For the moment, though, Nintendo has shed precious little light on how Sportsmate customization works. Fans who partook in the Nintendo Switch Sports network playtest seemed pleased with the new avatars, but the character creation menu that fans saw there may not be the final version that’s available to players. Ideally, Nintendo Switch Sports will let players wield extraordinary detail when designing their own Miis. Miitopia recently showcased Nintendo’s ability to come up with creative character design menus, so hopefully the Wii Sports successor will pull from Miitopia’s inventive design.
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Learning from Miitopia
The original version of Nintendo’s Mii-centric RPG found decent success on the 3DS, but the Switch port of Miitopia went viral well before it released, thanks to the Mii editor showed off in its demo. Miitopia for Switch has a far more detailed editor than its predecessor; it provides a variety of additional hairstyles for players, and it also comes equipped with a highly detailed and free-form makeup system that lets players add just about any additional detail they like to a Mii. Miitopia players instantly pushed the Mii editor to its limit, creating shocking detailed recreations of every pop culture character imaginable.
The excitement and fun that stemmed from Miitopia’s Mii editor makes a good argument for a similar system in Nintendo Switch Sports. Since they’re more textured and detailed, the Sportsmates are certainly less useful as blank slates than Miis, but their design also means they’re well-equipped to carry a lot of detail that Miis can’t. Ideally, Nintendo Switch Sports will feature a makeup system that allows for elaborate customization like Miitopia, as well as a variety of tools that let players manipulate their Sportsmate’s physical features in the spirit of an RPG character creator. The more options players have, the better.
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Making Nintendo Switch Sports Go Viral
Considering how the Miitopia editor was received, Nintendo would certainly be wise to try the same thing in Nintendo Switch Sports. The excitement that Miitopia generated through elaborate player-made Miis offered the game a ton of free publicity and likely contributed to the Switch version’s impressive sales. Featuring a similar character creator could give Nintendo Switch Sports much more visibility as players whip up goofy, impressive, and extremely detailed Sportsmates to play as. A high level of malleability could help win over fans who remain skeptical about these Mii replacements too.
In general, one hopes that Miitopia will inspire future Nintendo character editors. It encouraged creativity in character design in a way that few other Nintendo games have, and it remains a highlight of Miitopia. There’s admittedly a good chance that Miitopia’s ideas won’t appear in Nintendo Switch Sports, since the characters themselves aren’t meant to be as central in Switch Sports as they are in the Mii RPG, but until Nintendo reveals the character editor properly, hope springs eternal. Even if the starting editor is simple, Nintendo Switch Sports’ post-launch updates could very well include more character creation options alongside new sports. Hopefully Nintendo Switch Sports’ next appearance involves an in-depth look at Sportsmate design.
Nintendo Switch Sports releases April 29, 2022 for Nintendo Switch.
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