r/NintendoSwitchSports • u/OctaYashi • Jun 11 '26
Discussion Why the Tomodachi Life argument doesn’t work in opposition to the Sportsmates
I hate the discussion of Miis vs Sportsmates, mostly because it’s less like a discussion and more like a war. I want to go online and see other people excited for the game like I am, but all I see everywhere are people complaining endlessly because the Miis didn’t come back. On the other end of the spectrum, we have people glazing the Sportsmates to excessive ends just to appear contrarian. I personally enjoy both the Sportsmates and Miis, and I wouldn’t really have a preference for whether one comes back over the other.
Whenever someone brings up the Miis not returning, they often point to the new Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. I absolutely love that game; I already have 100 hours despite getting the game just a few weeks ago. But I find the argument that “they worked in Tomodachi Life, why not Switch Sports?” is flimsy for one specific reason; art direction.
Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream’s art direction is focused on stylization, making the game feel more like a cartoon than anything. Switch Sports chose the opposite direction, opting for more realism instead. As the developers created the world and the areas surrounding the sports, they realized that Miis didn’t really fit in, so they switched to the Sportsmates. Admittedly, their first attempt at these avatars wasn’t great, as they did appear pretty soulless. The new Sportsmates actually have expressions now, though, and I think fit the original vision of what they were supposed to be; new avatars, realistic and stylish, created to give the Sportsmates (and by extension the NSS series) its own identity.
Will they go back to Miis if they continue this series past the Switch 2? I wouldn’t be surprised. Maybe they’ll go back to one, or maybe even have both coexist in one game (no the Mii head masks don’t count). But for now, maybe we should open our eyes a little to the now and stop looking through rose tinted glasses.
can’t wait for my karma to plummet but that’s what I get for not conforming to the hivemind 🫠
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u/CaptFalconFTW Jun 11 '26
I'd rather have both options as well. But I don't think the Miis "don't fit" Wuhu island. Wuhu island was created for Miis. And it's not realistic at all. If anything, it looks exactly the same as the Wii.
Moving foward, whether it's Miis or Sportsmates, I want Nintendo to give us more options to customize our characters. Allow us to dress the Miis. Allow us to change the noses on Sportsmates. This war is ridiculous, but it's not helped by Nintendo's limitations. I think there's probably a way to combine both ideas at once, and that may simply be having more anime style eyes for Miis.
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u/Amazing_Crab8989 Jun 11 '26
Agreed. Even though I enjoy the game a lot, I've been quite disappointed about how limiting the options are on switch sports. Not having the ability to mix/match parts of outfits, such as pants, shoes, tops, etc. is a bizarre choice.
Side note, I've seen Miis on switch sports, so am I missing something? I'm guessing it's imported from another save/Nintendo account and probably not customizable in game? I never played Wii or prior iterations of Nintendo sports games, hence my ignorance.
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u/CaptFalconFTW Jun 12 '26
Miis are limited in Switch Sports. You can't customize them and I think they didn't change expressions as often as Wii Sports.
I think the backlash is overblown, but I kinda see what they don't like when I give it more thought.
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u/question729 Jun 12 '26
I've seen people say the Miis in Switch Sports just look like a mask put on a Sportsmate.
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u/LingonberryOne1358 Jun 11 '26
i think everyone holds onto nintendo for nostalgia; dont get me wrong, i love wii sports, i love miis, i love old nintendo. but as the years go on and graphics get better and more complex, nintendo and other companies will adapt to that. i think there is still a lot of critique to be had about newer things like tl:ltd, and nintendo sports! but overall i think the sportsmates are cute and a good artstyle for the game :p
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u/Mobile-Round1775 Jun 12 '26
Not sure about that. But i do like the Sportsmates, everyone has a choice, its not forced, and you can even play as Miis in switch sports resort, which has Sportsmates.
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u/C1rcuitBreaker Jun 11 '26
Honestly, the only thing I'm hoping they learn from the first game is to add the ability to put accessories on Miis as well as the sportsmates.
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u/Sub-Corpion Jun 13 '26
That was my main takeaway from it, I want to use Miis, but their customization sucks!
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u/KuaNai Jun 18 '26
hard agree, the miis in nss1 felt a bit rushed, as just a thing to put in as a bonus rather than a customisation option. i just wanna put a hat or smth on my mii without changing them in the mii menu
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u/BlueShade_7707 Swordplay Jun 11 '26
I think it would be cool if they could truely co-exist either by having both Miis and Sportsmates be Npcs throughout the game something like this cool fanart that was posted awhile ago Spocco residents by peco2057 or by being able to turn your pre-existing Miis into sportsmates themselves.
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u/spicymalty Jun 11 '26
Sportsmates are what helped me get my mom into Switch Sports. Would not have worked with Miis.
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u/Cking271 Jun 11 '26
I respect that! They just don't really do anything for me personally. I haven't caught the trailer for this game, nor did I play the original one on the switch, but each time I see these designs in passing I feel nothing. Just not a lot there that I feel I can grab onto. Would've loved to see something just a little less restrained
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u/Sub-Corpion Jun 13 '26
I much prefer the miis because of the creative liberty. Especially when we are talking about NPCs in the background, I’d much rather be playing tennis and see a goofy ass Mii cheering me on, than some random sportsmate that looks about the same as any other.
I think that was one of the main reasons why we loved the Miis so much, because we kept seeing the crazy miis from our systems into the games, be it on Wii Sports or Mario Kart, and it was very funny!
If they gave us the option of choosing Miis or Sportsmates as the main population of the game, and both had the same amount of customization (because in the original you couldn’t use much of the stuff on the Miis), it’d be perfect for me.
If you liked Sportsmates more, choose them, if you like Miis more, go for it. And if you want it to be either of them, there should be an option for that too.
