Why Nintendo abandoned Friend Codes for Wii U

How did Nintendo reconcile their desire for online safety with users' desire for an easier online experience? It's about making you get along with new people.

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When Wii U launches on November 18th, it will usher in a new era of online connectivity for Nintendo. Thanks to the Nintendo Network and Miiverse, Wii U players will no longer have to exchange Friend Codes to connect with one another.

One of the reasons why Nintendo has been so hesitant to offer a simple ID system was that it wanted to "prevent users from having objectionable encounters with strangers," as Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explained. But, as Miiverse producer Kiyoshi Mizuki pointed out, "people put their Friend Codes on other networks and bulletin boards and exchanged them with strangers anyway."

So, how did Nintendo reconcile their desire for online safety with users' desire for an easier online experience? "We came to think that it might be better for Nintendo itself to provide a service that would be more fun to use," Mizuki told Iwata, who asked. "With Miiverse, you don't simply become friends with complete strangers without any prior knowledge. You become friends with someone with whom you sense a shared sensibility because you play the same game." On WaraWara Plaza, Wii U's main hub, you'll get to interact with others that have played the same games as you.

"In Miiverse, you talk about a game in which you are both interested in. This allows you to think 'we get along!' or 'I want to play together with this person!' and then consider becoming friends," Iwata proclaimed.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    November 7, 2012 10:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Why Nintendo abandoned Friend Codes for Wii U.

    How did Nintendo reconcile their desire for online safety with users' desire for an easier online experience? It's about making you get along with new people.

    • reply
      November 7, 2012 10:11 AM

      The millions of complaints about friend codes wasn't enough?

      • reply
        November 7, 2012 10:39 AM

        It probably was but they can't cite "because people complained" as their chief reason, it has to look like their idea of course.

    • reply
      November 7, 2012 10:39 AM

      I figured because you know, terrible.

    • reply
      November 7, 2012 2:42 PM

      OK, so how are you going to deal with becoming friends with someone who doesn't have the same game as you? Especially with a system that allows messaging and video chat. Is this going to be friend codes because I haven't seen anything from Nintendo that says friend codes are gone in this case.

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