Super Smash Bros. Brawl Confirmed to Include Four-Player Online Mode

Allaying fan fears that have intensified with months of silence regarding the presence of online multiplayer in Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii), Nintendo has announced that the game will include an online mode with support for up to four players.

Smashers can search for games among friends or anonymous public players; oddly, the game will track stats for games played with friends, but not for those played with random players. Like other first-party online Nintendo games, Super Smash Bros. Brawl will make use of numeric friend codes to populate its in-game friends list. It is not clear if these codes will be drawn from the system friends list or a game-specific list, but precedent suggests the latter is likely. In between matches, a punching bag mini-game is available. During battles, players can send four customizable text messages by way of the four directions on the d-pad. Nintendo promises multiple gameplay modes and "a number of services" that make use of online and have yet to be revealed. The game releases in North America on December 3.