Topic: 3DS Friend Codes: One Per System, Works for All Games

[ShyGuy]

lazy complainers.

[broodwars]

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.

[Adrock]

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.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

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?

[TJ Spyke]

Someone at (I believe) Ars Technica mentioned that you could give yourself a nickname once friend codes were exchanged. Is this true?

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.

[Adrock]

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?

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).

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I will take a guess,

your NWR username is ThatSheilaIsAGuy1983

[Mop it up]

No one will remember their code,

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.

[MegaByte]

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.

[Mop it up]

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.

[broodwars]

No one will remember their code,

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.

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.

[Adrock]

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.

[Mop it up]

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

[MegaByte]

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.

[Adrock]

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

Try books and Mozart.

[Ian Sane]

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.

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.  **** that ****. 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.

[ShyGuy]

My ICQ number is 17787417

[Adrock]

/long facepalm post

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....

[King of Twitch]

I'd like that to be my forum name.

[UncleBob]

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".

[MegaByte]

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.

[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.

[MegaByte]

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.

[Ian Sane]

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?

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.

[BlackNMild2k1]

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.