Nintendo's Miitomo has finally been released in Japan. The app is merging Nintendo's approach to its Mii’s characters with a mobile messenging service. The service will have to compete with Line, another
very popular messenging app used in Asia. Line covers a broad gamut of functionality, with many paying for custom emoticons or stickers.

Miitomo builds on that by having a fully animated and personalized Mii, that also talks, to communicate with your friends.

To get started, you can create a Mii character, customize its facial features, eyes, hair, as well as voice and personality. You can also use the camera of your smartphone or tablet to snap a photo that will be translated into Mii form, or you can simply import their Mii from the Wii U or Nintendo 3DS systems using a QR Code.

Once their Mii is ready to act as your social go-between, you can add friends in person, or through their existing Facebook or Twitter accounts. Once that step is complete, then it’s time to answer some questions. Miitomo creates conversations and turns discussions into a form of play by prompting users to answer all kinds of questions.