Nintendo Addressing Switch Friend Code Complaints, Other Friend Addition Methods Coming

One of the biggest complaints that we had with the Nintendo Switch in our review of the system was Nintendo’s reversion to using Friend Codes for friend management on the system- it made no sense! After the Wii U did away with them, and Nintendo laid down the infrastructure for proper account management with MyNintendo and Nintendo Accounts, why they are using Friend Codes is something that baffled us.

In a statement issued to Polygon, Nintendo has confirmed that Nintendo will soon be adding more options to add friends- this includes via your Facebook and Twitter, in game, and via Nintendo Network IDs. “Several methods can be used to add friends as quickly and easily as possible: · By linking Nintendo Switch to your Nintendo Account, your friends from Miitomo and Super Mario Run will appear as friend candidates so you can easily send them a friend request. Also, we are planning it so that friends from social networking services will be listed as candidates, too,” Nintendo’s statement said. “In the future, you will be able to send a friend request to friends associated with your NNID (Wii U/Miiverse) and Nintendo 3DS. In some games you will be able to use an in-game interface to send friend requests. You can send friend requests to those who have played with you recently. You can establish a friend through local wireless communication. You can also send a friend request by using a friend code.”

So it sounds like there is more stuff on the way- I just don’t know why it wasn’t ready at launch. But hey, that sounds like more or less the Nintendo Switch in a nutshell.