper Elite V2 for the Wii U is lacking online co-op play. The fans are not going be happy about this as this was one of the bigger draws of the game that players can actually play online with others and snipe their way through the main campaign’s story-line.

It is strange that the Wii U is getting such a bare-bone port due to the fact that other Wii U titles handle the online pretty well. I don’t know why would anyone buy a port that essentially doesn’t support any kind of online play whatsoever and what is the point of even releasing it to the consumers.

Let us know how you feel about the fact that Sniper Elite V2 is lacking co-op play on the Wii U in the comments below.

Check back on GamingBolt for more updates.

A version of Miiverse is also in the works for the Nintendo 3DS, although Mizuki didn’t provide a release date yet. Interestingly, not all existing games and applications on the handheld will be Miiverse compatible. As of now, Mizuki is taking requests from devs as to what features they’d like to see in the next API update.

Overall, it’s not a bad strategy by Nintendo to concentrate on the social aspects of its online platform over the so-called “extra” functionality that SmartGlass brings to Xbox 360 games, although we expect the usual leaderboards to come into play. As of now, it’s a great step towards further integrating Nintendo devices into everyday life.

Source: Polygon

Seriously, last week’s Nintendo Direct presentation was thrilling to watch. In a short span of 30 minutes, Nintendo managed to drum up more hype for the Wii U than two E3 conferences, four separate previous Nintendo Direct broadcasts, and multiple press events had managed. Everything was covered, from the usability issues that stem from the Wii U’s seriously unoptimized, bloated OS, to new, long expected features like the Virtual Console, to new games, both expected and unexpected… seriously, it’s like Nintendo looked at every single rumor concerning the Wii U on the internet, decided to make it a reality, and then threw in some zingers to add some icing to the cake.

The impact of the Nintendo Direct was that, while of course we all know that the Wii U won’t be competitive with the next Xbox or the Playstation 4, and that it is likely to lose what little third party support it has right now once those systems release, it will still remain a competitive and viable alternative, a nice complement from those system’s offerings, a system with just enough must haves that you will want to have one.

Iwata started slow, outlining the Miiverse- Nintendo’s unique online community for the Wii U, that is genuinely and legitimately a step forward from the segmented community experiences that Xbox Live and PSN have provided us so far- and how successful it had been. He did spend a whole lot more time on this than was perhaps desirable, because for the first fifteen minutes, it legitimately looked like the Nintendo Direct would fail to deliver again, like everything Wii U so far. However, Iwata quickly began to get to the point, as he began to outline the planned improvements for Miiverse, alongside the rather startling (albeit expected, because of how many times it had been hinted at) announcement that Nintendo would be delivering an official Miiverse app for smartphones, to increase the community’s reach. Miiverse being accessible, at least partially, on other devices can only be good for Nintendo- Microsoft, Sony, and Valve all understood this when they made Xbox Live, PSN, and Steam apps available on smartphones- so it’s good to see Nintendo joining in on the fun.

Of course, it is slightly weird that Miiverse is coming to third party devices before the 3DS, Nintendo’s own handheld (which is now successful and stable enough that Nintendo chose to ignore it completely for this presentation, promising a future one outlining 3DS software instead). However, Nintendo clearly is beginning to understand that segmenting their hardware and software from everything else in this era of a unified and coherent software ecosystem is stupid, and they’re beginning to act on it.

The improvements to Miiverse were, therefore, much appreciated, as was Nintendo’s promise that the Wii U OS would also be fixed. The Wii U OS has been a disaster, with there being a day one update that’s in excess of 3 GB, and the OS still being slow, laggy, and plagued by loading times that stretched to several minutes. Nintendo has promised a fix to all the major issues that affect the Wii U and some minor functionality fixes too, coming via two firmware updates, one in Spring, and one in Summer. It was refreshing to see Nintendo actually admit that there was an issue with its system, and then tackle it head on.

This was followed by an admittedly more exciting announcement: the Virtual Console was finally coming to the Wii U. Now, as anyone who actually owns the system already knows, you can already access the complete Virtual Console (along with any and all titles that you may have bought over the last six years) on your Wii U, but they have to be accessed on the old Wii Shop Channel in Wii Mode. This means that they get no benefits from any of the new Wii U feature (including off screen play). Nintendo announced that a Wii U optimized and enhanced Virtual Console would be coming to the Wii U Virtual Console too, including new features like save states (already available on the 3DS Virtual Console), configurable buttons (a first for Nintendo), off screen play on the Wii U pad (yes!), and Miiverse support. Iwata also stated some important caveats: only NES and SNES titles would be compatible off the bat, and not all of them to begin with, and if you’d already paid for a title available on the Wii U store, you’d have to pay a small fee to upgrade to the Wii U edition.

