Nintendo and online functionality, a huge topic. It is not uncommon to pester the adoption of a rather impractical addition system compared to the Gamer Tag or the PSN ID. But do we know where this friend code comes from?
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Yes, the friend code has a history, a reason for being. It did not come out of a hat of a laying of Nintendo one fine day. Thanks to an internal presentation document of the Kyoto firm having landed on Internet and relayed by the journalist Imran Khan, we know why it was not envisaged to create a virtual identity in the land of the mustachioed plumber.
As part of that Nintendo leak, an internal powerpoint was found that spells out the reasons they went for friend codes. Apparently they thought signing up for screen names would be too confusing for the audience, and they would be frustrated if they didn't get the ones they want. pic.twitter.com/LWzM0BRhIb
– Imran Khan (@imranzomg) May 4, 2020
It was before the commercialization of the Wii that it was decided that it was necessary to privilege the online friends, to avoid the bad meetings, and that it would be necessary to pass by a code twelve figures rather than a user name.
Why ? According to Nintendo, two concerns are read a "screen name". On the one hand, the high probability of duplicates, which would therefore prevent us from having what we want, which goes against the principle of simplicity adopted by the brand. On the other hand, it would be fairly easy to guess someone's virtual identity by trying variations of the real name. A precaution, therefore, for safety. Here are the explanations for a system in place for a long time – and which if it is not optimal will at least have made it possible to get rid of the unique code per game.
We remind you that on Switch, in addition to sharing friend code, you can also make friend-friend with your social network companions more easily. We are going forward.
