Complain about Nintendo's Online decisions!

[Yoshi]

Originally Posted by Patrick Klepek of 1up

This first sentence was originally a long string of expletives, but apparently 1UP would fire me, so I'm reduced to simply passing along this sad news: Wii Friend Codes for online play will be title specific. In other words, you need to register every one of your buddies with a new set of random numbers every time you purchase a new game with online connectivity, according to a GameSpy interview with Wii: Definitive Speculation. GameSpy will be providing the middleware tools for Nintendo and third-parties to bring Wii online.

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.

Nintendo should send free batteries for the time it's going to take to punch the numbers in. But, will the inevitable hardcore uproar cause Nintendo to change their stance on this? Probably not. They've committed to this format for the Nintendo DS, it hasn't wavered, and all along the company's indicated they'd be following the same philosophy on Wii.
Too bad it's a philosophy that makes online play more frustrating than intuitive.

To sum it up:

Originally Posted by Patrick Klepek of 1up

Wii Friend Codes for online play will be title specific. In other words, you need to register every one of your buddies with a new set of random numbers every time you purchase a new game with online connectivity

Complain Here!
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/webform.jsp

This will send a letter to Nintendo. Try to make it appropriate and professional. If you choose to flame, you'll most likely be ignored. If you make it long, hopefully they'll take the time to reply.

Edit: Also, if you get a response from Nintendo that's worth mentioning, be sure to post it here.

Thanks
-Yoshi

[goldmember]

Just sent one.

pleas do something, Nintendo...

[waa_waa_wii_waa]

stickied...

[Vectorferret]

This isn't anything new. That was the way it always was. The Gamespy announcement didn't change that. (Battle Revolution is already out in Japan, and has a game specific friend code.)

Edit - Even if they hide it in the options and require parental control codes to get into it, a proper online system is important. I don't care how barebones it is, but let me talk to people with bluetooth mics and stop using friend codes.

[waa_waa_wii_waa]

Originally Posted by Vectorferret

This isn't anything new. That was the way it always was. The Gamespy announcement didn't change that. (Battle Revolution is already out in Japan, and has a game specific friend code.)

yeah, but it wasn't official that it would be for EVERY online game...

[neowolf]

Battle Revolution is DS compatible so it was expected.

Also, while I find alarming. I think it's worth noting that this does not confirm infinite friend codes. This confirms non-unified buddy lists. These two things aren't necessarily the same. I'm awaiting actual confirmation on the friend code situation before pitching a hissy fit.

[Vectorferret]

Originally Posted by waa_waa_wii_waa

yeah, but it wasn't official that it would be for EVERY online game...

Official no, unofficial yes. Bozon at IGN already said it was gonna be that way months ago on his blog. He was mentioning that the system friend code was just for messaging and Mii's, and that games would all have their own codes. Of course, it's not too late to fix that for future games. They could even change it on the DS, since that one has the WFC code on each game ROM separately (rather than on the system). Any games released in the current system won't be changeable, but future titles could still be done differently. (On either system.) Considering we can already link a Nintendo.com account to the Wii's shop channel, would be nice if we could link it to online gaming as well. Seems simple and a good idea, and I wish they would.

The reason I tried not to get excited at the Gamespy article, is that it also said that Gamespy already provided the online system for the DS, which very strongly suggested in the original press release that the Wii would also use friend codes.

[waa_waa_wii_waa]

Originally Posted by neowolf

Battle Revolution is DS compatible so it was expected.

Also, while I find alarming. I think it's worth noting that this does not confirm infinite friend codes. This confirms non-unified buddy lists. These two things aren't necessarily the same. I'm awaiting actual confirmation on the friend code situation before pitching a hissy fit.

could you explain? im not sure im understanding the concept here...

[Dax]

Nintendo, I just started pondering the fact of adding friends, when you came out with this crap.

Oh boy, will you receive a complaint from me.

[Vectorferret]

Originally Posted by waa_waa_wii_waa

could you explain? im not sure im understanding the concept here...

What I think he means, is that you could have one friend code, but need to enter it into each game. I think.... But as far as I know, it is separate codes for each game.

I wonder how long before the pedophiles this was supposed to stop figure out how to unhash the friend codes. (Since they won't be stored on the game disk, but generated from a hash since game disks are all copied from a master rom.)