Awesome.

And, its a start...Nintendo is learning.  But note, no mention of in game chat, in game voice...just like I said, Nintendo will do some things right, but still won't go all the way.

I think those things would be up to the developer. SSFIV let's you deliver a single message (or chat if you will) before each match.

I suppose Nintendo could (should) have implemented a sytem so you can send messages to your friends regardless of what game they are playing, but that could come in a later update, and if not, I still applaud Nintendo revamping their online system.

This needed to happen and I know that this will make playing online more accessible. Now it'll be up to developers to make online more than just trading items. This is the best news for me, hands down.

This is great news, I am glad they did it and think it's a good sign their next console will do it too.

Nintendo also confirmed that when you interact with other people in person, your friend codes will automatically be swapped.

OMG, how did I skip over this thread.

There was exciting news.

Universal Friend Code, a Local instant swap at the push of a button & online friends list!
That's 3 major improvements so far.

Any word on other online improvements? how about online chat? new online Pictochat program?

Maybe Online Chat is only available during Local Wifi sessions ;) bandwidth reason :P:

A good step in the right direction, but I would have liked to see two steps.

I was hoping Nintendo would have implemented a more unified system where the friend code is tied to an actual Nintendo account (An email address registered with Nintendo or a Club Nintendo account name/email), not a device.

This has me more excited than anything else so far! When we trade a code guys... it will only be once! Instead of running to the computer and back to the wii again and so on and so forth things will just be so much more simple. The ball and chain is being unlocked. Or at least the heavy ball got hacked off.

I hate getting into the message boards every single time to see if someone is up for online play. Now if i'm playing Mario Kart and you guys are playing DOA, i'll just cut off Mario Kart for a while and see if someone will let me join their battle.

^True, but Nintendo will take babysteps. That would have been expecting too much and I think Nintendo wants to encourage everyone to own their own 3DS, not share it, so in a way it makes sense to do it that way.

There's no such thing as "local WiFi sessions". WiFi is Internet. Local voice chat is useless in most situations, as the other person has to be near you anyway.

Several DS games have online voice chat that works around the world, the Pokemon series being a prime example. Metroid Prime Hunters also has online voice chat between rounds.

Remember that Nintendo put local video chat in Pokemon Black and White. What is the point in having video chat when it is only used for people who have to be within ~30 feet of you? That reminds me of people who talk on cell phones with people in the same room.

Ideally we shouldn't have to have a code.  We should have a gamer tag that the individual picks for himself.

But this is still a VAST improvement to what we had before.  It resembles something normal and conventional.  It seems less like Nintendo thinking they know best and re-inventing the wheel for no reason.

You know what has been nice so far?  This new group of 3DS info has not been that bad.  I'm not cool with the battery life but aside from that we're not getting a lot of "what the fuck is Nintendo thinking?" stuff.  So far the stuff that should be routine and conventional and does not need a wacky-ass Nintendo solution has been routine and conventional.

They didn't gimp the hardware.  They didn't switch to goof-ass controls.  They aren't relying a gimmick to be the sole justification for new hardware.  They aren't sticking with the old friend code model.  They have demos.  They're using money instead of Wii Points.  There isn't some obvious feature they're giving us flimsy excuses for not providing.

The problems thus far are battery life, regional lockout, no GBA games in the eShop and maybe the price is a little high.  I think the battery is pretty important but the rest sure are not show-stoppers.  None of these are the sort of incredibly obvious and stupid oversights that Nintendo is known for.  Typically Nintendo screws something up that is so idiotic and completely avoidable that I wonder how those in charge are capable of functioning as human beings.  So far this has not been the case with the 3DS.

http://i56.tinypic.com/242bv3b.jpg

With this system we should be able to change out Username whenever we want since they systems identify us by usercode. Downside is that everyone could have the same username and that  could get confusing real quick.

@Johnny
Actually, Wifi is not just internet, it is simply the protocol that became standardized to broadcast internet signals. Wifi can be used for more local things; look up Wifi Direct.

One code to rule them all and in the local, swap them.

Hahaha! I can't hear McBain, but I know he's saying "thats the joke..." Sorry for ruining it for everyone else.

If Ian likes it whats being thrown at us by Nintendo then something must be right, right? As far as battery life goes we don't know if there is a charging cord yet right? Thats how I usually play at home or at work, could we even play while it's docked and charging?

There is a reason that Nintendo let that bit of info about the battery get out a week or so before the event and only on the internet. Now they didn't have to talk about it publicly infront of the world and press peoples.

The GBA and DS worked like that so I would hope they go with the same design for the 3DS.

How does it work for the DSi?  I never really paid attention to it since it seemed like a useless stop-gap product.  Does it work the same as the GBA and DS?  If so I figure the 3DS would also work like that.

there is a docking station and a charging cord.

