Wii Friend lists to be title specific

Wii News | Hopefully friend codes don't return... Please?

1UP is reporting on an interview with a GameSpy PR bod, who has stated that Wii friend lists will be title specific. This could mean that, if you want to play online against somebody in Pokémon Battle Revolution, you'll need to write down their friend code and then type it into the Wii, but if you try to play another online Wii game, then you'll need to enter yet another long code. However, not many details were given, and friend codes were not specifically mentioned in the original interview, only game 'rosters'.

The extract below is from the interview with an unnamed person from GameSpy, done by a blogger named "Falafelkid"

Falafelkid: Just one last question to make absolutely sure I have got this right, please. If I have a friend roster in one game, that roster will not be available to me in any other game. I have to build up an entirely new list for each title, right?
GameSpy: The answer to your question is yes, for the Wii friend lists are game specific.

It's been expected for a while now that friend codes would be abandoned for the Wii - after all, with each Wii having a console specific number, it would make more sense for Nintendo to get users to add friends with this number. We'll wait for more details to arrive, so check back with PALGN for all the latest.

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14 Comments

Spanca

6 years ago

I was just beginning to think Nintendo had got their shit together by partnering with Gamespy...

ObsoletE

6 years ago

i honestly can not see how this can be justified, or logical, from Nintendo's POV.

i can see the point of giving people permission to play with them, through a code, but given the Wii is already equipped to do this within it's own hardware, why do we need to do this again with each game?

and yes, i'm aware i'm preaching to the choir.

DancesInUnderwear

6 years ago

It does say 'friend lists' rather than 'friend codes', though, which would imply to me that you input the one console code into, say, a Pokemon Battle Revolution list and then input the same code into, say, a Mario Strikers friend list. That doesn't necessarily seem like a problem to me, though certainly usernames would be easier to remember.

Of course there's also the possibility that this means what the rest of you have taken it to mean and that this is indeed shit. I guess we'll see.

renegadesx

6 years ago

ObsoletE wrote

I totally agree, with the system code in there, there is no need for friend codes on a per game basis, I thought this would simply things.

Who knows, maybe not all games will require friend codes.

David

6 years ago

As I said in the other thread - the source is some obscure blogger who called up Gamespy, and is light on specific details. At no point are friend codes mentioned.

As Dances says, it's still poor if it's just like the DS, but we'll have to wait for more info from better sources first.

Sunrider

6 years ago

DancesInUnderwear wrote

It does say 'friend lists' rather than 'friend codes', though

That's what I was going to point out. The word Friend Code was never mentioned. People just hear the phrase "Game Specific" and they instantly start jumping up and down. Wait 'till an online game is out people, or at least until specifics are mentioned!

The Brett

6 years ago

It almost seems like they're doing it as a joke- because they want to push their fans as hard as they can and see if they'll keep biting.

Yet we do.

onggie

6 years ago

I want it so we have nick names, and that we can add someone, and then they accept or deny the request. Just like MSN. That would be so much easier!

Qbert

6 years ago

Just make Nintendo online the opposite of what it is at the moment and it would be great. Oh, but keep it free.

Hyperworm

6 years ago

DancesInUnderwear wrote

I think the biggest problem I have with Nintendo's Wi-Fi service is that there is no unified friend list. The individual friend codes are just a major added inconvenience (which would have to be thrown out to enable a unified friend list).

The only way to find out what games your friends are playing is to ask them individually. Rather than being able to go "oh! my friends are online, let's play a game with them", you have to organize things in advance. The probability that one of them is currently searching Friends on exactly the same game as you is pretty low, even if you have a lot of friends. That means that most of the time you're reduced to the lifeless "Worldwide" environment with no communication.

I'd hoped that since Wii was supposed to be "permanently connected", this kind of notification would have been trivial.

Or do other people not have such problems?

?oe?oe

6 years ago

What's the point of have a system nickname and a code?!!??!!... to register your system so you don't have to pay for the same VC games again.

admeister

6 years ago

I really hope they're only talking about the lists and not the codes! *crosses fingers* Please let them do something right.

David

6 years ago

Just looked up some stuff, and the first Wii online game, Elebits (which is already out in the US) uses the Wii code for it's online feature - which is to exchange maps via Wii Connect 24.

So this rumour is already not true for one game.

legend166

6 years ago

I won't mind if like in every game you can pull up the Wii Address book and use it to add people to a specific list. Not the best solution, but that would be alright. But yeah, game specific friend CODES would suck.

Also, the blogger who got this story is the same guy who said that the Wii would have a VR headset and that there was an exclusive Star Wars game would be shown at E3 2006.

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