High Voltage Still Working on Networking

In an interview with Iran White (IW) at Wiirincontrol.com, Eric Nofsinger again confronted the topic of Friend Codes, empathizing with gamers' frustrations. It is possible to read part of the passage below as saying that Friend Codes are not inevitable, but given the bolded underlined portion (emphasis WiiHD's) a more fair reading simply has Nofsinger explaining, as he has before, that they're doing everything they can to improve the Friend Code system, not trying to bypass it altogether. Some months ago, The Conduit makers alluded to Mario Kart in a pretty positive way, as if it had solved the Friend Code dilemma and they were no longer a problem

IW: Many Xbox 360 and PS3 gamers have a sort of “one eye on it” interest in The Conduit. Graphics aside, for them the clincher will be how well the game plays online. While Friend Codes aren’t a deal breaker, it is a major concern. Has Nintendo given you an explanation for why they are so adamant about the use of Friend Codes for even such a game as The Conduit, even though they’ve built a significant Parental Controls system into the Wii?

EN: Yeah, this is definitely something that we go back and forth with them on. They do have their security issues that we need to be cognizant of. We’re very aware of those concerns and understand where they are coming from with that. But really all we can commit to is creating the best possible experience.

Personally, I’m not a fan of Friend Codes, I don’t think that anyone on the team is a fan of Friend Codes. What we’re promising people is that we’re working with Nintendo, we’ve had them out to the office. We’ve been over to their place. We’re in regular communication with them. It will be as good of an experience on Multiplayer as possible. We know it’s important. We don’t want to let folks down.

IW: Yeah, I understand. It’s Nintendo’s thing, you have to play by their rules.

EN: Yeah, absolutely. And you know, I know that there’s been one notable exception of a game that hasn’t had friend codes. As far as I know, at least from what’s been relayed to us, that exception was a one time thing. It’s something where we need to continue to work with them closely, and figure out something that does hit what they need, but also hits what we need as gamers, you know?

What was that one time exception? Medal of Honor: Heroes 2. An otherwise unremarkable game that may well still be the gold standard in Wii FPS multiplayer even after QoS, Call of Duty and The Conduit come out if Nintendo doesn't get their act together.

Nintendo Wii DS videogame video games play strategy fps rpg shooter console gaming Conduit Call of Duty Activision EA ubisoft racing action adventure halo gta arcade mario zelda metroid pacman

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If if if

Anonymous (206.255.206.x) 04 Nov 2008 16:30

if every game used the address book as the roster or even just went the mkwii route(invites) my largest complaint about NWC is gone.

if every game used wiispeak for friend matches my second largest complaint is gone.

if every game allowed hosting matches with strangers(thus allowing match type to be selected) my third largest complaint is gone.

if gh:wt's auto-login to nwc was in every game….. it'd be icing on the cake.

that, unfortunately, is a lot of ifs with no definites.

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Anonymous (206.255.206.x), 04 Nov 2008 16:30

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madden 08 wii

Anonymous (206.255.206.x) 04 Nov 2008 17:16

didn't have friend codes, it used ea nation.(so do other games under ea's brand) I don't know where this 'one time thing' line is coming from, unless they mean electronic arts as the exception. and then, if they are allowed to bypass fc's, why no one else? I'm beginning to think sega/hvs just wants to cover up the fact they can't afford to or aren't willing to bypass NWC.

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madden 08 wii

Anonymous (206.255.206.x) 04 Nov 2008 17:16

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