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Originally posted by: Mario
I added 20 codes in the time it took to read this post.
First of all, unless you have a reading speed of .05 words per minute, then no, not even close.
Second, the fact that leg-humping Nintendo fanbots will go through this anyway is irrelevant: those people are going to buy the games no matter what so their actions have no bearing on anything. It's ironic, but Nintendo's most dedicated fans are the ones they'll be trying the LEAST to please.
Third, as the console which floats its
ENTIRE premise upon the idea of bringing accessible gaming experiences to the masses, the friend code system is a nigh-bottomless sh*t bucket of steaming
failure.
How confused is grandma going to be when you try to explain to her that she needs to give you a 16 digit code which is somewhere on her Wii and that she'll need to enter in YOUR 16 digit code somewhere in hers before the two of you can even communicate? And THEN you'll need to do it again for any games you want to play with each other?
Nintendo talks about "ease of use" and "accessibility" all the time, yet their online system does everything it can to be as inaccessible as possible and needlessly difficult to use. I seriously hope they're revamping it for the future, maybe using a system similar to their current account database on their website where you can link the two together. Think of it: a universal ID you can use on your DS AND Wii games to go online with. Wouldn't that be great? The rule of "you have to cross email" would still exist, but it would still be better than a 16 digit code, especially if it could be updated to use the Wii address book instead.
Like I said, there's a difference between "I'll begrudging use this sh*tty system" and "this system is excellent!". The fanbots won't care because they lack the will to make decisions for themselves, but the rest of the gaming world is going to put the system under intense scrutiny and come to the conclusion that it sucks ass. By not competing with MS on this front, Nintendo only gives them more of a foothold in their climb to first. The Wii is guaranteed at least a 2nd place finish, but MS is looking like a stronger contender all the time with their holiday lineup. It's not like we're even asking Nintendo for a "live like service", just something that doesn't suck as hard as their current setup.