It probably says something about the system that the question ‘y cant metroid crawl?’ is one of the most memorable nostalgia nuggets from the Wii U era.
Don’t get me wrong – while the initial messaging was poor, the GamePad’s killer apps never really arrived, and the system itself was slow and bulky, I still loved my Wii U. But with Nintendo spending the last eight years picking at its carcass and making its greatest hits accessible on 150 million more consoles, many memories made by the Wii U’s faithful few are now muddled with the shinier ‘Deluxe’ versions.
Thinking back on Wii U-exclusive recollections, it’s Nintendo Land, Affordable Space Adventures, maybe ZombiU, the first (better) Super Mario Maker, and Miiverse that stick in the mind. And if you had to sum up the latter in one pic, it might be this one:
Ahhh. You feel that? That’s your nostalgia gland spurting. In fact, as Wii U approaches the last-last-gen threshold, I’ve noticed a general uptick in interest and affection – and that’s great! It was a fun machine with brilliant games and interesting ideas, especially Miiverse. Simpler times, eh? Better times, even…
Hang on, I’ll stop you there. As the world disintegrates and our news feeds make us long for The Good Ol’ Days™, it’s easy to pine for the quaintness and charm of Nintendo’s social media experiment. The fun little Miis congregating around games on your plaza! The cute screenshots and innocence of the posts! The cool white and bright green look and the incredible artwork! Even the ‘bad’ posts were fun, right?
Erm, no. Maybe the past decade has numbed us to it, but despite the charm, Miiverse was an undeniably clunky platform; a walled garden filled with horrid takes and a confusing mix of naive Nintendo fans, seasoned trolls, and kids dashing thoughts off without a second one.
There have been rumours suggesting Nintendo wants to get social again with a new platform. It’s been suggested that the mysterious ‘C’ button could link out to some new social hub, but wild talk of a TikTok-style platform called ‘Vidmiio’ has always had our collective eyebrows brushing the ceiling here at NL. Are we not social enough already? Do people not remember what happened the last time? You think Nintendo wants that again!?
While watching some old videos on the topic, I came across the lovely Alex-from-Nintendo-Life discussing Miiverse on the cusp of its demise. Though he highlighted its community of artists as a particular highlight, he generally didn’t get much out of the platform beyond that. Asking around the NL office for Miiverse thoughts, beyond a wistful, faraway look, the service doesn’t factor massively into our memories.
“I genuinely don’t think I ever used it,” came one response. “Useless, but charming,” was another, referring to Wii’s fun lineup of ‘channels’ in the same breath. “Wii Weather Channel was the bomb.” Indeed it was, but in 2025 it’s not something we’re gagging to see make a return on Switch, and Miiverse falls into the same category.
Maybe we were all a bit too old for it. Perhaps that walled garden was a safe space for a younger generation to express themselves, interacting and exploring a platform that, though policed by Nintendo, still managed to surprise and shock on occasion.
It probably says something about the system that the question 'y cant metroid crawl?' is one of the most memorable nostalgia nuggets from the Wii U era.
Don't get me wrong - while the initial messaging was poor, the GamePad's killer apps never really arrived, and the system itself was slow and bulky, I still loved my Wii U. But with Nintendo spending the last eight years picking at its carcass and making its greatest hits accessible on 150 million more consoles, many memories made by the Wii U's faithful few are now muddled with the shinier 'Deluxe' versions.
Thinking back on Wii U-exclusive recollections, it's Nintendo Land, Affordable Space Adventures, maybe ZombiU, the first (better) Super Mario Maker, and Miiverse that stick in the mind. And if you had to sum up the latter in one pic, it might be this one:
Ahhh. You feel that? That's your nostalgia gland spurting. In fact, as Wii U approaches the last-last-gen threshold, I've noticed a general uptick in interest and affection - and that's great! It was a fun machine with brilliant games and interesting ideas, especially Miiverse. Simpler times, eh? Better times, even...
Hang on, I'll stop you there. As the world disintegrates and our news feeds make us long for The Good Ol' Days™, it's easy to pine for the quaintness and charm of Nintendo's social media experiment. The fun little Miis congregating around games on your plaza! The cute screenshots and innocence of the posts! The cool white and bright green look and the incredible artwork! Even the 'bad' posts were fun, right?
Erm, no. Maybe the past decade has numbed us to it, but despite the charm, Miiverse was an undeniably clunky platform; a walled garden filled with horrid takes and a confusing mix of naive Nintendo fans, seasoned trolls, and kids dashing thoughts off without a second one.
There have been rumours suggesting Nintendo wants to get social again with a new platform. It's been suggested that the mysterious 'C' button could link out to some new social hub, but wild talk of a TikTok-style platform called 'Vidmiio' has always had our collective eyebrows brushing the ceiling here at NL. Are we not social enough already? Do people not remember what happened the last time? You think Nintendo wants that again!?
While watching some old videos on the topic, I came across the lovely Alex-from-Nintendo-Life discussing Miiverse on the cusp of its demise. Though he highlighted its community of artists as a particular highlight, he generally didn't get much out of the platform beyond that. Asking around the NL office for Miiverse thoughts, beyond a wistful, faraway look, the service doesn't factor massively into our memories.
"I genuinely don’t think I ever used it," came one response. "Useless, but charming," was another, referring to Wii's fun lineup of 'channels' in the same breath. "Wii Weather Channel was the bomb." Indeed it was, but in 2025 it's not something we're gagging to see make a return on Switch, and Miiverse falls into the same category.
Maybe we were all a bit too old for it. Perhaps that walled garden was a safe space for a younger generation to express themselves, interacting and exploring a platform that, though policed by Nintendo, still managed to surprise and shock on occasion.