So it was sort of a mixed bag, and it has to do with Nintendo’s lack of foresight with user accounts on the Wii, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been (they could have just flat out charged full price, and multiple suckers would have paid $5 to play Super Mario Bros. on their Wii U Pad). In addition, the announcement of their new pricing scheme, their new sales and discounts, and the fact that the Gameboy Advance was coming to the Wii U Virtual Console (what?), and it was hard to be too mad with this section of the presentation.

And then we moved on to games. Continuing with the honesty theme of the conference, Iwata apologized to viewers about the lack of Wii U games and announcements so far. He said that he recognized that it was Nintendo’s responsibility to provide compelling content for its platforms (more than other console manufacturers, if you think about it), but he then promised announcements. Announcements he began to outline then and there, much to everyone’s joy and surprise.

Of course, first he went through the usual suspects. We got to see more of The Wonderful 101 (looks as good as ever), Lego City Undercover (which might turn out to be a genuinely compelling game), Wii Party 2 (an all new announcement, and not the most exciting one). We even got a neat look at Bayonetta 2. And then Iwata proceeded to announce the new stuff. He promised a new 3D Mario and a new Mario Kart, both exclusive to Wii U, both debuting this E3. He promised Smash Bros. 4, the nebulous 3DS and Wii U game that had been announced nearly two years ago, to finally make an appearance this E3 as well. And then, with a sly smile, as if understanding what was going through all our minds, he said, ‘Of course, many of you probably think that new installments in those franchises isn’t a big deal.’ And then he went on to announce two delightfully unexpected games.

The first was Yoshi. From the developer of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, the game continued with the same yarn theme, and it looked gorgeous, adorable, brilliant in 1080p. This is the first console Yoshi game since the N64 title Yoshi’s Story, and it has a lot to live up to, considering that Yoshi’s Island is still considered the highmark of 2D platformers by many till date. It is also to be hoped that unlike Kirby, the new Yoshi game will actually provide a decent challenge to gamers.

Iwata then proceeded to announce a title that was genuinely more puzzling than any other announcement so far: Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem, a crossover between two ultra niche, super venerated franchises. We didn’t get to see much, but we know Atlus and Intelligent Systems are co-developing it. Iwata smiled slyly, and said that this type of intense co-operation would be emblematic of the kind of third party support and co-operation you could expect on the Wii U. Considering that after Bayonetta 2, this is the second time we’re seeing something like this, you have us very intrigued, Iwata.

Iwata then went on to outline plans for Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda franchise, which has hit rocky waters as of late. Handing the screen over to Aonuma, Nintendo went on to outline their plans to play with the conventions of the Zelda series, introducing elements like a full open world, not having a specific order for dungeon progression, and maybe even multiplayer. Aonuma said that he understands players want to see the new game now, but he said it was not yet developed enough where they could show it off, instead promising a glimpse of the game this E3. Instead, he showed us something else instead, that he said he hoped would tide Nintendo fans over in the meanwhile: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Reborn, a fully HD remake of the 2003 Gamecube classic, being made from the ground up in full HD for the Wii U. Aonuma promised improved gameplay (does that mean they are getting rid of the Triforce Quest?), Miiverse compatibility (honestly a given), and improved graphics (a matter of opinion, judging by the reaction they got). The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker Reborn would be available this August. Many tears were shed, many Wii U purchases made well in advance.

At this point, this was already the most successful Nintendo presentation in years, but Iwata wasn’t done. He had one last thing to show, a true killer app for the Wii U. Project X, Monolith Soft’s new RPG, exclusively made for the Wii U. It looked stunning, its scale looked beyond belief, and it looked like the first console next gen title we had seen yet. And it was running on the Wii U. Jaws dropped, and many people, even season Nintendo cynics, realized that this truly was a killer app that could potentially sell them on the system all by itself. And seriously, Project X, that looks like a successor to Xenoblade, but now realized with all the power of an HD system, a bigger budget given Xenoblade’s success, and of course, the online functionality that it so clearly seemed to include, will be incredible.

And that was that. Iwata signed off on that intriguing note. A possibility that there was more to the Wii U than we had thought. The promise of new games, expected and unexpected, old and new, and stuff that would appeal to both Nintendo loyalists and cynics. All of a sudden, buying a Wii U didn’t seem like such a waste of money anymore. All of a sudden, it looked like Nintendo had planted itself back in the race against the next gen systems when they ultimately release.

No one expects Wii U to get the same kind of third party support, or have specs that will be even remotely on par. We all know that is not going to happen. But what we do expect, and what Nintendo had failed on giving us so far, was a machine that would offer compelling games to us without necessarily being a part of the Xbox/Playstation ecosystem. Last Wednesday, Nintendo realized that promise. Last Wednesday, they made the Wii U a system many would want to own.

Now we just have to look forward to their E3 this year, to see how they will counter the double whammy of Sony and Microsoft unveiling their new systems.