Miiverse hitting PC and smartphones by May

Miiverse will launch on PC and smartphones in April or May, service producer Kiyoshi Mizuki said this week during a GDC session attended by Polygon. Currently exclusive to Wii U, Nintendo’s social networking service is an online forum for users to discuss games, share thoughts, swap notes and post doodles, among other interactions.

Mizuki also reiterated that a 3DS version of Miiverse is in the works, although a release date remains unconfirmed. Prior to Wii U’s launch, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime identified Miiverse as the console’s “killer app”, and in January, global president Satoru Iwata predicted that it will “be huge” on 3DS.

Iwata also spoke about the company’s wider goal of making Miiverse accessible on any internet-enabled device, noting: "This is something I've talked about for many years with [Shigeru] Miyamoto. He loves making games that allow players to create and share experiences. We believe that it’s one of the main reasons behind the Mario series and Animal Crossing’s success. It was having those thoughts and feelings which eventually led to the creation of the Miiverse. Rather than social networking, we consider it an 'experience sharing network'."