Wii Online Play is DOOMED says EGM

[Zeus]

The February issue of EGM implies that Wii's online play capabitilies are virtually doomed due to its friend code digit system. They say the idea of inputting a lot of 14 digit codes is simply a poor strategy to base the service on.



From the article (issue 212): "The Wii's unified friend code system initially seemed like an upgrade to the DS's daft online plan, but it's actually just more of the same nonsense. Once again, each game requires its own separate friend code list...so get ready to input lots of 14-digit codes. Seriously, designing your entire online strategy around preventing child predators simply isn't a good idea."


News Source: <a href="http://www.infendo.com/2007/01/wii-online-play-already-doomed-says.html" target="_blank">Infendo.com</a>

[pkchris]

A few issues back they said Fox wasn't in Super Smash Bros. Melee. They're pretty lame sometimes but it's fun to read lol. :p

I just finished reading this issue a few minutes ago. I don't have a problem with the DS friend code system and don't think this could doom their online plan but I do think services like XBox Live are better. ;)

[SegaCD]

Though I do agree, it isnt that great of a online system layout with the friend code numbers. It shouldnt be that big of a deal.

[Robotron]

Let's see if they actually use the code system first before we judge.

I'm not going to guess their entire online strategy from one pokemon game.

[johnhummel]

Seriously, designing your entire online strategy around preventing child predators simply isn't a good idea.

See, as a father of 3, I disagree. Is the Friend Code kind of annoying? Yes. Would I rather have it than Joe Stalker talking to my kids like that recent kidnapping, or Jimmy Foulmouth swearing at them when I don't know who the hell this 12 year old is that's telling my daughter how he wants to F* her up -

Right. I'll take the friend code, and use it like a whitelist. If I don't know you, they can do a Tetris like service where I can play with someone and never talk to them. Otherwise, only the people I want to talk/play with on my consoles - especially with my kids playing on it - are the ones *I* vet first.

But that's me.

[Trashcat]

Name based xbox live system just sucks, why couldn't they do it like on msn? Don't want ppl's email to show up? Fine, still I would rather input 14 numbers and have a nickname that I want.

[s00pcan]

Name based xbox live system just sucks, why couldn't they do it like on msn? Don't want ppl's email to show up? Fine, still I would rather input 14 numbers and have a nickname that I want.

Joking right?

[evlspcmk]

pfft you guys have missed probably the most important part of nintendos online stratergy... ITS FREE. im more than happy to key in as many friend codes they want me too as long as its free;)

[Silversand]

If I had a choice between friend codes and paying a monthly fee I would chose the friend codes anyday.

By the way... on the DS friend codes are only need when playing with your friends. They are not needed to play with everyone else. The bad part about the DS is that every game has a different friend code. On the Wii, only the console has a code. Once I get my friend's Wii codes and add a nickname to them I never have to remember that number again. How is that such a bad online system? How does this make "online play... doomed" on the Wii?

[{{909}}]

i dont really like the code system, but i can fully understand why they are using it. Its morons shouting profanities into their xbox live mic that nintendo dont want on their system, or atleast they dont want young kids 'bumping' into them.

The switch from 1 code per game was a great move, i cant see it beinga major issue at all now, as soon as you know someone you can play against them with ease on any game you own, which is basically what clan players do now anyway. IGN, as usual are seeking attention by throwing stupid quotes arround at whatever is popular.

[bsg]

Nintendo said; Every Wii will have just **ONE** friend code

[technosexual]

Name based xbox live system just sucks, why couldn't they do it like on msn? Don't want ppl's email to show up? Fine, still I would rather input 14 numbers and have a nickname that I want.


yea thats one thing it has over xbl(and psn?).

[Phil2000]

How does EGM know something is doomed when it isn't even widely available yet ? :rolleyes:

[shangrula]

a few points;

1. You wont need to invite 'codes' to join a game, you'll just join a group of waiting players and get involved (randomly).

2. You have the option of adding a friend byh inputting their indescript code into a friend list. OK, you have to remember a 14 digit code.

