HappySqurriel said:
With how many odd spellings and numbers there are in most gaming usernames due to uniqueness issues, how is a entering in a friend code substantially different than entering in a username? I agree that they need other ways to allow people to add friends, but I also think that they need to do this in a way that is managed through parental controlls. The most restricted version would be no friends, followed by friend codes only, then allow adding of individuals tied to you through friend codes (ie you have a friend who gave you their friend code so you can add anyone who gave them their friend code), then friends of friends, and finally open discovery. With an approach like this the average parent of an 8 year old can feel comfortable that their children are only playing with family members and their young friends online, while teenagers may have a greater ability to make online friends, and an adult can adjust their settings to a level they feel most comfortable with.
The reason this is so important for Nintendo is because, while there have been several incidents of sexual predators on XBox Live that haven't impacted Microsoft's image, people will expect a greater level of safety from any service Nintendo provides.
Edit: I also thought of an additional way to add friends ... allow people to join groups, some of which may be closed others entirely open. Hypothetically speaking, ioi could create a gamrconnect group that anyone could join and play games with other people in the group. |
The point isn't to do with typing in friend codes. It's about being able to add/invite people you see online as friends without having to contact them, get their FCs and then having to type it in, etc to add them. Plus I think most people would want to have some kind of name represent them online than a number.
When you play on XBL, you can just invite people you saw in your previous games (ones you may have liked playing with) with just one click of a button. This process is almost near impossible on the games I have played on the Wii and 3DS. I don't know if this is a game to game thing on the Nintendo platforms, but this system is built into XBL itself, rather than just the individual games, which is what Nintendo should have.







