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Nintendo Switch Sports supports Miis!

I've been close to writing a full column on how Nintendo's transition from the Wii U to the Switch seemed to neglect a number of the subtler aspects of gaming platforms I'd always enjoyed. Among those: Miis, which, while they're still around, seem less prominent and ubiquitous. A couple of exceptions are Smash Ultimate – they can be used to play online, and goodness, have I used mine – and the Switch version of Miitopia, which is driven by them, though the way Miis are presented as a wacky novelty kind of affirms my point. I imagine an approach to a gaming platform in which your representation of yourself can be your character in practically any game. That's why I love Miis where they're found: the acknowledged fiction is that I'm arriving in a world and exploring it.

So the online test demo of Nintendo Switch Sports disappointed me in that regard. The customizable characters look more "modern," more like something from Nickelodeon or Pixar; a little like digitized amiibo. But more than anything, they look like… each other.

I was pretty baffled by this. The overview trailer even mentions explicitly that Nintendo Switch Sports is a sequel to the Wii Sports series, the practical introduction of the Wii Remote, which persuaded the industry and the world that gaming was for everyone, and not just "gamers."

But… Miis, I was thinking. You already had Miis, with their charm and their diversity. At this point, I have a childhood-length relationship with my Mii. We've been through so much together. I trust it to represent me within games, and even to the wider Internet. Why would you push all that aside, only to re-invent the entire modality for one game?

But there it was today, occupying a generous three seconds of the trailer: "you can also use Mii characters."

Whoever at Nintendo might be thinking that wouldn't make a difference: well, I'd pretty much planned to leave Nintendo Switch Sports on the shelf, and now I'm re-tempted. So, there you go. My testimonial.

I'm still kind of bewildered, though. The game's setting, Spocco Square, is like the locational analogue of the new characters – more modern and realistic – leaving the charm and memories of Wuhu Island in the past, unless this game also has a secret island up its plastic (or downloadable lack of a) sleeve, and I suppose it will still be difficult to play without missing what was not tightly embraced and carried lovingly into this software generation.