An Unchained Universe

Anyone who's ever owned a Nintendo system, starting with the DS, knows well about the horrors of Friend Codes. A 12-character string of random digits that are unique to every game you play, and have to be entered for every single one of your friends for every game. Now Nintendo's been known for being kid-friendly and (sensible) people can see we're the coming from with this system, but for most people (aka those who aren't small children) it only makes adding friends more a hassle than a delight.

The 3DS has made things marginally better at present, with a friend code unique to each system instead of each game copy. Entering in a line of digits is still troublesome but only adding it once for each friend is much better. (And it allows you to use any username you want, instead of having to add arbitrary numbers/characters to it. No more names like xXxName3248xXx!)

Well, now Nintendo's upcoming WiiU console will bring things one step further by allowing users to befriend strangers in the Miiverse who share similar tastes in games. Friend codes are still in place some way, but from the looks of things it seems that a simple button press is all that's needed to add a guy with the same taste in Japanese Rhythm Games to your Friends List. More importantly, it'll hush all those naysayers banking on Nintendo's child-centric security system, because now it's easier than ever before to add random people with phalluses in their profile picture.

The full word on the matter from Nintendo president Satoru Iwata:

Also, on Nintendo platforms up to this point, in order to become friends with people on the same system (specified people with whom you could exchange data), you were required to mutually enter numbers called “Friend Codes.” This was set in place in order to prevent negative gameplay experiences caused by a few people who might derive pleasure from anonymously harassing strangers, so that games could be played without that worry. On the Wii U, you can become friends with people who share your tastes through the Miiverse, so increasing the number of people to enjoy games with is its critical mission.

He doesn't really go into how you'd add them this way or even under what circumstances Miiverse will allow you to do so, other than that they have to "share your tastes." (Which is, in retrospect, supported by the Miis congregating around specific titles in images like the one above.) As with a lot of other unknown details about the WiiU, I expect more information as November 18th looms ever closer.