Hello there! It's just a few days until Miiverse ceases, and I'd like to take this opportunity to share a few thoughts for the last time with the SB Miiverse community.
It's been a couple of years since I first opened SmileBASIC on my 3DS, a world of 3DS programming in my hands. I had missed out on the previous iteration of the series, available for the DSi, but made it right on time for the launch of SmileBASIC. I was already in college at the time, which made it difficult to put time into it, but I still tried to make the best of it.
I started, much like other people, writing very simple programs, made mostly of PRINT commands. It’s incredible that I eventually managed to get a decent grasp of the language… The simplicity of SmileBASIC made for a very smooth learning experience, personally. The language provided functions that made tasks, which seemed daunting at the time, a complete breeze.
From graphics to sound to input, the language provides everything you need to let your imagination flow and create amazing stuff. I was amazed of how simple it was to write an interactive program with a limited number of keywords and logic. I eventually moved forward and started to use more complicated functions and features, creating more complex programs.
I never really became an expert at SmileBASIC, and I’ve never claimed to be one, but I think I know quite a bit. I’ve published a few of my programs, never truly finished, but skipped on most others as I wouldn’t consider them publish-worthy.
Even with my limited experience, I had started writing a book about SmileBASIC programming, covering the entirety of its functions, so that I could give it to anyone that needed help with it. However, misfortune struck, and I had to format my hard drive, which meant all the progress I had made had been lost. I haven’t got the heart to start it over, so you can probably forget about it.
As for the community, I didn’t become very involved with it in the beginning. Miiverse seemed to me more like a distraction for younger gamers than an actual gaming social network. Even now, you could probably describe Miiverse so. However, I found the SmileBASIC community to be special.
Since SmileBASIC isn’t something you can just play through, posts made on its community would be centered on user created content. I realized the possibilities of this and, soon enough, many people would showcase awesome stuff they had made. From games to art to proofs-of-concept, many posts were made that left me awestruck.
I’d name a few posters and posts that really stuck out to me, but I feel it would be impolite. Miiverse was also were you would find beginners, less experienced people asking for coding advice and guidance, as well as other figures, such as the key-beggars, re-skinners, meme-lords, plagiarists, and more, all of which I´ve had the chance of interacting with; I will hopefully remember those moments.
While I mostly stayed on the English-speaking community, I know that the Japanese community has its own share of awesome stuff. Sadly, the language barrier made it difficult to truly appreciate it. I’m sure many of you can remember quite a few Japanese-made games and utilities, many of which are still in use today.
While non-Japanese got the short end of the stick, missing out on asset DLC and even a Wii U release of SmileBASIC, I still want to truly thank SmileBoom, the Japanese company that made SmileBASIC a reality and enabled the community to create many wonderful things with their gaming systems. I can only hope for similar software to release on systems like the Switch.
I will admit that I haven’t been very active as of late regarding anything SmileBASIC. I want to excuse myself, as college has been keeping me extremely busy. It might not surprise you, or you might just not care at all, that I’m studying for a computer science degree, something that isn’t exactly easy. All my time is being consumed by studies, which leaves very little left for gaming.
I believe it’s in my best interests to act as such, however, even if it means neglecting SmileBASIC and its community. There’s also the fact that one of the hinges on my 3DS broke, severely limiting its mobility and preventing me from prolonged usage of the system. I want to apologize to anyone that had called for my help or otherwise needed me for something.
Now that Miiverse is coming to its end, and as such many of us probably won’t be in touch again, I wanted to leave this message, thanking you for participating in this community, as it was a fun experience for me! I wish you well, and hope that even without this communications platform you will retain your interest in SmileBASIC and the awesome world of programming as a whole.
I will try to continue to dabble in SmileBASIC and maybe even interact in sites like SB Source.
I’d also like to apologize for any weird English, as it is not my native language.
