This is the email I sent. Yours doesn't need to be quite so long, that's just my style.
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This email is in regards to the interview given by Rob Nichols and Tony Mecca with Nintendo Radio, and their comments that Friend Codes "probably will" have to be used.
I've been following The Conduit ever since you guys released the Quantum3 tech demo on IGN. I told all my friends, I posted on message boards, my clan site and my blog, because it appeared to be The Whole Package. For the first time on Wii, it appeared to be a solid shooter without unnecessary compromise. CoD3 Wii shipped without even an offline multiplayer mode. Vanguard added the 4 player splitscreen, but the controls were inferior. MP3C left the Metroid Prime trend started in Echoes and Hunters and it's develpers were suddenly claiming multiplayer was Un-Metroid and beneath them, so although it delivered a great shooter (and adventure game) with great graphics and the best available controls at the time it left a big itch unscratched.
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 finally brought online multiplayer to the system, and despite lackluster graphics, a poor and generic storyline with bad AI and Very over-used genre, it got most of the fundamentals right, and made for a very competitive shooter around which the Wii's first core community of players grew up. We knew the flaws of that PSP port, but we hoped by supporting it new and better titles would quickly overshadow it and fill in the blanks.
The Conduit certainly appeared to be that game. But unlike the PSP port, Conduit developers are now starting to talk about Friend Codes as though they are inevitable. This is more than a small problem for gamers like myself. I know you guys know gamers like me don't like Friend Codes, but I'm not sure you realize JUST how much we don't like them. I don't use Friend Codes. I'm a fan of Wii, love the IR aiming mechanism and the ability to surpass dual analog naviation in 3d environments, and I love the potential Wii has to take traditional PC games, dependent on mouse controls, and bring them to the lean-back style of console gaming.
I will not get used to it. And I will not "be realistic". I will Beg you to go the extra mile to avoid these Friend Codes, and then one more for good measure. I know it isn't impossible because it's already been done. I also know you don't necessarily have the options EA had at their disposal. I also am very familiar with the many shortcomings of Nintendo's official stance towards online functionality, and the uphill battle you face. But please don't underestimate how damaging Friend Codes, even a streamlined, watered down friend code system, will have on a competitive shooter for core gamers. I've heard you talk about the improvements to the system generally, and in Mario Kart specifically, but that and any other tweaks along those lines aren't enough.
Maybe you've already decided to go after a less demanding market segment than gamers like me. Heaven knows there's money to be made with casuals and semi-casuals, and their standards really aren't that high. And if Nintendo publishes The Conduit, as I suspect you'll be announcing in a few weeks, you'll certainly have no trouble turning a huge profit no matter what crippled online system is instituted. But you will leave behind gamers like me, the ones you have been appealing to for months now, and the ones who have actively driven the hype behind The Conduit thus far. This may not be enough to dissuade you, but I really don't want to be left behind. I really want to Wii to rise to the occasion and demonstrate all the strengths I know it has, and there's no better game on the horizon to make that happen than The Conduit.
Respectfully,
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wiihd.net -- Core Wii
WiiUnite ~ October 1st, 2008