Pack away the bunting

It seems like just last week we were celebrating that Wii U won't have Friend Codes, but it seems our fireworks and streamers were a bit premature. Nintendo of America president and honorary purple Pikmin Reggie Fils-Aime has told Kotaku Wii U will have friend codes, but they'll be different.

By the sounds of things, you'll be able to interact with the general Miiverse populace without adding their Friend Codes — think the game-specific message boards — but adding users to your friends list will give you more options. Fils-Aime says:

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.

Depending on your opinion on Friend Codes, "a lot simpler" could mean anything from unique usernames to drawing a six-foot sigil on the side of a mountain. Clearly from all the confusion surrounding the divisive digits Nintendo still has plenty to communicate, so hopefully we'll hear more soon.

Read more...