All signs are pointing toward Nintendo doing the inconceivable and rolling out an online strategy for the Wii that is identical to the one they had for the DS. Blogger “Falafelkid” posted the results of a series of e-mails between himself and a PR representative from Edelman speaking on behalf of GameSpy:
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.
This is already the case with Japan’s Pokémon Battle Revolution, and it looks like more of the same is on the way. Assuming everything above pans out as detailed, Nintendo stands to alienate and disillusion a huge percentage of their fanbase (especially the recently-indoctrinated) with their inefficiency at providing a service around which the Wii itself is largely based – WiiConnect24, “Always on, always online,” et al.
For Nintendo to doggedly approach online gaming in this manner is inexcusable for a next-gen console manufacturer. Let’s hope the backlash from the official announcement of this issue will help to convince them of that.
Tony Mora
http://spaceghostno.ytmnd.com/
Tony Mora
360 does what Nintendon’t.
Atlantis1982
Perhaps Pokemon is going to do something like that, but I find that hard to believe.
If that is true, then what is the point of the Wii friend code?
Walter
i dont trust that the guy from gamespy is 100% accurate or wording his message properly.
what i mean by that is, i assume elebits had that online feature to transfer levels or something between others in your friends list, and they took the list from the console list right? you didnt have to build it yourself?
pokemon revolution linked for multiplay through the DS, so of course it used the DS wi-fi system since at that time, even in japan, the wii wi-fi system was not up yet.
what i really think he means is nintendo will be having individual game lobbies, matchmaking, etc… but all accessing the 1 unified friends list from the console, so you dont have to recreate this friends list every single time.
i will stik by that til nintendo reports something official. and as for myself, i dont care about friends lists. while i am not big on online play, my roommate has played alot of online DS games without complaint. mph/mkds/tetris mostly.
Wii-Wii
This is a dissaopointment.
WAKE THE HELL UP nintendo.
The Wii is great, but the online stragity is garbage, totaly.
Here is hoping it is not true.
Anonymous
Won’t believe anything till i see it.
Anonymous
WHO CARES ANYMORE! Just as long as I can play RANDOM like Mario Kart DS and Tetris DS. I don’t really care. Friend codes are fine if you live in the same time zone, but if you live across the street from your friend, invite him over or go to his house to play! (I live in Japan, even if I had swapped friend codes with some friends in the states, it would be useless unless I/he wants to stay up until about 3am just to play online.)
zyblorg
Falafel Kids has proven himself to be less than credible on a lot of Wii rumours. He swore up and down that Reggie was holding out a big secret just before launch, and he claimed that a light sabre game was pretty much a sure thing. Let’s see what the future holds.
Mark
It’s not really that much of a bitch, in my opinion. Get the stick out of your asses and slow down on life just a bit, jeez.
Anonymous
Why, after all these years, is it so hard for people to believe that Nintendo is going to do whatever the fuck Nintendo wants to do, no matter how much the fanbase kicks and screams about it?
Have we not have countless incidents where public opinion was made abundantly clear and Nintendo went ahead with their own plans anyway? Frequently to their detriment?
THEY. DON’T. CARE. WHAT. YOU. THINK.
johnny milkshark
Please shut up. Online Wii will be fine, most of us were pretty happy with what was accomplished on the DS. If exchanging friend codes is really that hard for you, then just pick a random online foe. God help you if they’re Japanese, those kids are tough cookies.
Anonymous
Absolutely ludicrous and stupid if this turns out to be true. And screw all of you saying it’s not “that bad”. You people who just sit back and take it are the reason this crap keeps happening.
Anonymous
For all we know it just means you have to set up a new list for each game based on the address book of friends code list you already made for your specific console. If that’s the case it doesn’t sound that bad. So long as you don’t have to re-enter codes that’s fine by me. Besides, haven’t games on the DS allowed to play random people who aren’t on your list anyway? If anything this might mean you just can’t see what other people are playing while you’re in a different game.
Anyway, I’m going to need some clarification first before I start complaining.
Jack
CRAP!
Anonymous
“Online Wii will be fine, most of us were pretty happy with what was accomplished on the DS.”
Bullshit. Most of accepted it because we didn’t have a choice.
InvisibleMan
Yeah, if true, this would really be the death of online gameplay for Wii…
As anon just said, we played DS online with that awkward process because it was the only way to do it. Now I find it harder and harder to connect with friends, it’s all random play or blue-tooth. For games like Animal Crossing, the friend code system is the worst!
But I thought GameSpy was working only on the Pokémon system, which uses friend codes because of its DS connectivity… If you read their anwer again, they might have been referring only to the Pokémon game and any game that had a similar DS/Wii approach… Let’s wait and see…
Anonymous
Honestly I don’t see what the big deal about punching in a few numbers is. You wouldn’t have to type it in each time you wanted to play that person, say, on Smash Bros. Enter their unique-for-that-game number once and that does it for that friend for that game.
Sure, it would be easier with one code for all games, but, Mr. Invisible, you’re DEFINITELY exaggerating wayyyy too much but saying having to enter, what, a 10-number code would be “the death of online gameplay for Wii.”
Oh, no, I have to move the cursor to different numbers and press A 10 times.
Get over it, guys!
At least Nintendo won’t have to deal with any sex predators this way, or whatever the hell people complain about w/the 360.
For me, the mere fact that Smash is going to be online at ALL is… AMAZING.
Anonymous
If my reasoning is correct (which I think it is, but I could be wrong), don’t game-specific friend codes mean more people can have online access? Think about it – there are only so many possibilities for a friend code (granted, there are a lot, but still…), so game-specific codes = more codes available = more potential for additional players. Now obviously it would take a lot of people to max out the number of FC combinations, but this just helps.
Besides, the only reason you want a universal friend list is laziness. Why do I say that? Well, for one, game-specific lists are more efficient. Example: You buy online Wii game “X.” However, you’ve filled you Wii friend list, and only 1 or 2 people on your list have game “X.” What then? But if the lists are game-specific, then the only people on the list are those who have the game and can play online.
Second, the fc’s are in place for protection. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want people randomly coming in and destroying my Animal Crossing town, or some stalker-type chatting to me on Metroid.
Third, typing in a quick little code doesn’t hurt anything or anybody. So you’re slightly inconvenienced. Are you going to cry about it?
Finally, if this is true, and it is implemented, who really cares? It’s not going to impact the game itself, which is the important thing. Even if you hate the fc system, is that going to stop you from getting the game? Probably not. You’re just going to have to deal with it in the end anyway, so you might as well start now.