Achievements: Some of Nintendo's top game designers don't want to put Achievements in their games, but Nintendo has put an Achievement-like system in the 3DS, mostly to reward people for feats involving the system's Street Pass networking system. In other words, the system itself has Achievements. "We will have that," Fils-Aime said. "Once you start getting into game-specific [Achievements] that's developer driven." Microsoft may require every game to have Achievements, but, Fils-Aime said, "That is not our philosophy."
Friend codes: First the bad news… maybe. Nintendo has not chucked the idea of requiring people to have friend codes, which, on the Wii, were 16-digit codes that people had to exchange before being linked as friends on the system.
And now the better news… "There are friend codes, but it's not the existing friend code system," Fils-Aime said. "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." (He declined to lay out the new Wii U friend code program just yet.)
The problem I believe people had with the Wii version, I told Fils-Aime, is that adults who owned the system felt like, hey, if I'm an adult, treat me like an adult and let me friend people I've met online without having to call a person and exchange a code or something like that. "Agreed," Fils-Aime said.
"You feel like those people will be happier?" I asked.
"Yes, they will be."
Storage: Still no big hard-drive for the Wii U, but, Fils-Aime said, "The main message we've communicated is that it's got USB ports so you can keep adding storage to your heart's content." It's not clear how Nintendo expects players to store lots of downloadable expansions and to games like, say, Mass Effect 3.
Digital content: Fils-Aime confirmed that Wii owners will be able to transfer their game saves and any purchased content from the Wii to the Wii U.
I get the sense the improve friend code system will probably come down to being able to accept friend requests without also sending that person one. Simpler, more user-friendly, but still friend codes.
The fact that they're still going to be numerical is pretty bad. Also is it still one code per system, or one per account? The U is supposed to be able to have multiple user accounts, right?
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Friend codes are probably just gonna be a parental control this time around, there will almost certainly be an option to find/add friends based on usernames, unless they're under 18 and their parents have the controls on.
And they didn't say "no achievements", they said it's a developer choice. Which is cool, because there are plenty of Xbox games with dumb achievements that only exist because Microsoft forces games to have achievements. This way, if developers don't want them, they don't have to have them. Most of the 3rd party games will, because they already have to for Microsoft, and it's looking like at least some Nintendo games will, so there's not really a problem.
The lack of internal storage is a little annoying, but at least they let you use whatever external drive you want, just plug it in and go. I already have a 500GB one just lying around, not getting much use, now I'll have plenty of storage, and the console itself is cheaper.
Sounds like they'll just let you choose standard usernames to associate with both existing and new Friend Codes. That's what I'm interpreting from that, anyways.
Much like how we have User IDs on this site, except we never had to use the User IDs in the past for anything. Basically, they're just now getting up to GameFAQs message board levels of usability for user's online interactions.
Let that sink in.
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the one and only thing that bothers me about friendcodes is there being no invite system
both parties should not have to add eachother's numbers, it's just really annoying how I've got a few b8ers added to my friendslist but they have no idea, and it is a hassle to have to add.
The fact that they're still going to be numerical is pretty bad. Also is it still one code per system, or one per account? The U is supposed to be able to have multiple user accounts, right?
Yeah. They've said there's an account system that you can tie purchases to, so it's not a system wide friend code, or shouldn't be. I agree that it being a number is the real problem in general, though. Not sure why they want to continue that. Not a fan of how they're handling achievements either, unless they plan to track them on a system level.
I'd kinda like an achievement system, even something as basic as an acknowledgement you finished a game accessible on your profile. It sounds like they're making strides towards a competent friend system but are still making concessions, annoying but not a big deal. The storage thing, again not a big deal but just pretty inconvenient.
Essentially all these things are just going to be barriers for developers, if you make connecting and storing possible but inconvenient its not a ringing endorsement for someone making a downloadable game or an MMO.
Yep. That has to change, there's no way they can continue the terrible 3DS friend request system. You shouldn't have to both send each other a friend request for it to show up.
Essentially all these things are just going to be barriers for developers Except the achievment thing which is nice for them since they don't have to waste time making achievements if they don't want to.
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I don't mind developers not having to make up achievements - but if that means there's no universal achievement system, that's terrible. because non-unified achievements are basically worthless
-- Miyamoto: [cats] are kind of like girls. If they come and talk to you it's great. But if you try to talk to them it doesn't always go so well
The problem with friend codes is just how proactive you have to be to play with other people. You have to mutually agree to play together, which kills half the purpose of online video games.
This generation especially has shown how amazing "random" online can be. Demon's/Dark Souls and Journey, for example, and now Watch Dogs seems like it's going that route. Though Brawl did have the random online mode, so I guess technically it's still possible...
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content transfer is definitely the best though. Wouldn't want to lose my 100+ VC/WW games if my Wii broke. Having them registered to a Nintendo Network account is all I ever really hoped for.
The whole outside personal data storage thing is a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand it's great because no one has to pay for any more storage than they actually want. Finally I can get some good use out of my 1TB external hard drive.
On the other hand it's kinda user-unfriendly for Nintendo, and will definitely hinder whatever the WiiU version of WiiWare is (WiiUWareU?)
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I don't mind developers not having to make up achievements - but if that means there's no universal achievement system, that's terrible. because non-unified achievements are basically worthless
All achievements are worthless.
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The whole outside personal data storage thing is a blessing and a curse.
On the one hand it's great because no one has to pay for any more storage than they actually want. Finally I can get some good use out of my 1TB external hard drive.
On the other hand it's kinda user-unfriendly for Nintendo, and will definitely hinder whatever the WiiU version of WiiWare is (WiiUWareU?)
When people were talking about the lack of a big Wii U hard drive, I guess it could be problematic, but it's what I always thought would be best. I already have external drives I could use for it, and you can buy one with a small physical size with tons of GB for pretty cheap these days. I would rather get a drive I like with a lot of space than pay extra for a console that had a large amount, but still far less space than what I could get for myself.
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Exactly. So all this doom talk is kinda dumb, because no one knows what Nintendo is gonna do.
Not exactly. Everyone knows of Nintendo's approach to these sorts of things, and they haven't had a good track record versus their competition. I can totally understand people assuming it'll be gimped in some way, given who it is. Nintendo makes great games, but they have a ways to go when it comes to the online space and system features.
Friend Codes: If they're going to keep them, the improvement better be good. Of course, the existence of friend codes doesn't necessarily mean you'll need them for all online games. I mean, if Brawl didn't need them, then I don't see why other games wouldn't either.
Storage: Eh, it's annoying it's not bigger, but at that same time I understand wanting to keep the price of the system down, and I personally am not concerned. But I can see where others would be.
Digital Content: Really happy to hear you can transfer your downloaded games. Like, really really happy.
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From: Ayuyu | #044 Literally not buying games because there's no achievements.
If achievements are necessary to motivate you to finish a game there's something very very wrong with either you, or the games. If I can play a game on another system that has achievements, then why wouldn't I?
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Small storage doesn't matter since they are doing USB like any company with halfway decent ethics would. If they were pathetic like Microsoft and forced you to buy their specific HDs which they overprice to hell then it would be an issue. USB sticks/Harddrives aren't that much I have a 250GB one right next to me I got a few years ago for cheap.
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From: Ayuyu | #044 Literally not buying games because there's no achievements.
If achievements are necessary to motivate you to finish a game there's something very very wrong with either you, or the games. If I can play a game on another system that has achievements, then why wouldn't I?
If the game is on another system with achievements, it will probably have them on the Wii U, since they're already there.