This coming year will be filled with hype and anticipation for the next gaming consoles from Sony and Microsoft. I think everyone expects at least one new console to release during 2013, if not both.
No matter what Sony/Microsoft say their new consoles will be a response to the Wii U, at least in some small ways. And one of the biggest features of the Wii U is Miiverse. Nintendo’s take on Facebook/Twitter stuffed into a game console.
Miiverse gives users access to message boards for every game, allows them to give other users’ posts approval via a YEAH button or to comment and begin discussions just like on popular message boards across the web.
Not only that but Miiverse allows for social interaction in game. You can see where your friends had trouble in New Super Mario Bros U, or get warned about an horde of zombies waiting for you downstairs in Zombi U.
One of my biggest questions regarding next-generation consoles is whether Sony and Microsoft come up with a response to Miiverse and how much better/worse it will be. I’m excited at the thought of how these two companies could expand the core concept of Miiverse.
I will come right and say that I think Sony is more likely than Microsoft to come up with their own version of Miiverse. Maybe it’s because Sony has taken some innovative concepts that originated from Nintendo in the past and ran with them.
Please be less like PS Home and more like Miiverse!
If the PS4 were to ship with a social network type feature that isn’t a bloated 3D world like Playstation Home I’d be excited. Imagine Miiverse but with players discussing their epic dogfights in Starhawk 2.
Maybe a particular boss is really testing your patience in God of War 4 and you need help. Simply go to Sony’s Miiverse service and get help from friends without having anything spoiled for you.
I wouldn’t even mind Sony copying and pasting the general Miiverse concept without new content. Miiverse is a big deal and one of my favorite features of the Wii U.
Microsoft might want to allow companies like Facebook and Twitter to dominate the social networking on their next console. I wouldn’t be surprised if they came up with an X-Verse type network but they also might integrate existing social networks more heavily into the Xbox 720’s operating system.
I can just imagine Microsoft’s take on Miiverse where you’re treated to an advertisement for the latest Gears game every time you try to post something onto the message boards. I can’t imagine how bad the job of the moderators would be on an Xbox version of Miiverse. Keeping up with the excessive use of foul language on Xbox Live seems like an impossible task.
Miiverse is a major change to how console players interact with each other online. Its one of the best exclusive features of Nintendo’s new console so it’s only logical that Sony and Microsoft consider making a similar service for the PS4 and Xbox 720. Whether they do so remains to be seen but I would love to see what they have to add to an already awesome concept.
Should the PS4 and next Xbox have their own versions of Miiverse?,
