'Smash Bros. Brawl' Friend Code Woes

Posted by Brian Leahy - Monday, December 03, 2007 3:50 PM

Today is a sad day in Smash Bros. history. It has been revealed that Brawl will in fact use friend codes that will be unique to the game.

Just like other Wii games, it will be a terrible chore to populate a friends list with people you know and IMPOSSIBLE to add random people you play.

As previously revealed, you will not be able to talk with strangers and no records will be saved in public play. You won't even get their names or friend codes.

Other "features" included in this online "solution" is the "benefit" of having all game participants be required to OK each person joining the game. This affects friends-only.

Nintendo... not everyone that has a Wii is a 12 year-old kid that needs to be protected from people on the internet. How about you create an adults-only online that will even begin to come close to what Xbox Live offers?

Still, we'll get Brawl anyway cause it's so damn good, but we don't like this online play one bit.

Smash Bros. DOJO!!: Friends List

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Tags: Other People's Misfortune, Videogames, Wii

Comment(s)

Posted by megamanxzxz - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:05 PM

FC's were inevitable from the get go but i wish they had used the system from MP3 that uses the friends already on the wii system. oh well i do like that idea of an adults only online.

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Posted by bullet53 - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:06 PM

so sad.....

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Posted by bullet53 - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:06 PM

so sad.....

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Posted by liquisoft - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:07 PM

I love that your image is a screenshot with the alt tag "close" sitting on top of Mario's head. Nicely done.

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Posted by bleahy - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:17 PM

That's just his sideburn.

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Posted by Marcus_Mortensen - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:26 PM

I wish Nintendo would stop using these dumb friend codes.

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Posted by MrBig200 - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:32 PM

me too..

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Posted by raziel_hell - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:43 PM

sony and nintendo need to just copy ms live

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Posted by smgpwnsall12 - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:56 PM

the smash bros dojo never said anything about there being no real online play maybe it was simply just talking about friend codes

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Posted by EVIL_WEIRD_COW - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:57 PM

SO join a forum made for the game. And exchange your code there. How hard is that seriously?!? A few seconds oh man, oh my life is worthless now. Brawl is online, thus is gonna kick butt. Who cares you have to take a few more seconds to get to it.

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Posted by smgpwnsall12 - Monday, December 3, 2007 4:58 PM

the smash bros dojo never said anything about there being no real online play maybe it was simply just talking about friend codes

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Posted by bleahy - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:01 PM

No voice chat.
And the public play will be very limited.

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Posted by techdude50 - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:02 PM

why can't they just implement the rivals system from metroid prime hunters? the one where we can talk to people with mic, see their names, and then after the match send a "rival" request. that was a lot better than the friend codes, and i would love to see that be nintendo's basis for online. even if you have to add the people for every game differently, pressing one button is alot simpler than putting in a 16 digit code with a pointer for everyone you meet....but that's just my opinion

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Posted by 1mikeg - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:08 PM

I don't see public play being limited at all by this. I don't see this effecting me at all because I hate everyone and don't desire to have a single person on any friends list, ever. As long as I'm dished up three other random folks to lay the smack down on, that's all I really care about.

Although, I do desire a more enriched system for which to talk smack with...guess I'm out of luck with this being a Nintendo game. At least there's still gambling.

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Posted by bleahy - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:10 PM

The limiting factor is that you make online friends with people you play with... like a teammate that you play really well with or someone who's skills match yours.

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Posted by smgpwnsall12 - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:17 PM

OK PEOPLE YOU SUCK AT READING THE SITE NEVER DISCONFIRMED THAT THERE WILL BE NO REAL ONLINE PLAY SO STOP BEING ALL GAY ABOUT IT!!!!!

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Posted by Rootbeer120 - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:30 PM

make it like ms 360 live!! it wont matter much!! its not like they will sue them or someting! codes are hard to memorize and no mics suck. make it like ms, just the online play though

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Posted by bleahy - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:32 PM

I'm not saying it doesn't have "real" multiplayer. It's just lacking. Info was revealed on Sep. 18, 2007 on the Dojo site.

Relax, lose the caps, and slow your roll.

