Speaking to Kotaku last week during E3, Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime revealed a few new details about their upcoming Wii U console, specifically that it will use a better Friend Code system and have some kind of Achievements.
When asked about the dreaded Friend Codes (which on the Wii is a 16-digit unique user code that gamers had to exchange and then enter into their system in order to interact with each other in online) Reggie confirmed that it does exist on the Wii U, but it will be better than the current system.
“There are friend codes, but it’s not the existing friend code system. What do I mean by that? Here’s what I mean: you will be able to identify people as friends and have a certain level of interaction vs. a different level of interaction for the more general population. The method by which you identify someone as a friend is a lot simpler than what’s happening today with Friend Codes.”
Fils-Aime would not go into detail about how the new Friend Code system will work, but anything simpler is an improvement over how cumbersome and unfriendly it is now.
Reggie also revealed that there will be a Achievement-like system on the Wii U but when it comes to “game-specific” Achievements it will be up to each developer to put them into their game. Microsoft currently requires developers to include Achievements in every game, but Fils-Aime stated “That is not our philosophy”.
So far it sounds as if Nintendo is possibly on the right track in terms of features for the console, but it’s hard to say without exact details on how all of this will work. Hopefully The Big N decides to fully pull back the curtain of secrecy surrounding the Wii U sooner rather than later.
Source: Kotaku
Published: Jun 13, 2012 09:51 am