I think the charging cord plugs into the docking station, but I'm not 100% sure.
I'm also not sure if you would want to actually hold the docking station while playing. The charging cord should be detachable from the dock.


edit: http://www.nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/systems/out_of_the_box_30854.html

That's pretty sweet that there's only one friend code, but it's still a bit depressing that it is a code. Everyone knows their Gamertag, but who is going to go through the trouble of memorizing a code? It is nice that you can just trade codes locally, but that seems like Nintendo is just admitting that nobody will go to the trouble of memorizing their code. Will it be possible to link your freind codes for NDS games? Will you still be able to see if your friend is playing a NDS game?

you mean link in a browser?

Very nice upgrade. Perhaps a code is not the most graceful resolution, but once you climb the initial step of filling out your friends list, you're set.

By the way, do we know specifically whether the 'What are your friends playing?' feature tells you only when they are playing an online game or any game, as long as they're connected to Nintendo WFC? It might be interesting to know what single player games everyone is on as well.

People should be depressed that phone numbers still have numbers.

Where are all those whiners hiding?

How hard is it to send codes?  Everyone has Twitter on their dual-screened voice-enabled Tom Tom tablet.  Read the numbers off your mobile handset and punch them in the 3DGizmo.

If there was an alternative to phone numbers then people probably would bitch about them.  Phone numbers are an ancient concept and we're used to them.  Nintendo introduced friend codes after the much more convenient gamer tags had already become standard.  Would you be cool with phone numbers if they were first introduced in the here and now when we're already used to personal email addresses?  Imagine email came first.  This new phone invention comes out and we're supposed to use assigned numbers for it?  It wouldn't fly.  It's only because phone numbers came first and we were already used to it when email came out that we're okay with it.

You could easily say "how hard is it to light a candle?"  It's not that hard but flicking a light switch is easier and readily available so why settle for less?

lazy complainers.

I can't say I care much for the 3DS still using number-based friend codes, especially since it means the Wii 2 will probably do the same.  Your online name is an expression of your personality, a representation of yourself.  Numbers by their very nature are cold and impersonal.  Imagine if for a week all our NWR names were replaced by 16-digit numbers without images to go with them.  That would be kind of dreary.  Still, while it's not ideal it's still far better than the multiple friend code nonsense we have to put up with on the Wii, so I suppose it's Nintendo's usual half-step (under protest) forward advancement.

Someone at (I believe) Ars Technica mentioned that you could give yourself a nickname once friend codes were exchanged. Is this true? The unified numeric-based Friend Code isn't the best solution but it's a much, much, MUCH better solution than the bullshit Nintendo has been pulling for the last 6+ years. I think this is something most of us can live with and even embrace. I don't think it's too much of a hassle since it's a one time deal. Personally, I find it just mildly more annoying than entering someone's gamertag. On the bright side, for all those jerks that have zeroes and ones which get confused with O's (as in L-M-N-O) and lowercase L's respectively, you're day of reckoning has come! Numbers for you!

No one will remember their code, but assuming you're on your 3DS, pulling it up should be cake. Many people will likely even have it on their Facebook profile and you're not a real person if you don't have one of those. I LOVE that Nintendo allows for (not to mention thought of) swapping Friend Codes wirelessly. Very non-Nintendo. It actually encourages you to keep Wi-Fi on at all times which, honestly, I never do with any non-laptop thing I own (i.e. Blackberry, Zune HD). If this news was an NWR forum member, I would applaud it right now.

Ah, one of them came out.

"Phone numbers are an ancient concept and we're used to them."  Say no more.  We're all used to numbers, including friend codes, bank accounts, driver licenses.

Email addresses that vary so much are annoying to look at/write/pronunciate/handle for any first time exchange in the absence of Cut&Paste, which is common with many forms of exchangeable communication IDs, so your example leads nowhere.

But, I fail to see how ANY OF THIS applies to YOU since you never play with your gamer peers anyway.

"Your online name is an expression of your personality, a representation of yourself."

Your NWR Display Name isn't even guaranteed to be the same as the username you logged in with. Like email addresses and permanent tags, someone could've signed up with the name you wanted before you got a chance to.  Gee, thanks for the opportunity to express myself, I need to add silly numbers or symbols to differentiate myself cuz someone 'took my name.'  Oh wait, does that mean we need TWO names to identify ourselves now?

An account ID no one sees, and a display ID we're free to modify?  Isn't 3DS already doing that anyway?

I wouldn't be surprised, I think most DS and Wii games do it that way. For example, once you exchange codes for Animal Crossing: City Folk, you only see their name after.

Great points. I ganked "Adrock" from one of the Beastie Boys. It's basically my forum name on every message board I post on (which nowadays is just this one).

I will take a guess,

your NWR username is ThatSheilaIsAGuy1983

No one can remember phone numbers anymore? I guess that's just a reflection of the society we live in when it's too much trouble to remember even one string of numbers.

Codes are also longer than (US) phone numbers, falling outside of the magic length for human memory.
I expect this will be like ICQ numbers, except Nintendo probably won't let you search for people.

I guess people have difficulty outside of the magic 7-digit number but I have no trouble remembering 12 and 16-digit numbers. Especially if I just had one that I gave out to everybody, it'd be easy to remember.