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Posted by smgpwnsall12 - Monday, December 3, 2007 5:52 PM

sorry didnt mean to have it on caps i didnt look while i was typing

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Posted by nintendopwnsallbitch - Monday, December 3, 2007 6:00 PM

you dont NEED freind codes to play online. cheez buncha whiny fanboy hoars

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Posted by nintendopwnsallbitch - Monday, December 3, 2007 6:02 PM

oh and btw thats the wrong boxart p

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Posted by Minimoose360 - Monday, December 3, 2007 7:16 PM

Not a huge blast to the game, but saddening all the same.

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Posted by alreadyreloading - Monday, December 3, 2007 7:26 PM

I think it's funny how a game so hyped on getting people to play together makes it so difficult to do just that.

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Posted by tbboy13 - Monday, December 3, 2007 7:42 PM

Bad online play is better than none.

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Posted by Deathscythe102290 - Monday, December 3, 2007 7:48 PM

people u guys are making it sound like the game is gonna be horrible.Just because of the friend codes as mentioed earlier people are gonna find a way to evadethis in a blog or chat room. Besides its not gonna change how good this game is gonna be!

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Posted by thesilentmole - Monday, December 3, 2007 8:11 PM

You know a string of digits isn't hard? You get it from your friend, put it in, and never see it again. It's not like you have to memorize it, that's just ridiculous. Write it down on a post it and carry it around with you if you feel it needs to be on hand.
The other thing that gets me is, what? You guys didn't expect friend codes? You thought Nintendo would suddenly drop what they've been doing the past 2 years and come up with something new? Yeah, I don't think so.
Also the game promotes being together as in the same room, which has always been Nintendo's strong suit. Now, in case you can't be in the same room, you have an alternative.
And finally, If we're very lucky part of the delay was for Voice Chat.

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Posted by duhyogurt - Monday, December 3, 2007 8:13 PM

voice chat for friend battles will be the bomb

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Posted by djroberts - Monday, December 3, 2007 11:03 PM

Nintendo has NOT announced to limit the game simply to friend codes. There are two ways to play online and one of which requires friend codes, the other is called "Anyone" which has not yet been detailed but is said to support random create, join room. See the link below straight from Nintendo. Readers should realize that G4 doesn't check these facts but rather regurgitates news from other sites apparently.

http://www.smashbros.com/en_ us/gamemode/wi-fi/wi-fi01.html

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Posted by djroberts - Monday, December 3, 2007 11:07 PM

Oh btw, here's the quote that's been on Nintendo's site for a long time:

"You can also battle with people you don’t know who are looking for brawls. The most important point here is that you will not know each other’s names."

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Posted by djroberts - Monday, December 3, 2007 11:14 PM

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Posted by Granaw - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 4:01 AM

You guys are all retarded. Look at the official website! This is only an adress-book type thing that lets you know if your friends are on, and you can play them or with them at any time. You can still play random matches w/ random people w/o friend codes.

Plus if not being able to add random people as friends seriously ticks you off, then get some more friends.

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Posted by daioushin - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 4:17 AM

Guess what, G4 did say that you could battle with anyone a while ago, now they are mentioning that Brawl uses the really terrible friend code system that everyone hates.

End of Story.

Nintendo's online sucks either way...

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Posted by UnJakeable - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 5:21 AM

Just get a real system for online play ( you know the one I'm talking about)!!!

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Posted by pokefan493 - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 5:28 AM

What's the big deal. We've played Super Smash Bros. before the idea of internet play was even in our thoughts. I think we can live without it.

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Posted by PMantix84 - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 5:47 AM

While I can understand how annoying this friend list thing is, it isn't unexpected. The Wii is the casual system, remember? So they have to cater to the majority of their customers.. and if all those non gamers started up a match making service such as in xbox live, they would get verbally abused and then never play again.

So I think this is actually a smart move for nintendo overall. If you are on a gaming forum posting about how the online component of a game sucks, you are in the minority of Wii owners anyway.

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Posted by ManOfTeal - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 6:10 AM

BOO....still getting the game though....

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Posted by everlastinggaze - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 6:20 AM

Like I keep saying. Nintendo Sucks Ass! Stop buying their stuff until they start to cater to actual GAMERS and not people who don't give a damn.

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Posted by WhiteTrash - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 6:23 AM

Just as long Chuck Norris is playable in SSBB, it will all be alright.

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Posted by everlastinggaze - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 6:25 AM

Nintendo is not doing this to protect kids. By making it harder to play online, less people will play. Less people = less servers = more profits because you guys are all tools and will buy it anyway.

