I know that everyone hates but specifically how do you feel about them?

I think that friend codes should be strictly for the DS since the internet capabilities are more limited than the Wii even though DS wi-fi is better than Wii wi-fi because the DS has been out longer. The Wii could have friend codes just for the Wii system not the games themselves because you do different things with the messaging system like send private information. Which brings me to why does nintendo think everyone is a rapist!?

Friend codes are patronizing. Really, you screw everyone else because of a minority? Stupid. EA Nation really tried to circumvent this in Moh2 for wii. It was great for what they had. It had a pseudo lobby, there aren't any invites, you can't see what server your friend is playing on, and...there's not typing or voice chat.

It was alright, but...being able to shove your victory in your friend's face is always fun or strangers in general or just to teamwork like in team fortress 2 or just plain scrimming like in ol' cs 1.6.

FCs suck. The way nintendo implemented their nwfc is "seamless" but...limiting. It's great for the n00b crowds they're so obsessed with, but for the more "hardcore" it's crap. However, HAL did do a good job with brawl's online. What with the being able to message, and see if a friend is online and stuff, so...for right now, I'm not sure what exactly "fc" is.

I didn't know with the fc system wii could have ea nation or even brawl online...but we can o.0 - the only obvious problem with fc that I know of is having to resend your fc to all your friends if you decide to reformat wii for w/e reason, instead of just logging in with a clever name like "Metalclay" we have to put 93903-39389 or some other shi- like that, wudufu?

Friend codes are bleh. I don't hate them, but I'm not a big fan of the system either. But I think the most annoying part of friend codes was not being able to share them on NSider. I mean, what better place to hook up with Nintendo fans and play some games? But eh. NOA wants to cover their butt completely and I can't totally fault them for that. I just wish there was a way around it, like maybe only being allowed to share FCs through PMs or even agreeing to some terms saying that you share your FC at your own risk. Not like that matters now anyway...

I can deal with adding a 12-digit code every now and then. It does get annoying to do in every single game though. It would be better if the FCs were tied to the system instead of the game. This way, you wouldn't have to trade FCs so many times.

What I do appreciate about NWC is that it's free. Every system has its own advantages and disadvantages. 

I find it incredibly tedious.
My Wii isn't in the same room as a computer most of the time. I have to handwrite all the codes, then run to the Wii, find the right game, find the friend code adding option in the menu (each game is different x_X ), then point and click. In the case of GHIII, I have to keep strumming. Ugh.

Nintendo didn't plan it well enough, imo. It would have been great to allow the Wii console to store friend codes for individuals, and let the individual games access that. Each game could have customizable privacy settings, of course. An option to copy those FCs to a memory card would be very, very handy too.

An option to see what friends are connected, and even what game they're playing while connected, would have been extremely nice. Again, privacy settings would allow the shy people to hide their status.

I don't think it would be too difficult to pull that off.  I don't think the ideas are that novel, either.

It just seems to me that Nintendo rushed their online part of the Wii's planning way too much, assuming that casual players would be too scared.

For claiming so much innovation, they sure do excel at being a few steps behind.

Friend codes are an interesting subject. While I don't particularily like using them all the time, I don't hate them either. They were pretty much put in place for safety and precaution measures because even though most gamers are nice, there are people out there who do enjoy causing harm to others. It is sad but true. This includes everything from wierdos (putting it lightly) to hackers. Just imagine how many gamers would be furious if some loser (again, putting it lightly) from the other side of the world decided to hack into your Wii and somehow steal all of your Miis or Virtual Console games. How would you feel about the friend codes system then?

Because of this, I do actually like the main concept behind friend codes in terms of offering more privacy and safety when playing and interacting online (espessially for the younger gamers who also play online on Nintendo's systems). I only wish that we didn't have to go through the trouble of having to exchange a new friend code for every single online game that we get (it gets tiring after a while, espessially if you have a lot of them).

I do wish that Nintendo would come up with a better way to allow you to play online with your friends,  but look at it this way, atleast we have a way to play online with our friends that is also both safe and private.

 - Midna 

Friend Codes are the end result of bad parenting.    Heh.

I don't know, I can't say I care really considering how little online gaming I ever do or have done.  *shrugs* I guess I don't like em' because so many other people don't.  *shrugs again*  Works for me.

Eh...I have a problem with that. To me, a friend code is not a problem, having multiple ones is. why do I need to get a friend code from my friend for every game I play?

Most people will argue, if the wii is shared, that means your friend can play any game game with you. What if...you share your wii with your little sister and she's playing barbie's magical online dream house (some barbie game with online). Now if it was like other clients, you can play with them, just get on a server and gogogogo. lets say you don't know your friend as you thought you did and tries to seduce her, or even take pictures of his genitalia.

See, but know we're patronizing people, we're generalizing and it's just...wrong. But...lets put that aside. Most clients have you log on to your account before you play. Meaning, the account is not based on your machine, but your username. What I'm suggesting is, the example of the pedophile above couldn't happen if you and your sister had different accounts. This is on major problem with fc's it's id'd by your system (heck...everytime you reformat your wii, you get  a new one...).

But, lets take your example. Hypothetically, if we didn't have fc's would hacker rate increase as a result? Well...I really don't think it would. Because, what would we have as a replacement? Accounts. So you just add someone as a friend, and they can come in. In more complex situations, one could also have a sort of "limited friend" that you can allow to just come into certain different areas. This is ideal in ACWW with turnip trading where people charged about 50,000 bells for entrance to a town with high turnip prices. Just set all incoming visitors to only be able to visit nooks and a plaza.

FCs just aren't a good idea. There is nothing beneficial about theme except for maybe not having to register an account nintendo and having to set up username/password. This is the only logical reason I can find for nintendo not  incorporating an account system, that and...they really don't want to maintain such a network of gamers (remember, nintendo is mostly just gaming, a new division in regards to servers and networking may not provide to be profitable).

Ok, I don't think friend codes are a terrible idea. I like being able to specifically play with certain people and viewing more information. I have no problem keeping the personal information of random strangers a secret via a friend code as a "password" of sorts.

What I do have a problem with is using friends codes as an excuse to not having real online features, to not even give me my opponents screenname (I'm looking at you Smash Bros), to not allow me to communicate with anyone in any way, and for me not to be able to select who I play with and who I don't. For example, Mario Kart DS if you kept losing to snakers it'd be nice to be able to tell NWFC "Hey, I'm no good against this guy I dont' want to play against him anymore" instead, you have absolutely no control over it because you cannot choose matches off of a server/lobby or anything at all. You can't even exclude people from your friend list.

And then you have games like Animal Crossing where the entire idea of online is completely crippled by friend codes. Games like these should not have them at all. Yes, bad guys exist on the Internet and jerks playing AC could destroy your town, but if Nintendo would just give us a way to communicate with these people before doing anything then maybe you could figure something out. If the guy you hear talking sounds like a pervert, then get out of there. If you're in the "Main AC city" (which is something I really think the game needs as a sort of "lobby") and you meet a guy in a black ninja suit carrying an axe around then maybe you shouldn't let him visit your town.

Friend codes in general are not bad, but forcing their use, limiting features based on the fact that they exist, and making your online games suck because you limit their features by forcing us to use friend codes is a problem.