E311 | Rumour: Friend Codes Get The Boot On Wii U?

Nintendo's online operations have never been the smoothest in the industry, in particular due to their Friend Code system. Whilst this was cleaned up phenomenally from the Wii to the 3DS, it is still a backwards and outdated system compared to its Microsoft and Sony bretheren. Ubisoft has seemingly confirmed that Nintendo are doing away with the friend code system in lieu of an account system; similar to that of gamertags on Xbox and PSN IDs on PS3.

There's a few things on that. The first is the ability for individuals to make accounts. Rather than a machine having an account, each individual user has an account."

So I asked him, "Equivilent to a gamertag on Xbox Live?" "Yeah, exactly," he said.

He continued, saying that friend codes are no longer required for adding friends:

"Also the ability to easily find friends. Rather than using friend codes, which we've had in the past, we're able to connect players in a much easier way, which allows us to have a community that's playing together in the game."

There is a possibility that the Ubisoft representative was only speaking about Ghost Recon Online rather than Wii U as a whole. Other details regarding the online functionality of Wii U are being held close to the chest by Nintendo, but there have been hinters at the service becoming a much more social interaction.

Would you prefer Nintendo to move away from the Friend Code system?