It's a sad thing to hear that Nintendo is shutting down Miitomo only two years after it's initial launch in 2016. After it hit the scene Miitomo was pretty huge and most people on Cheerful Ghost and the local PDX indie game scene were playing it. That said, after a couple months, my usage of it faded entirely and it seems that was the same for most people as Nintendo is now shutting it down. It's a pretty epic rise and fall and shows the fragility of some online communities you can spend real money with to buy in game or app items. What happens to all your digital stuff you've payed for when the services goes away? In the case of Miitomo, almost everything is lost except your Mii which can copy over to certain other systems. This is partly why I don't buy much in game DLC or online content and have really enjoyed heading back to buying game carts, retro systems and games without DRM.
All that to say Miitomo was a cool idea and kudos to Nintendo for trying it out. I thought it would act as a sort of single sign on system that bridged the phone and new console world of Nintendo but that wasn't to be. The Switch is missing something like Miitomo or Miiverse and I wonder now if it will ever get anything like it as Miitomo is moving to retirement and Miiverse has also been shutdown? Maybe Nintendo is retiring from creating another social network and just focusing on games? Kind of sad if that were true as both Miitomo and Miiverse had a lot of simple charm and no one is making anything quite like them.
https://miitomo.com/en/notifications/180125/
All that to say Miitomo was a cool idea and kudos to Nintendo for trying it out. I thought it would act as a sort of single sign on system that bridged the phone and new console world of Nintendo but that wasn't to be. The Switch is missing something like Miitomo or Miiverse and I wonder now if it will ever get anything like it as Miitomo is moving to retirement and Miiverse has also been shutdown? Maybe Nintendo is retiring from creating another social network and just focusing on games? Kind of sad if that were true as both Miitomo and Miiverse had a lot of simple charm and no one is making anything quite like them.
https://miitomo.com/en/notifications/180125/
DLC is different from microtransactions in a server based game, but there’s definitely the possibility that you won’t be able to get it when Sony/MS decides not to let you download it again.
But for steam, GoG, and other PC platforms, the DLC and the game are basically in the same boat.
I can’t say I’m surprised Miitomo is leaving us. It was fun but not really sustainable.
> DLC is different from microtransactions in a server based game, but there’s definitely the possibility that you won’t be able to get it when Sony/MS decides not to let you download it again.
Yeah that's true but it's the same problem if the server that hosts the games goes away. Like the original Wii store and all the games you bought and if you replaced or had to wipe your Wii.
Yeah, Nintendo took a while to get their online distribution right. Still not sure they're there.
At least they still sell game carts. That's the only way I know to keep Nintendo games long term. Some download games on the Wii never got a physical release, like Dr Mario, which I thought was sad as that's a great series and I wanted to play it but knew that buying it digitally meant it would go away some day and it totally is. I picked up Tetris Party Deluxe on disc which DID get a physical release after it's first download release.