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Posted by djroberts - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 7:29 AM

G4 wrote "IMPOSSIBLE to add random people you play." which is incorrect. The "With Anyone" mode supports random people without friend codes.

There IS ONLY ONE LIMITATION that's been announced. If you play without friend codes, you can't see the other person's name. That's it. Everything else will be fine.

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Posted by triforceninja114201 - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 7:31 AM

Such a excellent game should have excellent online......oh well, I'm still going to buy it.

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Posted by djroberts - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 7:31 AM

Btw, It sure would be nice if bleahy would correct this error in his blog entry.

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Posted by mechabeast - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:12 AM

All nintendo needs to to is add a point and click systems that adds Wii's friend codes. The biggest hassle is sitting there writing down someones number then slowly typing in 16 digits with the wii-mote. Doesn't Nintendo realize that we don't have ant friends....thats why we play video games.

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Posted by hetman - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:13 AM

I do not care for brawl. But i love me some mario kart. And hopefully they create a better system by time they release another mario kart.

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Posted by bleahy - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:19 AM

djroberts,

You can play with random people, but you cannot add them to your friend list after a game.

I see no error in my post.

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Posted by atomiclemon - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:51 AM

@ mechabeast

ya, A point click system would be great.

Nintendo needs to step it up with their online multiplayer system. But people should keep in mind that the 360 did have a long headstart. I think nintendo will improve.

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Posted by sykoh - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 9:27 AM

This is the reason I haven't bought a Wii. Well...that and the fact that there is only like 3 good games on the damn thing...

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Posted by ManOfTeal - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 9:39 AM

Al Gore invented the Internet..........HA HA HA HA

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Posted by CreamPieBaby - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 10:48 AM

That's terrible. It pisses me off that nintendo just doesn't know how to do online right. Every video game online structure should be modeled after xbox live and preferably halo 3. I don't expect the stupid friend code crap to be gone until the next system nintendo releases.

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Posted by HavokAndChaos - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 11:19 AM

This blows almost as much as having no mic to talk smack. Still getting the game thoughm just going to have to get over it. Hopefully finding random people will be easier than it is on GH3.

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Posted by Nintendokid371 - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 12:17 PM

@HavokAndChaos

This is not totally true. Brawl might be able to have a mic function. It doesn't say on the website that you will NEVER be able to talk on the mic. This is a quote from the website's September 18th post.

Your opponent will not know your name or any information about you, and neither of you can send short messages. There will also be no battle records kept for this mode, so whether you win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Just sit back and play.

So... That means you just won't know who the person is and you can't send short messages. That's all.

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Posted by Kensuke - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 1:01 PM

I'm still going to buy the game. SSBM was fun w/o online play this game will be fun to. You know, no online play is better then none.

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Posted by RTR - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 1:32 PM

I will have my revenge, Nintendo. I WILL have my revenge...

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Posted by Blue_Vortex - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 3:33 PM

Ok People we need to start giving our friend codes over online threw forms, websites, social networks, ect...

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Posted by djroberts - Tuesday, December 4, 2007 8:22 PM

bleahy,

You're correct, I think a lot of people missread it. Given that, I'm not sure what the big deal is.

I can see the sort of lameness not even seeing your opponent's name.

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Posted by Granaw - Wednesday, December 5, 2007 4:06 AM

everlastinggaze, you are stupid. Nintendo doesn't suck. They own the majority of the top ten games of all time. And the top happens to be on the Wii.

Don't forget that Smash Bros. is a very competitive game. This is wise. If some 12 year old kid befriends a cussing 30 yr old, their mother will not be happy.

This is the best.

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Posted by Kensuke - Wednesday, December 5, 2007 12:47 PM

Think about the children!!!!!!

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Posted by Shadowace - Thursday, December 6, 2007 2:07 AM

Oh no! It still uses the friend code system!? I never saw this coming!!!

Seriously though, a better online system would be great but I dont really care about the lack of voice chat for random games. Most people are usually just cursing anyways, so my incentive to talk to random people online is not very high at the moment. Lack of voice chat for friends sucks though. Still, the game will be awesome.

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Posted by Reinhart - Thursday, February 21, 2008 2:40 PM

Check out http://www.wiipals.net
Its an easier way to trade these codes.
Ive found a ton.

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