Wii to support single friend code per system?

@ John

You are an embarrassment to Canadians. Please just shut up and quit posting.

I’m not a father, but I know that while I’m at work there would be no way to monitor my kids at all times. I’m certain that not every parent will be able to peek in during work hours to ensure that their kids are not being coerced by sexual predators.

Kids or youths who can buy this system themselves are likely to be able to distinguish between friends and pedophiles for themselves on the internet. Nintendo is marketing for the kids who can’t buy the system, the one’s who will get their parents to purchase it for Christmas. THESE are the people who Nintendo wants to ensure that their kids are safe with.

But in all actually, keep swearing and calling Nintendo out on their really shitty and unreleased online service. I’m sure they’ll listen to you.

I think we're all losing sight of the real issue here which is the terrible 'journalism' that turned a misunderstanding into a news article which, spurred on by more lazy reporting via N-Europe, became a big story. A quick check of the facts (i.e. Nintendo says no such thing on their Wii site) would reveal that this story is clearly bogus.

I too would prefer it if there was a single code per Wii, unlike DS, but wishful thinking doesn't change the facts. I'm disappointed at N-Europe's involvement in this as it wouldn't have happened in their earlier days. Their good reputation is dwindling rapidly.

Man. John lost it. Calm down and realize nothing has been confirmed about any of Nintendo's online features. And if this is enough for you to not buy a Wii, I don't think Nintendo wants your money.

You may be willing to pay $50 a year for an Xbox Live-type service, but not everyone is. While Nintendo caters very well to older gamers, too, remember that they are going for the non-gamer, mass market as WELL as also catering to pre-teens. Not everyone is a hardcore teenager or 20-something with money and time to burn on an online service.

Since Nintendo has talked multiple times about your various friends being able to see your Wii Message Board (which is completely independent from any and all games), this more or less confirms to me that they're doing a single friend code per Wii console. You will be able to communicate with people on your friends list, outside of games. How else would this work?

And if Nintendo has chosen to stick with the friend code system, this is the best way they can go. You only have to add a single friend once (and it's not hard to write down a ten- or twelve-digit number, come on people), and then they're in your friends list for each game you play.

And remember; if two people are sharing the console, your Mii avatar will be your online representation of yourself, not your friend code (though, the code will represent what SYSTEM you're playing on). My brother and I will easily be able to share the console, since when we play online, we will be distinguishable by our Miis. Meanwhile, our friends list will probably get combined into one big list. This is not a big deal.

Nintendo's online system will NOT be as robust as Xbox Live. This may disappoint some of you, but you'll be able to buy an extra game per year because of it. And really, the online service will still be "good enough" for all intents and purposes. Xbox Live has some serious drawbacks to its robustness, too. You encounter some real morons on there.

To sum up: don't overreact to rumors and denounce buying a Wii over one. Second, if this detail is enough to get you to not buy a Wii, Nintendo is probably fine with that. They'll let their good games re-convince you after launch. Thirdly, Nintendo is almost assuredly (from a pure logistic, use-your-head standpoint) is going with a single friend code per Wii console. And finally, this is pretty good for a free service.

Well, either way, I'm only interested in Zelda, its not even online.

So untill Brawl sees release. The online platform isn't as important to me.

Thats why I wanted to have both a 360 and a Wii from the get-go.

Then, any news regarding Nintendo's online plans shouldn't have any bearing on your purchase, yes? :)

I just hate to see people overreact to this type of news, and talk themselves out of buying a Wii because it won't have Xbox Live on it. We've always known that it won't. While it remains to be seen, I think the Wii online service will be better than the DS one (even though they'll both use friend codes). I don't think it will be near as bad as people are making it out to be.