3. How many people honestly consider their friends 11 digit mobile numbers (uk standerd) into their phones.

4. anominty is nice

5. Once added, a friend is for life, not just for Wario.

6. it's free. for me, a massive deal. OK xbl is only £27 a year but still, that's oine more game - right?

7. fcuk off

[vancitypimp]

You forget that PS2 and PS3 is free as well, and it doesnt use friend codes. So the Wii Online system still sucks compared to it, and will probably be just like DS with very few online games even though its selling more than Wii at this point.

[Tomobobo]

All these people are saying that the Wii will have one friend code, and that's the end all, all game friend code. This isn't true. Pokemon for the Wii has been released in Japan, and uses online, and has a separate friend code from the Wii friend code. This is how they know it's doomed before it's even out, because it is out, just not in the US or Europe.

[Silversand]

You forget that PS2 and PS3 is free as well, and it doesnt use friend codes. So the Wii Online system still sucks compared to it, and will probably be just like DS with very few online games even though its selling more than Wii at this point.How do you with the PS3 find online friends if they don't have a code or name?

[gonepostl]

The wii will fail online. Do you realize how many sploits can be done with a wii controller? Just think about it! Now you have a clue of why it's taking so long for the online service to come out. Because they want people to get hooked to campain games and need less online for the wii. When the need starts to fade they'll kick it in. It's just a theory of mine but I feel it's a well founded one.

[WalkingTiger]

First of all, it's jumping the gun to say that you're going to have to type in codes every time you buy a game... Sigh... The online rollout hasn't truly begun yet, and already people are making predictions...

It's frankly hard to imagine Nintendo requiring you to re-enter friends you've already entered in each game... That would be pointless, and as I've said, hard to imagine...

It's far better to wait & see how this is carried out, before making wild predictions... That, and the ultimate actual *fact* that it's free, makes it worth waiting patiently to see;

~WalkingTiger

[gbladecl]

If they're really serious about keeping kids safe from online predators why can't they have a kid zone and a mature online zones. To enter the mature zone you need a credit card (one time $.01?). Rather I suspect that the Friends codes are actually just the cheapest way to implement an online gaming network.

[jbondsr]

This makes no sense to me.
What do they have to base this comment on? Pokemon Battle Revolution?

1. This is the only game so far that uses a separate friend code. Elebits uses the code that is already on the Wii.

2. The Wii friend code and the Pokemon Battle friend code are different lengths.

3. Even if some games happen to have a separate friend code (which I personally think will only happen if it can sync with a DS game), It has already been proven that we can battle random people without using friend codes. For example: Mario Kart DS and Metriod Prime DS.

4. It wouldn't make sense for Nintendo to use friend codes solely on the basis of protecting it's users from predators and weirdos. You can go online and play Joe Random and never have to see a text from him or hear his voice. It does make sense to use it for things like the Wii message board and playing private games over the internet.

5. The only reason I can see that Nintendo would continue to enforce that you have the other persons friend code for games would be to reduce the load on their servers. That way, they could limit online play without taking away the fact that its still free.

However, I have faith that the entire service will get better and we will see many Wii games with random player options in the future.

[indolent]

I don't mind the codes for the wii. I just think you should get a message when someone adds you so you can just click and add them instead of blindly adding each other. I've never used the xbox one, but ideas like seeing who is online and what games they are playing would be nice too.

[Raist3d]

This is really the only big thing holding back the Wii. I think Nintendo is ignoring this at their peril.

- Raist

[peppers]

yeh being unable to comunicate with anybody but those you share your frend codes with is annoying its even worse when they only allow you to connect to them it made it very hard for me to play animal crossing on the DS as I am an adult I had to resorts to finding people on gameing wed sites, none of them over 16 and most of them were onley interested in cibering with each outher

[Silversand]

What console has been successful online.... only the xbox and 360. And compared to PC gaming it hasn't succeeded yet.

So lets all act like idiots and predict the future and decided what console are and aren't going to fail online. I'm predicting that global warming is going kill 30% of the worlds population this year. And in 3 years the size of the earths core is going to increase causing the world to go into a 500 million year ice age after which a comet will hit the earth and somehow cause a shift in the fabric of time sending us back to the year 2007, the exact moment in which I am writing this post.

