Shunya Yamashita's art of Morrigan Aensland has nothing to do with what I'm about to say. But does it really need to?So completely strapped this week that I won't have time for Brawl until the weekend. I suppose it'll be my little reward for pushing through. But something occurred to me -- I don't even remember my Friend Code and have to go look at it and write it down again.
Friend Codes are a pain, right? The Wii doesn't have the sort of lobby system that just about every other game machine has managed to perfect. The mechanism exists, sure, but I've never seen it function usably. If current reviews of Brawl are to be believed, it's best to match up with a friend than to try and get a random battle.
Of course, the Wii is a family console; I don't think Nintendo has anything to gain from making it easier for random strangers to hook up with kids on the internet. But why don't they make like Xbox did and offer different console packages?
One, the existing, basic Wii. Two, a Wii just for gamers, retooled for better online matching and eliminating the need for Friend Codes? Maybe it could be a little pricier, have more memory. Get a really good third-party dev thing going on with it. Of course, they'd need more "gamer's games" on Wii to get enough people to buy such a thing. Maybe you'd get cheaper Virtual Console games if you had it. I think it'd be cool, and ensure Nintendo keeps a hunk of the main console market even when it's not releasing yet another game with Mario in it.
Also, Nintendo would make a killing releasing a $99 family Wii that can't go online. Provided, of course, they could keep them on shelves.
Anyway, to make it easier for SVGL friends to play together, I've started a thread at the SVGL Facebook Group for members to post friend codes. When I get to the weekend and figure out what my friend code is, I'll start a new post with it here and solicit yours, for those who don't use FB.
Oh, and here's more Yamashita. Link's not entirely safe for work.