As for Brawl online; let me tell you, I couldn't be more excited about Brawl (I've played Melee perhaps more than any other game ever, and if you knew me, that says a *lot*). I'm a tournament caliber player. As such, I would LOVE to see a HUGE list of online features for Brawl. However, I've resigned myself to the fact that it won't happen. Frankly, we'll be forced to enter friend codes if we want to play more than the standard "stranger" offering, and really that's all I want. I have certain people from across North America that I want to play, and I'll be able to get their friend code and do just that. Otherwise, I'll have some fun playing random people online using the default options (probably something like 4-player FFA with items, 1-on-1 with no items, and that's all you need for random). I wouldn't be surprised if you had the ability to voice chat with someone on your friend's list.

In reality, for Brawl, this is perfectly ample. And this is the LEAST we can expect from Nintendo here (looking at, say, Tetris DS's online features for a comparison).

What more did you want from Brawl? Worldwide leaderboards, daily tournaments, voice chatting with any and everyone, full feature list for random matchups? Frankly, this is the type of service you pay for (i.e., Xbox Live), and should never expect for free.

i dont see how anyone can justify friend codes...we all know nintendo wants to make thier system as safe and lawyer-proof as possible...but thats wat they create parent controls for...if u dont want your kid playin with people they dont know...TURN THAT FUNCTION OFF...dont hinder every other demographic out there.everyones been online...everyones prolly been to chatrooms...its 2006...parents know the risks of going online by now...

i think nintendo needs to spend more time in parent controls than just making thier online service dumbed down and borderline incompetent.

who wants to make a new name every game..??...wat if u meet a great rival online and want to play with him/her again...??...too bad.

this just seems archaic..and instead of addressing the problem..thier taking the easy way out and making it a pain for everyone..

online gaming should be a place where u MAKE friends as well as play with friends u already have.once again nintendo is limiting this "we" mentality they promised.
so now i guess "we" meens "people i know in person" and not "we" as in "the nintendo gaming community"

nintendos " we" marketing just makes this even worse.1st u had the one wiimot ein the box which ironically comes with a multiplayer game...now we have limited online functionality ( if this proves to be true anyway, hopefully it doesnt)

As an addendum to my previous post, I should note that if we keep Nintendo's main philosophies in mind here, these decisions are automatic and intelligent. You may disagree with the *philosophies* behind the decisions, but the decisions themselves are good in light of the ideals Nintendo has created for this system.

Nintendo wants to bring back gaming to the masses. Most of the "masses" don't spend time online. In fact, I'm willing to bet most of the non-gamers who buy a Wii will never go online for a match, or if they do, it will be once or twice. They don't want to spend $50 for a totally unified service. That would turn them away from the Wii. Meanwhile, everyone who buys a 360 is a hardcore gamer who is willing to plunk down not only the money, but the time to go online and play hundreds of hours (that's generalizing a bit, but I'd say on the whole it's true). Different markets, different strategies.

Now, Nintendo also knows they have a hardcore following (*raises hand*) and they don't want to disappoint them. Thus, their service will still be free, but will allow full customizability for online matches with people on your friends list. It's sort of a "best of both worlds" scenario. Xbox has the best of one world, and zero of the other. And that's fine with them, since that's the market they want to reach.

Also, consider how AWESOME the Wii will be as a party system. It's basically a party in a box (minus an extra controller - in my opinion, they could not include 2 controllers AND Wii Sports AND keep the price at 250, so they compromised). Once people buy a controller or two, everyone will really see that this is going to be perhaps the best "live" multiplayer system in history. Whatever is lacking in online will be made up in spades with live multiplayer. I have tons of real-life friends who I play games with, so this is a huge selling feature for me. Not to mention, the Wii will have some of the best single-player experiences in the industry.

The Wii is going to be a strong system, Xbox Live or not.

But I am really curious John. What were you (realistically) expecting out of Brawl's online service that you think Nintendo won't be able to deliver with the friend code system?