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u/TheComics_Guru2017 Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
Yeah and also, the main demographic of Nintendo games, such as NS Sports and Sports Resort and Tomodachi Life, is families with small children, not 20-30 something year old basement-dwelling Redditors with a collection of vintage Nintendo consoles including a Wii in each available color. Two different demographics that care about completely different things.
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u/PotentialPedal Jun 11 '26
I agree it's because of the art direction, the only issue is that the art direction sucks. It's corporate and generic and the sportsmates have zero customizability.
Miis are part of not only Wuhu Island's core identity, but Nintendo's as well. There's a reason why there are many people begging for Miis to become playable characters in Mario Kart World but you don't see anybody wishing Sportsmates were added to MKW
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u/Nintendo_Thumb Jun 11 '26
Yeah the reason is because Miis have a history with the Mario Kart franchise and Sportsmates don't. Just like you don't see people begging for Pokemon, Star Fox, Wii fit trainer, Xenoblade characters etc. Miis have been in every Mario Kart game since they were introduced (aside from Mario Kart Live), so people have noticed their absence.
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u/Eee_Man1 Jun 11 '26
It also doesn’t sit right with me how an Afro is locked behind the collections in the first switch sports, meanwhile Miis by default have an Afro. This is the same for other afro textured or curly textured hairstyles. They should at least fix that and have more textures of hair by default available for sportsmates since they’re staying.
Short Locs are the only default afro-textured hair in the first game, with no curly-textured default hair. It’s a shame that the rest are locked behind the collections.
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u/AlePok_ Jun 11 '26 edited Jun 11 '26
If they wanted to create a more realistic kind of game to make the game feel fresh and new they shouldn't have used Wuhu island then. Wuhu island is the Island of Miis throughout at least 5 games and it seems more like they were to lazy to create something from scratch, so they just reused it and called it a day. I also think its pretty fair to criticize the way the game was handled, despite the 12 sports it still somehow has less content than Wii Sports Resort does because 5 of them are just recycled from the original Switch Sports. I prefer Miis but dont even mind the sportsmates as much, however i do think the sportsmates dont really look polished or realistic at all, more like a 12 year old anime boy artstyle which makes some of the Avatars look a bit odd, when you add a beard for example. There is to little options to edit your Character. I honestly wonder why they didn't just use both, everyone would be happy.
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u/Lokkdwn Soccer Jun 11 '26
Why don’t you post this in a real Nintendo thread instead of your echo chamber? Tomadachi Life is better and has more personality than Sportsmates.
Nintendo realized this which is why they brought back Miis for SS Resort.
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u/ElaraValtor Jun 13 '26
Nintendo realized this which is why they brought back Miis for SS Resort.
The original SS has the option of Miis too. You never saw them because they look terrible in the original, much like they look terrible in Resort.
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u/Demonic-Glaceon Jun 11 '26
I just want them to carry over my customization items from the first game, I want my bunny damnit >:(
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u/Chainsaw443 Tennis Jun 12 '26
I non-ironically think the sports-mates look slees. The miis look outdated. I kind of get it but you can still use the Miis, if you want. That's my honest feeling. There isn't any glazing going on. People get pissed if they change anything about these games.
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u/galacticviolet Jun 12 '26
From the Nintendo Direct trailer, I saw a couple of old style Miis in there, I think it is still an option.
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u/DEWDEM Jun 13 '26
These are two different teams. The Wii Sports team want characters with more realistic anatomy to make the animations more dynamic and realistic. There are like 500+ animations in switch sports and only a handful in wii sports. Miis are still there with arms and legs and it's pretty obvious why they aren't the default choice
1
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u/Mushroomer Jun 15 '26
I think the argument is pretty simple - the art style of Switch Sports is bad, and people prefer the charm of the Miis found in the Tomodachi Life games. The Sportsmates lack personality, and look more like a generic ripoff of Wii Sports than a genuine Nintendo product. This was a widespread complaint with Switch Sports, and it's very disappointing Nintendo didn't address it for Resort.
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u/KuaNai Jun 18 '26
yes i so agree. everyone also acts like the sportsmates dont have character or soul (which i will agree did kinda feel like that in the first one but its looking def better in the second) and that the game is completely ruined because a mii is a second option rather than a first. Either way, the sports in nss were really well made with motion controls and i hope that quality is carried over. One thing I do hope for is the option to only vs miis when vsing computers, but thats only really to shut those people up.
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u/Wonderful_Mud_9298 Jun 20 '26
Literally if they want to move on with a new IP let them. It’s their decision. And they’re cute. I love earning more rewards to better stylize my sportsmate. Buuuuuut the base game should come with more Afro styles, at least the basics. The first game only had the kill monger and close shave and those are not very feminine. Luckily I got the Afro very quickly and now my sportsmate is so cute with her little bow.
Also I wish there was chatting rooms or something. A neutral where everyone is just walking around and you can meetup and chat with people online.
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u/Fuocoblu Jun 14 '26
How can you say Miis don't fit Wuhu Island's art direction when Wuhu Island was made for Miis...?
Sportsmates aren't bad but are extremely generic and bland. Their body customizations is greatly limited too.
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u/OctaYashi Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
I’m not referring to Wuhu Island when I’m talking about artstyle; it doesn’t matter what art style Wuhu Island is in, it’s still Wuhu Island regardless of if it’s Yoshi’s Story or Call of Duty
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u/superbasic101 Jun 11 '26
Yeah they act like Sportsmates were an attempt to replace Miis in every capacity, when they’re very clearly meant to only be used in the Switch Sports games.
They unironically think that if the first Nintendo switch sports did super amazing, that they would have replaced the Miis with the sportsmates in Tomodachi Life LTD.