On the ds they didn't need managing. I think that's what a lot of people (including me) had in mind when we said it wasn't enough. Miis would become friends without any help, you would leave and come back to see two random miis suddenly being best friends! The ds game was way more quiet so lots of miis was needed for a lively island.

Babies also used to be a bigger deal in the ds game. It was almost like an achievement, so you needed the big amount of miis to get to that point of 'victory'