I'm posting a lot, but whatever:

To Embassy - You can justify friend codes quite easily if you look at Nintendo's philosophies (outlined in my previous post). They may not line up with what YOU want in your console, but Nintendo is marketing to a wide variety of demographics (and, according to them, possibly the widest demographic in the industry's history). They simply cannot do the best of every world, AND have a free service. This is the best idea they could come up with to be both free and safe/secure for those parents worried about it.

If you added more parental controls to the console, I think there would be just as many people complaining about that as there would be friend codes! Personally, I think it's kind of silly that Nintendo is so completely overprotective about online stuff, but I can see where they're coming from and I respect their decision, given their market. I will still be able to use their online services more than adequately, and that's all that matters to me.

Also, your comments about not being able to replay a friend after a match are unfounded (and not even true of the current *DS* titles!). I'd say you should wait to see what Nintendo does here before you worry about that. And "going online to make friends" is what Nintendo is worried about; when the 'net became so popular, the news was rampant with perverts online trying to trick people into trusting them. Again, Nintendo doesn't want that to happen on their watch, and they have a responsibility to their demographic not to let this happen. It may suck for people who aren't worried about being tricked by a child pornographer, like you and me, but Nintendo is responsible for everyone.

Everyone should just email Nintendo with their complaints. Nintendo's customer support department actually DOES forward what you say to the "higher ups".

nintendo is basically asking every other gaming demographic to " Take one for the team"...

and i refuse to take this " well nintendo made the decision and they know wats best for nintendo" approach...

u guys act like no online service has EVER had to cater to more than one dempgraphic...xbox live arcade is a GREAT example of casual online gaming done right.why cant nintendo learn from that and expand those basic principles to fall in line with thier " philosophy"..??

with nintendo it always seems to be either or...either u have great graphics OR u have great gameplay...either u have a fully integrated online service OR u have dumbed down online gaming to protect the children and keep the lawyers off your back.


why cant they just give us a choice instead of *making* that choice for everyone?

Embassy - Because doing both is often not reasonable. If you look at Zelda, you have great graphics and great gameplay. This is a rare exception, because a game like this takes years and very creative minds to make. Most games that focus on HD-graphics require less time devoted to gameplay, and vice versa. It's not universally true, but it's difficult to have your cake and eat it too! There are deadlines, there are manpower limits, there are budgets. You have to focus your time on one prime area and let the others be "sufficient".

Also, I've said this before, but I'll say it again. Nintendo isn't giving you an Xbox Live service because they want their service to be free. It is completely impossible for a service of Live's caliber to be offered free. Even Microsoft couldn't do it. Sony thinks they're going to do it (or, perhaps more truthfully, Sony supporters think they will), but anyone with common sense knows they won't.

Xbox Live might be "casual gaming done right", if you have $50/year to spare for their service. At that point, it's tough to be casual anymore, isn't it?

And again, before you start to really complain about Nintendo's online service being completely terrible and awful, maybe we should wait for them to *announce their online plans*, eh?

@61

You don't even know me to call me an embarrasment.

Perhaps I should think otherwise before I give out any personal information, people always seem to use it to justify a lost cause.

Personal attacks on myself do not argue in your favour, I'm sorry. Friendcodes are not and never have been a good idea.

infil,

so infil...your telling me nintendo cannot implement simple security conrols and other simplistic online functuionality XBLA offers for free...????...
im not talkin about massive Halo tournaments with all the new crazy online features...im talkin about the very BASIC of online functionalitym, communication and parental controls...

Embassy - Their parental control *is* the friend code system.

What you're asking for (or, at least, how I'm reading it) is a unified service similar to XBL. You want to be able to go online at any time, and see people who are playing a game. You want to be able to choose from a list of available games to enter, talk to the person beforehand (to set up rules and such), and then play them. Maybe add them to your friend's list if you like them.

These are all things I wish I could do on Nintendo's system, too. But even with the strictest of parental controls (what do you even mean by that? Little Jonny can only play when the parents are watching or something?), kids will be able to expose themselves online to people they don't already know. And Nintendo doesn't want this to be possible.

