BREAKING: No unified gamer tags or codes for Wii online

There will not be unified gamer tags or codes for Wii online games. Users will have to register with each title separately, as is already the case with the DS and the Wii´s first online title, ´Pokemon Battle Revolution´.

This exclusive information comes from GameSpy´s PR people after I asked them to go into the details of them providing the Wii´s online service. Here is the correspondence:

Falafelkid: I would like to know if I am right in assuming that the features mentioned (friend rosters, advanced matchmaking capabilities and comprehensive rankings data) suggest a single, unified online platform for each console, rather than one which is dependent on individual games (as is the case with the DS).

GameSpy: GameSpy’s technology does allow for features that could span multiple games. With the Nintendo Wii, however, the multiplayer features are title-specific.

Falafelkid: But is that the case for all Wii online titles across the board?

GameSpy: Yes, that is the case for Wii titles.

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.

Now, I must say that I am baffled. The Wii itself already has a friend list. Online games could simply tap into that list. Why make things more difficult? Of course, difficult is not always bad. I have previously said that I believe friend codes are at least partially a good idea, if only to differentiate Nintendo´s ´Wi-Fi Connection´ from Microsoft´s fantastic ´Live´ service.

They do, in fact, even enable certain gameplay elements that would not work in any other environment. Consider the tacit exchange of user-generated content in games like ´Animal Crossing: Wild World´. A good example of that is your animals automatically picking up slogans your friends taught their animals. If it was not for friend codes guaranteeing a common denominator, your animals would suddenly start to say things you would not want them to say.

So friend codes can be a good idea, I believe. But it is entirely unnecessary to use individual codes and lists for each game. That only complicates online communication further without any tangible benefit as far as the service or the gameplay offered by it are concerned.

Commenting on ´Pokemon Battle Revolution´ in December, IGN did not understand that decision either.

Strangely, despite the Wii hardware having its own friend list, Battle Revolution uses its own, independent friend list. (...) We're not sure if Nintendo's policy of minimizing interaction with strangers will change, but future titles will hopefully include chat features, get rid of the lag, and tap into the Wii's built in friend list.

Any such hope that remained seems to have died today. However, we do not yet know if Nintendo will indeed use friend codes across the board. Remember that this exclusive information contains no news about the use of friend codes.

If Nintendo were to do away with such codes for most games, the service could be likened to the state of the PlayStation network up until the current generation (each PS3 apparently has a unified online identity which is used for all online games).

However, if Nintendo were to go ahead and implement friend codes for most of their online games, alongside the game-specific system we have just learned about, building up a friend list would simply become a chore with every new title you purchase.

EDIT As might have been expected, the news sent shockwaves through the community. Here is some guest commentary from other sites that carried this story and kindly linked to it.

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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.
Infendo

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Nintendo should send free batteries for the time it's going to take to punch the numbers in. But, will the inevitable hardcore uproar cause Nintendo to change their stance on this? Probably not.
1UP

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Oh dear. (...) We were hoping Pokemon Battle Revolution, confirmed to have an individual code would be a freak occurrence, it seems not.
Cubed3

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Uh-oh…I think this is going to make a lot of people angry... myself included.
GoNintendo

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The mere prospect leaves us depressed and in a need of a rainbow or something to cheer us up. The Wii maintains an internal friends list as is; why can't games simply access said list and use it universally across the platform? Why, Nintendo, why?
Nintendo Wii Fanboy

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There will not be unified gamer tags or codes for Wii online games. Users will have to register with each title separately, as is already the case with the DS and the Wii´s first online title, ´Pokemon Battle Revolution´.
MaxConsole

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If this is the case, why has Nintendo waited so long to get things running? It makes absolutely no sense to delay online gaming if it was simply the same system as the DS’s…
CodenameRevolution

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Sigh…I understand the whole basis for using the Friend Code system. Really, Nintendo has good intentions in doing so. Then again, the politicians had good intentions with the No Child Left Behind Act. Unfortunately, the Friend Code system, like NCLB, is not practical.
The Tanooki

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Nintendo have kept very quiet regarding the online multiplayer features of the Wii, so we still need some kind of confirmation from them.
N-Europe

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Ew. The first online title in the US will be Pokemon Battle Revolution, coming June 25. Hopefully Nintendo will work out a better solution, or at least allow you to individually import friends from your Wii master list. Because if not, this bites.
Game|Life

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All has been going astoundingly well for Nintendo and its Wii thus far, however the company has now dropped arguably the biggest ball yet.
Aussie-Nintendo

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Well damn it, Nintendo. If this is actually the case, my aspirations of playing any Wii games online are dead to me. Nintendo won't even let their own forum users share friend codes via private messages, for God's sake.
Destructoid

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Wii games will utilise a game-specific friends list - that means you'll need your mummy and daddy's permission to exchange codes with you friends. Tripe!
Wii UK

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This awkward system is unlike the Xbox 360 and PS3, both of which apply a single friend list, stored within the console's front-end firmware, to all online games.

Is this likely to be changed in a future system update? We're awaiting a reply from Nintendo UK but we seriously doubt it.
CVG

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Were not just talking certain games that also connect to DS here (i.e. Pokemon Battle Revolution), we're talking all games. Our team on the inside has yet to penetrate the GameSpy vault to confirm or deny the rumor, but what a rancid, partially substantiated rumor this is. Keep hope alive?
Joystiq

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We asked Nintendo UK whether we were missing something; whether there was some obvious reason for going down this route rather than adopting the unified approach that has become a console gaming standard, but were simply told, "Nintendo has taken this step as we believe it's the right thing to do."
Eurogamer

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If this is true, it's a tragedy. I have trouble remembering my apartment number.
Kotaku

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This means that your buddies in Mario E Revolution: Mario Hits Ibiza won’t be able to find you in Unresponsive Racing Game GT. (...) What is the result of this fairly innocuous news? SHOCKWAVES, friends. SHOCKWAVES in the community. Fanboys! To the ramparts!
CrunchGear

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Rather than provide one friend list applicable for all Wii online games though, as is the case with many of the other formats, Nintendo has decided to stick with the current set up: users still have to make their friends list for every game played.
GameTrailers

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Considering that the Wii already has an established online community by way of the Miis, the decision to make friends lists game-specific is coming off as rather strange.
QJ

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Time to figure out who your friends really are, because you're going to be spending a lot of time entering them onto your lists over and over again.
NintendoRevolution.ca

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I'm not sure how backlashes begin, but I think they may start with posts like this one and end with all of us in a group shouting "rabble rabble rabble!" at Nintendo headquarters. So get ready for that. There may be torches involved.
Ars Technica

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UGH (...) What will Ozy* say?
N´Gai Croal´s Level Up

* Microsoft´s André Vrignaud

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EDIT As far as friend codes are concerned, GameSpy has refused to comment, stating: "We really can’t speak for Nintendo and their plans."