Wii U Miiverse unveiled: Mobile chat and more
Nintendo has revealed the Miiverse, the company's gaming social system designed to integrate with the Wii U console, offering avatars, chat, communities and more. Built around the Mii avatars, the Miiverse supports text and handwritten messages that can be accessed via a mobile browser such as on a smartphone or tablet, allowing Wii U gamers to quickly get help from their friends with trickier levels and challenges.
Both an on-screen keyboard and a stylus can be used, with bubble-based chat that can be browsed both on your TV and, if you're using that for gaming itself, on the Wii U Gamepad's own 6.7-inch screen. Those multitasking abilities are added to the Gamepad's existing independence, such as allowing for browsing the web and playing standalone games.
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There's also Mii Wara Wara, which collates game-related messages and overlays them into the individual titles. Location-base Miis can also be shown, clustering them around where you're physically gaming if you've taken your Gamepad out and about.
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Nintendo revealed new peripherals for the Wii U earlier, as well as a slight redesign of the Gamepad itself. The console is set to launch in certain markets by the 2012 holidays.