Mii (franchise)
Details | |
---|---|
First installment | Wii Sports (game) Mii Channel (software) (both released the same day) |
Platform(s) | Nintendo DS Wii Nintendo 3DS Wii U iOS/Android Nintendo Switch |
The Mii franchise is a software franchise consisting of various video games and applications centering around customizable avatars used on every Nintendo consoles, along with a few mobile apps and DS games, ever since the Wii back in 2006 named "Miis".
While the franchise properly started with the Wii launch title Wii Sports and the pre-installed Mii Channel application, both being released on the November 19th, 2006 in North America, various other applications and games were either planned to be the start of the very concept of customizable avatars or were reworked into other projects released before wise, such as an untitled avatar creator for the Famicom Disk System, a scrapped Gamecube game titled Stage Debut or even one of the game from the Mario Artist series, being Mario Artist: Talent Studio.
The Mii franchise has somewhat blurry limits as to what game and applications should or shouldn't be considered as part of it, as Nintendo has not given a precise list of games and applications that are part of it, only lifting clues in very few areas. One example is Super Smash Bros. Ultimate's spirit section, which uses a Mii icon in order to represent various series under a proper "Mii" franchise. Some series, such as Wii Fit and Swapnote, do not possess the Mii symbol despite the former being a sub-series of the Wii series and the latter's main character Nikki being a Mii. Meanwhile, Pilotwings, a series with only one installment that supports Miis (that being Pilotwings Resort) and even predates the existence of Miis, is still given the Mii icon.
Neither applications, single games or series of the franchise could be fairly decided to be considered as a "main" installment of the franchise, and very few of them reference one another, only being linked via the heavy uses of Miis. Amongst those titles are the Wii series, itself composed of smaller series such as the Wii Sports and Wii Fit series, the Tomodachi series, Nintendo Land, Miitopia, Miitomo, StreetPass Mii Plaza, the Mii Makers themselves, etc.
The best-selling game in the franchise is currently Wii Sports released for the Wii, selling around 82,900,000 copies worldwide and being the fourth best-selling game of all time as of April 2024.
Applications
While video games are generally regarded as the Mii franchise's most iconic titles, various applications were created alongside them on various hardware.
Mii Makers
In order to create Miis in the first place, various avatar creators were produced over the years and on various hardware, often being directly installed on a console. Some Mii Makers were also included with other games as well, such as Tomodachi Collection or Miitopia.
Wii
Mii Channel
(2006)
Nintendo DS
Tomodachi Collection
(2009)- Kuruma de DS.png
Kuruma de DS
(2012)
Nintendo 3DS
Mii Maker (3DS)
(2011)Tomodachi Life
(2013)Miitopia (3DS)
(2016)
Wii U
Mii Maker (Wii U)
(2012)
Nintendo Switch
Mii Maker (Switch)
(2017)Miitopia (Switch)
(2021)
Other
Miitomo
(2016)Pikmin Bloom
(2021)Mii Maker (nintendo.com)
(Uncertain)
Wii Channels
The Wii console has various other applications, called "Wii Channels", available to be used in order to do all sorts of things, such as looking at various photos, checking the recent news and upcoming weather, etc. While some Wii Channels were pre-installed, others had to be downloaded, making it hard to use them due to the closure of the Wii Shop Channel, as well as most channels' own servers having shut down.
Amongst the various Wii Channels, some had Mii-focused activities, such as the Everybody Votes Channel, in which the player could use their Mii and send it to the world in order to represent them during various debates; the Mii Channel, which allows the player to create Miis; the Japanese-exclusive channel Wii no Ma, in which Miis were a big part of, with the player's family being represented by Miis and even had some Mii-focused items available to buy, such as stamps and calendars; and the Check Mii Out Channel, which allowed to send and download Miis from all around the world.
Mii Channel
(2006)Everybody Votes Channel
(2007)- Check Mii Out.jpg
Check Mii Out Channel
(2007) Wii no Ma
(2009)
Swapnote series
The Swapnote series is a series composed of messaging applications and a Japanese-exclusive Club Nintendo game, all hosted by a Mii named Nikki and her friends. All three games in the series were released on the Nintendo 3DS.
- Swapnote logo English.svg
Swapnote
(2011) Nikki no Tabisuru Quiz
(2015)Swapdoodle
(2016)
WaraWara Plaza
WaraWara Plaza is the name given to the main system menu of the Wii U, which would show, once the system is turned on, all users' Miis dropping from the sky into the center of the plaza, with various other Miis from Miiverse communities running into the plaza under their associated games icon.
Miiverse
Miiverse was a social network available for the Wii U that launched with the system in 2012, with web browser and Nintendo 3DS versions also being released later in 2013. Miiverse was also integrated into various games and allowed players to interact and share various messages with other users from all around the world. Every user who had a Nintendo Network ID was automatically given a Miiverse profile represented via the Nintendo Network ID's Mii.
Video games
Various video games series and other single-installment games that heavily focused on Miis have been released ever since 2006.
Wii series
Wii Sports series
Wii Sports
(2006)Wii Sports Resort
(2009)Wii Sports Club
(2013)Nintendo Switch Sports
(2022)
Wii Play series
Wii Play
(2006)Wii Play Motion
(2011)
Wii Fit series
Wii Fit
(2007)Wii Fit Plus
(2009)Wii Fit U
(2013)
Wii Party series
Single installment Wii series games
Wii Music
(2008)
Tomodachi series
Tomodachi Collection
(2009)Tomodachi Life
(2013)
Miitomo
(2016)Miitopia (3DS)
(2016)Miitopia (Switch)
(2021)
Swapnote series
- Swapnote logo English.svg
Swapnote
(2011) Nikki no Tabisuru Quiz
(2015)Swapdoodle
(2016)
Single installment games
StreetPass Mii Plaza
(2011)Pilotwings Resort
(2011)- Kuruma de DS.png
Kuruma de DS
(2012) AKB48+Me
(2012)Nintendo Land
(2012)Nintendo Badge Arcade
(2014)
Merchandise
TBA
Reception and legacy
TBA