Yes, really build upon the ASE, what it was used for in the game was pretty lame, although Invisible enemies and hidden messages were fine, mines and locks sucked.
And for the no friend codes thing, since I guess SEGA isnt doing mature-ish Wii games anymore, maybe a studio like EA would take them over, EA Nation would be sweet.
Also Capcom is making it so friend codes are not needed for Monster Hunter 3.