Remember, all it takes is one bad incident, and Nintendo has years of legal trouble and bad publicity on their hands. One out of many million online users. You can't blame Nintendo for being concerned.

I'm not here trying to say friend codes are a better solution than XBL, because I'm not. I would prefer Nintendo go the XBL route myself, because I'm in a certain demographic. Nintendo wants their service to be uniformally marketable and safe, AND free. Perhaps implementing the parental controls you suggest costs a lot of money to Nintendo. You really don't know for sure.

I think their system is pretty good, *considering* the goals they want to achieve with it. You may not like the goals, because you can't use the system as freely as you can XBL. But it's free, and it covers many different bases.

And if you get a Wii, I'm sure you'll find it'll be plenty functional for your needs, anyway.

my point is..they can have BOTH...parents can set thier kids wii to " friend codes" only or sumthin...and allow basic communication and "gamertags" for people who want it...i dont see that being some exponential cost to nintendo...they dont have to have in-depth stat tracking and game tracking etc etc..just a simple unified screen name and in-game communication to exchange info with other players adn the ability to add them to your friends list etc...it doesnt have to be as detailed or as "open" as live at all.

WOW. Are all Canadians this agro. This John guy needs to go sit in a corner with a box of valium and a 40oz bottle of rum. For starters John, Halo, in all it's forms, sucks ass, so dont even mention that shit. Secondly, getting this angry over a rumor has to be some form of new world record. You're a total psychopath. Go back and read your earlier posts. With all those "fuck" words, you really do sound like a Halo player. I used to have a lot of respect for Canadians (the chicks are hot and have hot accents) but now i'm not so sure. Just be glad you don't live in Australia and have to pay 10% more on everything gaming compared to the rest of the world, after tax. Thirdly, STFU!

Just another example of the competition trying to compete with the 360 and failing. You may not like to admit it but MS has done right in how they have built up their online capabilities. Sony and Nintendo are just trying to play catch up and failing because they are not listening to what the customers want. I personally think its a mistake for Sony and Nintendo to offer the online service free, I admit it, it sounds attractive and its good for the consumer but its costing all of them money to maintain this service. This will turn out to be a loss of income for Sony and Nintendo, while MS is recouping the money they are investing, by charging for money, by doing so they have a reason to keep improving their service and attract new customers. And the amount you have to pay for the service is reasonable, and guess what its working, instead of it being a cash drain it will help MS get into the black in this generation. If Sony and Nintendo want to succede one has beat MS at its own game, how can this be done? By offering better online capabilities, listening and giving things that the customers want, and by having services that are customer friendly.

"Holy fuck, Im so pissed off Nintendo wants to incorporate that fucking nonesense, I don't even want a Wii anymore. Fuck that shit."

That's a word-for-word quote of what I said when I saw their controller. And what I said about PS3 when I learned about BluRay.

Haha, don't let my swearing deter you from our hot chicks Foetoid, we have 14% tax on our goods here :(

Again, you sir, are clearly stupid for thinking Halo sucks, when you cant appreciate how great of an FPS it is.

Hmm... seems everone trying to back up claims against me are with oppinionated posts about how bad halo is
:S

-50dkp! Agro my ass.

"I was playing online since I was 10, I was never seduiced by no pedo"

Nice to see even pedos got standards.

Nintendo could implement proper parental controls and please everyone. With zero parental control it could be just like Xbox live where you play and communicate with everyone and can add anyone to your friendslist, receive messages, see vision cameras etc. The parental controls they could implement could include playing with friends only, no voice chat, no messages, no friend requests etc. So if your parents wanted to they could set up the Wii so Tommy could only play and talk with his real life friends online and if he wanted to play with strangers in a matchmaking type game he couldn't hear or talk to anybody and nobody could send him messages. A pedophile can't gain trust with a child if he can't communicate in any way with them.