[Havok154]

yeh being unable to comunicate with anybody but those you share your frend codes with is annoying its even worse when they only allow you to connect to them it made it very hard for me to play animal crossing on the DS as I am an adult I had to resorts to finding people on gameing wed sites, none of them over 16 and most of them were onley interested in cibering with each outher

Very true. With Xbox Live, I found people that were around my age and cool to play with by randomly getting into a game with them. If I have to either know them in person or from a forum, chances are I will either have very few friends on my list or a lot of kids.

[peppers]

What console has been successful online.... only the xbox and 360. And compared to PC gaming it hasn't succeeded yet.

So lets all act like idiots and predict the future and decided what console are and aren't going to fail online. I'm predicting that global warming is going kill 30% of the worlds population this year. And in 3 years the size of the earths core is going to increase causing the world to go into a 500 million year ice age after which a comet will hit the earth and somehow cause a shift in the fabric of time sending us back to the year 2007, the exact moment in which I am writing this post.

We the people can debate on what will do well in the market because we know what makes an online network user friendly and what makes it a pain to use witch is different than predicting the outcome of a global weather pattern shift

[Yokotuna]

EGM are in Sony's back pocket. This was proven when all Official Playstation Magazine subscriptions were switched to EGM when OPM went under. Now you know why the PS3 won "Console of the Year" from EGM. :rolleyes:

[Silversand]

We the peopleThats great =)


We the people can debate on what will do well in the market because we know what makes an online network user friendly and what makes it a pain to use witch is different than predicting the outcome of a global weather pattern shiftDo we really know the market? Do we understand the DS or the Wii market? Is the DS and the Wii market made up of hardcore gamers...? No it isn't. So how are "we the people" gamers suppose to predict what is going to happen to a console that is being purchased by non-tradition gamers just as much as it is by gamers themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the Wii code is the best solution ever, but it could be worse. By the way... we haven't played one Wii online game yet. Shouldn't we wait till we get a few before we make predictions instead of looking at a singe Japanese game for our answers?

[LaNcom]

So, phones are obviously doomed as well? Not only do they use similar cryptic "friendcodes", if you have a very old phone, you have to input that friendcode every f*cking time you want to contact someone!

[technosexual]

So, phones are obviously doomed as well? Not only do they use similar cryptic "friendcodes", if you have a very old phone, you have to input that friendcode every f*cking time you want to contact someone!


ive seen some of these phone things around, that **** will never take off!

[Azariel]

i dont really like the code system, but i can fully understand why they are using it. Its morons shouting profanities into their xbox live mic that nintendo dont want on their system, or atleast they dont want young kids 'bumping' into them.

.

Is true, just think how many fanboys actually do thatjsut for the fun,

[TheClockWork]

The Friend Code System is IMHO really cool and sepereates PC Internet from Console Internet perfectly. I played Metroid Prime Hunters a long time and it worked perfectly there :) You can play random rounds and after the game you can add a opponent to your "Enemy" list which is somekind of the same like the friend list :). It worked absolutely fine on DS and it will on Wii :)

[Souzar]

ive seen some of these phone things around, that **** will never take off!


And they give you BRAIN CANCER!!

[Azariel]

The Friend Code System is IMHO really cool and sepereates PC Internet from Console Internet perfectly. I played Metroid Prime Hunters a long time and it worked perfectly there :) You can play random rounds and after the game you can add a opponent to your "Enemy" list which is somekind of the same like the friend list :). It worked absolutely fine on DS and it will on Wii :)

I didn't have anyproblems using on DS either, playing Mario Kart on NinWiFi , jsut fidns random, if you like you add...simple.

[coolbgdog]

So, phones are obviously doomed as well? Not only do they use similar cryptic "friendcodes", if you have a very old phone, you have to input that friendcode every f*cking time you want to contact someone!
lol good point.

[Raist3d]

[QUOTE=Silversand]What console has been successful online.... only the xbox and 360. And compared to PC gaming it hasn't succeeded yet.

What an idiotic idea. How is this supposed to gauge if you are succesfull or not? Ridiculous. You are succesfull if you get a community of people going, playing and making a profit out of it. I don't see where Xbox live is failing here.

- Raist