
IGN had their hands on a playable build of Mario Strikers: Charged and our worst fears have been realized: the game has its own friend code. Sure, we all suspected as such in our last look at the game, but then it wasn't confirmed. Sadly, it is now. And in order to add someone as a friend, you must manually input their 12-digit friend code. This, we understand, is going to be sad, sad news for a lot of you. We feel your pain. Let us all cry together.
But, if you can find your way past that, the game looks to be offering a robust experience online and could very well validate itself into anyone's collection regardless of the horribly cumbersome manner in which it handles itself over Wi-Fi. There's still a whole area of online play that they didn't cover, also, where you encounter total strangers and duke it out on the field, so perhaps that mode will offer less hassle.
See also: Our experience with the game at GDC 07
[Thanks, ShaleX!]













Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-16-2007 @ 12:24PM
Martin said...
I think the per-disc friend code can be a way to limit piracy. That way you could not play the game online with a pirated copy (all would have the same number, right?)
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5-16-2007 @ 12:24PM
Smitty said...
Regarding friend codes:
I guess if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all?
(the sound of crickets)
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5-16-2007 @ 12:38PM
Hunter said...
From what I have read it looks like they dropped the ball while trying to implement certain things. It looks as though the Friend code is created when you associate a Mii with the game, this does make game specific friend codes a component in an effort to allow for multiple online profiles per console. The idea being that you may not be the only one in your house that wants to play. The unfortunate thing is that they apparently did not picture this from the begining, if they had the Wii address book would look verry different and would be more tied to the Mii channel. In a better system you would create a Mii and a friend code would be assigned to it then you could build a friends list per Mii instead of a list per Mii per game. In order for parrents to have control whenever a friend was added it would show up in the message that records a day's activity and they could ask their kid who they are adding to thier list. This is of course supposing you want a system to use the codes. As cumbersome as it is, I will likely suffer it if it means playing Smash Bros online, besides I can still play randoms without using friend codes at all.
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5-16-2007 @ 12:55PM
JonnyBoy2U said...
FUCK NINTENDO AND FRIEND CODES.
God I'm about to get a 360 Elite...I'm so sick of Nintendo's kiddie bullshit. I want a fucking gamer lobby. I want a fucking online system that allows me to play random people. I want to be able to add someone without typing 12 goddamn numbers.
Seriously if this doesn't change I'm going to call those pussies at Nintendo and give them a piece of my mind. Its ridiculous.
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5-16-2007 @ 1:08PM
Kianimus said...
Friend codes make me so mad that I almost want to boycott Nintendo. But if I did that I would be hurting no one but myself.
I hope that one day as I'm scanning the newest 3 articles on Wiifanboy from my iGoogle homepage I see in bold letters "NINTENDO ABANDONS FRIEND CODES!"
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5-16-2007 @ 2:12PM
Jackson Pritt said...
I agree completely with JonnyBoy2U and Kianimus.
I WANT ONLINE GAMES, I want to be able to play against RANDOM people online, and I don't want to deal with 12-digit friend codes unless Nintendo impliments a bluetooth keyboard or easier way of putting numbers in than dealing with the on-screen keyboard.
The longer it takes Nintendo to get its act together the more serious I'm getting about buying a 360 as soon as Halo 3 and the new chipset come out.
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5-16-2007 @ 3:43PM
Kenny said...
"I want a fucking online system that allows me to play random people."
Ummm. You can. Most DS games allow this and Strikers certainly allows this. Not only is there random matches against strangers, but it's the ONLY way you can rank in the game.
I'm serious. People make WAY too much noise about friend codes. They are annoying, but come on. Is it really that big of a deal that you have to enter your friends code for each game you own? How long does it really take? Yeah, I'd like to see a gaming lobby too, but IT'S NOT THAT SERIOUS!
Besides, some of the reviews have hinted that you can invite a friend to play against you and it will send them a message on their Wii to accept or not. Does this mean that I can get a message to play even if I'm not logged into Strikers specifically? If so, it's not quite a nice as a gaming library, but it's close.
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5-16-2007 @ 5:42PM
Smoke said...
I personally don't see what the big issue with friendcodes is. It takes ten seconds or so to add a friendcode, and it's nowhere near a requirement for online play, since most games allow you to just hop online and play against strangers. The only exceptions would be games that rely on playing with friends like Animal Crossing.
The whole setup for statistics and all looks pretty nice, I'm gonna have to go and pick this game up next week.
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5-16-2007 @ 5:51PM
Zan said...
You're unbelievable, those "rumors" you mentioned a while back was CONFIRMATION for the love of god...
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5-16-2007 @ 7:44PM
Mr Khan said...
Yeah, you can play random people still...
Sure, we're all allowed to complain (i do like to use online games to actually make friends sometimes, too), but let's stick with the facts, at least
I thought the people knew by now though, if Online gameplay is your priority, stay the hell away from Nintendo...
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5-16-2007 @ 8:55PM
Jackson Pritt said...
"I thought the people knew by now though, if Online gameplay is your priority, stay the hell away from Nintendo..."
To be honest, some of us clearly DIDN'T know that, and assumed that when Nintendo said "FREE ONLINE!" it meant that they had gotten their act together after the GameCube and started to take online seriously.
Of course I was also dumb enough to hope for FPS games after seeing the Zapper Shell and the commercials for MP3. Whoops!
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5-17-2007 @ 3:07PM
Serious Kano said...
That's what I always expected. Ok, it's annoying but I didn't expect anything else from Nintendo. Security's first and stuff... Anyway, I'm sure it will be fun and I'm glad that Europe gets it first. Woohoo, Wii online gaming! I'm coming!
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5-17-2007 @ 5:01PM
DrunkenKender said...
Friend codes really don't bother me as long as I can still play random matches, which by all accounts is already being done right now on the DS, and will be possible on the Wii, too. I don't see too much hassle in inputting a friend's FC just once to add them as a "Friend," but maybe that's just me. :P
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5-17-2007 @ 6:20PM
Mr Khan said...
@ Jackson
"it meant that they had gotten their act together after the GameCube and started to take online seriously"
compared to the GameCube, they have, it's better then having your only online titles being a semi Dreamcast port and a card game (although both kicked ass)
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5-24-2007 @ 5:05PM
Reinhart said...
Also be sure to check out http://www.wiipals.net to trade those friend codes and get online with lots of friends.
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