Looking at the comments for that article, it's clear that opinions are really divided. I've been trying to figure out where I sit. On one hand, I find the whole concept of having to manage a pile of separate codes extremely distasteful and inconvenient. But on the other hand, I'm not really interested in online play anyway.

I'm sure it's different when you have a system that's as full-featured as Xbox Live, because they found ways to elevate the online experience beyond simple match-making. Having your Xbox generate weblog entries, being able to view player stats, and the whole achievements thing... this is all really appealing to me. Getting my ass handed to me in Mario Kart DS was not.

I think the Friend Code thing would be far less obnoxious if Nintendo had a unified, consistent system in place, full of features you didn't know you needed. I mean, these guys invented a Wii Channel were you vote on complete rubbish... and they made it clean and compelling. But as it stands, their current online DS games are largely crappy, and you have to field silly non-intuitive Friend Codes to boot.

Without any kind of real online HUD system, it's just not efficient to even bother playing DS games online. You don't know when your friends are on, you can't see what they're playing, and since the DS is a one-game-at-a-time handheld system, it's not even possible to quickly switch from one game to another even if you could find somebody you know. What we need is a Wii Channel that tracks your Wii Game Friends and your DS Game Friends, preferably through some kind of Mii visual. What we have now isn't worth the effort.

I gave up on playing DS games online several months ago. Mario Kart DS and Starfox Command both were just terrible. You'd get some great random matches in Tetris DS (tough game to exploit), but you can't tag good opponents as potential new Friends... they just disappear forever. I put up with Animal Crossing far longer than necessary, enduring months of switching Friend Codes in and out thanks to a tiny Code maximum.

And now we'll have more of the same on the Wii, which is awfully disappointing.

Nintendo is doing this to keep the cast of To Catch A Predator off their systems, but as several recent news stories have illustrated, the always-terrible local news scene doesn't care about reality. They are willing to completely fictionalize the dangers of PictoChat if it makes for a good, parent-baiting sweeps piece. The true story is that internet predators are a slight percentage of a percentage of a percentage of a percentage. I don't care how many repeat offenders are entrapped through one of NBC's set-up suburban kitchens, they do not represent the majority of internet users out there, much less the majority of game-playing internet users.

So no matter what Nintendo does, they are going to get roasted in certain quarters, for transgressions that may not even apply. Most parents would just rather that there be no online play at all, since they're all scared out of their gourds by shadows and lies.

Perhaps what Nintendo should have done is set up a kickass, uniquely-N online front end, and then only allow access after a lifetime credit card fee of $5. Then they could still be (nearly) free, and limited to adults with credit cards, or children with adult permission.

Pokemon Battle Revolution (which will suck) will finally reveal what Nintendo has been sitting on since Wii launch. We still know next to nothing about Smash Bros or Animal Crossing, two games with huge online potential. They've been cagey about the whole topic for a good reason: they know we're all going to hate it.

I just want it to be easy. I want the experience to be consistent. I want to have fun and not get destroyed by MKDS pros snaking all over the track.