Nintendo

Nintendo has opened pre-registration for Miitomo, it's first ever smartphone app.

The socially focused platform, which sees users create and share Mii avatars, arrives in March. Although Nintendo still hasn't announced an exact launch date, interested players can sign up at the Miitomo site. You'll get a heads up ahead of the app's release, and the chance to sign up for a new My Nintendo account.


We also know a bit more about what Miitomo actually is, now. Nintendo had already revealed that the app, developed in partnership with Japanese mobile giant DeNA, would be more of a communication tool than a core game, but the full suite of features is now more clear.

First, you'll make yourself: you'll be able to use your phone's camera to translate your own face into Mii form, or import an existing Mii from your Wii U or 3DS. Your newly mobile Mii's appearance can then be customised before being sent off to meet and chat with friends. They'll ask a variety of questions -- some charmingly oddball, as you might expect from Nintendo -- and share the answers, the intent being to spark conversations. You can then respond to friends' answers by giving it a heart or follow-up comments or pictures.

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Unlike the Miis you create on console or handheld, you can give Miitomo Miis a voice, allowing them to actually speak. Nintendo's registration page promises big on this, saying Miis can say "anything you or your friends say about themselves!" Whether that's something beyond Siri-style robo-voice or actually just cartoonish squawking remains to be seen, though.

There will also be a Miifoto feature, allowing you to add your characters to photos you've taken, add stamps and modifiers, and share them on other social networks. Miitomo will be compatible with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Line. The latter is less well known in the west, although an English language version is available, but absolutely massive in Asia.

However, Miitomo is also described as "free to start", Nintendo's honest description for what the rest of the mobile gaming industry calls free to play. While chat and basic Mii dress-up remain free to use, more attractive clothing items will cost Miitomo coins. These can be earned through using the app "a lot", or purchased through microtransactions via the Google Play or iTunes store. Early screenshots on the Miitomo site show outfits ranging from 3030 coins to 5650, though this may not be indicative of final pricing. There's also no indication yet what that may break down to in real money.


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Anyone who pre-registers and creates a Nintendo Account will also receive "Platinum Points" for My Nintendo, the rewards program that replaces Club Nintendo, which closed in September 2015. These can be redeemed for rewards, although you'll need to act relatively quickly -- points from preregistration expire six months after My Nintendo launches. Whether Platinum Points represent a tier system of rewards (hypothetically sitting above gold or silver) or is just the name for the new points scheme as a whole has also yet to be revealed.

In future, My Nintendo will reward players for engaging with Nintendo products, as much if not more than simply buying the, With the company expected to reveal more on its next console, the mysterious Nintendo NX, later this year, expect My Nintendo to be integral to the next generation of Nintendo games.