Nintendo's Social App, Miitomo, Out Today

It's March 31st, the release date for Nintendo's new mobile application, Miitomo! The free app for iOS and Android lets users create their own Mii character, collect clothing, play games, and share answers to quirky questions with their friends' Miis. Miitomo is the first release following the announcement of Nintendo's "business alliance" with hugely popular Japanese mobile developer, DeNA, in March 2015.

Miitomo plays like Tomodachi Life, a 2013 game for the 3DS, mixed with a social network. The main draw is seeing your Miis socialize with each other, and the writing is full of Nintendo's strange and unique charm. Your Mii will ask you questions, like your favorite thing about cats or what you did last weekend, and then make the rounds to all of your friends to read them your answers in customizable text-to-speech. Another feature, "Miifoto", functions as an almost Instagram-like image editor, letting users create pictures of their Miis using face and body poses, effects, and images from the device's storage.

This promotional image is something you could easily create in the app as a Miifoto.

Miitomo was originally scheduled for release at the end of 2015, but was pushed back in October, apparently for marketing reasons. The app was released in Japan earlier this month, and Nintendo's website boasts a million downloads within its first three days of availability. Nintendo and DeNA plan to release 4 more mobile apps and games by March of 2017. That 4 doesn't include Pokémon GO, the Pokémon mobile game being made by American devs Niantic, Inc., which recently entered field beta testing in Japan. Pokémon GO will be released for iOS and Android later this year.