Nintendo Is Stuck in the Past – Their Logic Behind Friend Codes Proves It

• Nintendo’s reasoning for friend codes is confusing.
• A presentation leak claims the company thinks these codes are “simple,” when they’re anything but.
• This company has a lot of improvements to make.

Nintendo makes a lot of odd choices, but the company’s insistence on friend codes is a pervasive one.

Thanks to a leaked PowerPoint presentation from the gaming group, we understand the logic behind friend codes.

It’s incredibly stupid.

Nintendo Friend Codes are Anything but Simple

These 12-digit friend codes identify users on the Nintendo Switch platform and the Wii/Wii U/3DS before it. Nintendo thought this was a “simple” solution to one’s online presence instead of, I don’t know, usernames.

According to the presentation slide , Nintendo views duplicate screennames as a big problem.

Here’s an excerpt from the slide:

“There is a high probability of duplicate screen names. When this happens, multiple entries are required. (Conflicts with the “Simple” principle.)”

While duplicate usernames are possible, they’re a non-issue in today’s age. Discord, for example, solves this with a simple, 4-digit tag. Those four numbers differentiate players with the same username.

That’s all.

Instead of developing a similar solution, Nintendo thought of friend codes. And here we are 15 years later, still inputting these ridiculous identifiers.

Sure, tags are a modern solution. It would be understandable if friend codes were a thing back on the Wii U. However, they continued to the ingenious Nintendo Switch.

This is a problem.

Sure, we can add friends via Facebook and Twitter on the Switch, but friend codes are still prevalent. What if a friend doesn’t use social media, or if you meet them in online play?

Remaining in the Past

The point is, inputting this annoying code is a backward way to make friends. Why force this on your players, Nintendo?

Nintendo’s online features already need fixing. Friend codes and a social scene, in general, are high up on that list.

Even then, Nintendo has more pressing issues. 160,000 user accounts were exposed via a security breach, for example.

For a company with so many neat games and hardware, they certainly have some catching up to do.