To be honest, I have way too many numbers these days to try to remember: my phone number and those of people I regularly call; bank account numbers; my social security number, etc.  There are just too many numbers, and if I don't use them extremely regularly (or I'm not using programs like my phone that save my phone numbers under the name of the person I want to call) I easily forget them.  Asking someone to remember one more random string of numbers is a little much.

On top of that, there's so many different ways to store said code. It's really not a big deal. I have a smartphone with access to the internet (namely email) or I can write myself a memo. With all the different methods, I'm sure I'd find some way to get you that code. I don't need to remember it.

I know it isn't necessary, but I still like to remember things to stay sharp.

What they should do is set up a QR code system so that you can take a picture of a barcode to add a friend... QR is extremely popular in Japan, so it would make sense.

Try books and Mozart. :P

Thinking about it this new method basically allows Nintendo to address many of the issues of friend codes without admitting that they were wrong.  We're not just irritated by the multiple code nonsense.  The whole concept is stupid outright.  But if they ditched friend codes entirely then they would be admitting that their wonderous original idea was stupid.  No good.  But if they do this then they can improve it while still acting like friend codes is a solid concept and that they are just improving it.  They were never wrong to use friend codes and they're so nice that they're making improvements for it!

Regardless of how easy Nintendo has made friend codes I'm still going to bitch about it.  Why?  Because gamertags are the industry standard and they are more convenient and easier to use.  Nintendo is always giving me excuses.  Fuck that shit. Do it right and do it best and don't give me any "well this workaround isn't too hard..." nonsense.  Nintendo doesn't HAVE to use friend codes.  This was their own arbitrary solution.  Every time Nintendo does something that is clearly inferior to what everyone else is doing the Nintendo apologists come out of the woodwork and defend them.  Why?  It happens every fucking time.  Sony and MS do it better.  They did their better solution FIRST so there was never any reason for Nintendo to re-invent the wheel and even though Nintendo has greatly improved it it still is inferior and it doesn't have to be.  Can we live with it?  Sure.  But it is still a flawed and dumb solution and it makes no sense to bend over backwards to make excuses for it.

Better solution, much more usable, still the worst solution out there.

My ICQ number is 17787417

Are you my ex-girlfriend? Because you're impossible to please.

By even changing Friend Codes to a single, unified code, they admitted they were wrong. This isn't just an improvement. No Friend Codes for each game was basically the worst thing about Nintendo's online structure. Now, it's gone. What do you want? Flowers and some chocolates? I'm sorry, but you're not getting make-up sex from the entire company. Nintendo just fixed a lot of things. You're just not satisfied with anything. A single FC just means Nintendo chooses your unique tag instead of you coming up with one on your own. Imputing a predetermined set of numbers instead of a name of your choice is literally the only difference here. Sorry, you can't be "IHeartFrodo69xoxo" from the get-go. Once you're friends with someone, change your nickname. God, that's soooooo annoying....

I'd like that to be my forum name.

I'm okay with the code.  It allows me to pick a username that, perhaps, someone else already has.  This way, I don't have to be TheUncleBob1980a or something.  I can just be "UncleBob".

Having it system-tied rather than account-tied is still going to be a problem in the future, though at least they got rid of the bulk of the inconvenience.

It's possible it's tied to an account, but the 3DS is the only system that currently uses it - and they don't want to confuse people thinking the account will carry over to current systems.

Well, they've already said there's a limit on system transfers, but I guess we'll have to wait to see what they mean.

I want the flexibility of choosing one's own unique ID like every other company offers.  It's as simple as that.  And then MegaByte pointed out that this is system-tied instead of account-tied which is ass backwards, particularly since Nintendo will want you to switch to the inevitable 3DS redesign.

I am quite pleased with the improvements Nintendo has made.  But they did not go far enough.  There is no reason to still have these flaws.  We spotted these flaws ten seconds after Nintendo revealed them way back when they first went online.  These aren't new.  If Nintendo is on the ball they know about these and it is totally within their power to address them.

If you want to make a girlfriend analogy then the last time Nintendo came back from the store they forgot the bread, milk and cheese and I nagged them for it.  This time they only forgot the milk.  Well that's some nice improvement but it's still inexcusable.  So they're getting some more nagging until they stop being dipshits and remember ALL of the groceries.

Nintendo should be able to do things really well, not just better than last time.  This isn't cutting edge stuff, it's routine and conventional.  They should just get it right with no excuses.

They may have forgot the milk, but they brought home some ham and OJ. Now I know you didn't ask for ham & OJ, but you can still get something to drink and make yourself a sandwich, so sit down, shut up and eat. :P

Nintendo doesn't want to store Ian's profile anywhare.

One more thing, regarding a certain profile-based online system that I learned about (I dun't have the machine), the account name is the permanent display name.

That means it would be impossible to have FIVE NOA REGGIES appearing in a single Mario Kart race had Nintendo used that specific method.

Fuck THAT.

The whiners can go sodomize a cactus.