Smash Bros. Wi-Fi detailed

By Robert Purchese Published 18 September, 2007

Do it with friends or anyone.

Nintendo has thumped a fistful of details for Super Smash Bros. Brawl into our news face this afternoon, covering the various options for battling online.

According to the game's official website you'll be able to go at it in two ways: with your friends or with anyone. Even strangers with sweets.

So, if it's chums you want to punch, then you'll need their codes to enter so you can register them and build up a little list of pals. Once that's done you'll be able to see what they're up to online, and send them invites to join your brawl.

These friendly dust-ups will have the outcome recorded so you know who is the best, and will also let you use a custom icon for your health bar and display little captioned messages above your head by presetting various quips to the four directions of the d-pad. Jerk.

But, if you don't have any friends or are looking for a quick fix, then you can just hop into a fight with any old person from around the world. But you won't be able to see their names, display your custom health bar, or send jeering jibes their way. Apparently it's easier this way.

We should also put our obvious hat on and point out that if you live in the UK and want to thump your friend in Australia, then expect it to generate much more lag than tussling with someone much closer to home.

Taunts, then; we'll start you with "boys go to Jupiter to get even stupider". Oh, and Super Smash Bros. Brawl is due out in Europe next year.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (50) Latest comment 4 years ago

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  • Ace_McCloud #1 4 years ago

    Friend codes! UUUUUGGGHHHH!!!!

    Edit: Oh look I'm first. In your faces everyone below me!!
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 15:36

  • viper_h #2 4 years ago

    Won't even be able to see random people's names? What's the point? I may as well just fight the CPU.

    Oh if only Wii had the equivalent of XBL.

  • afghan_jones #3 4 years ago

    thats properly shit really isnt it. whats the point of multiplayer if you cant speak to the other player or even know who they are? gay.

  • Brianstorm #4 4 years ago

    This and Mario Kart will be the best online games available...

  • Les #5 4 years ago

    "whats the point of multiplayer if you cant speak to the other player or even know who they are?"

    For me that's actually a selling point... Nintendo know that online isn't that important to the demographic they're targeting. The risk of customers being turned off by idiots trash talking online is bigger than the potential gain of a more sophisticated online service.

  • mattigan #6 4 years ago

    "This and Mario Kart will be the best online games available... "

    No they won't

  • Heitzu #7 4 years ago

    I agree with Les, much prefer it this way though friend code communication as in people you have exchanged codes with should be able to talk with.

  • DFective #8 4 years ago

    That's shit!

  • Monkey_Puncher #9 4 years ago

    The lack of voice comms makes the prospect online gaming on Wii a bit shit TBH

  • CallousB #10 4 years ago

    "Won't even be able to see random people's names?"

    You can probably blame the gamers who found different ways of getting around the swear filter on Mario Strikers (and those who drew cocks as their decal on Mario Kart).

    I did see some complaints about it from parents.

    You have to remember that all ages play Nintendo consoles as opposed to just the emo teens and young adults that the 360 attracts, so Nintendo will be a much bigger target for these parenting groups. Some were even up in arms over the Wii Zapper.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 16:02

  • goodshape #11 4 years ago

    Sounds good enough to me, tbh.

    But the lack of voice-coms is unfortunate. Is there any reason we won't see that on the Wii in the (hopefully not too distant) future?

  • Steroyd #12 4 years ago

    The lack of voice comms makes the prospect online gaming on Wii a bit shit TBH

    Only in objective based games and i don't think the wii will have any of those, just death match type stuff.

    To log on and just fight people as though they are CPU's is a very tempting prospect for me, and SSB is just about the only game i'd get a Wii for, this just sounds super sweet.

  • JackyB #13 4 years ago

    where's the score? Oh sorry i thought this was the paper mario review. my bad

  • circusFreak #14 4 years ago

    I quite like the approach Nintendo are taking towards this.

    Entering friend codes is hardly the end of the world and for those of us who just want to play random people instead of predictable AI opponents without having to tolerate the tiresome teenage bullshit you get on Live this sounds ideal.

    Now lets just hope I am better at this than I was the last Smash Bros game.

  • Ace_McCloud #15 4 years ago

    I don't care about being able to talk to who I'm fighting, but they should let us choose - the fucking Nazis...

    and not knowing who you're fighting!? UGH!

    For cheap players to be able to hide behind no voice comms AND no way of knowing who they actually are, people will happily be cheap arseholes with no fear of being known as a cheap arseholes.... if you catch my drift... It happened in Mario Strikers, it'll happen here...
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 16:25

  • Monkey_Puncher #16 4 years ago

    "Entering friend codes is hardly the end of the world and for those of us who just want to play random people instead of predictable AI opponents without having to tolerate the tiresome teenage bullshit you get on Live this sounds ideal."

    You don't have to tolerate anything on Live, you simply pull your headset out. It's better to give people options that not have it at all. Surely an option for parents to turn off voice comms would be better?

    Even playing with friends online on Wii won't hold much interest without voice comms.

  • Rirekon #17 4 years ago

    "Even playing with friends online on Wii won't hold much interest without voice comms."

    Read the article?

  • DUFFKING #18 4 years ago

    Second paragraph, oo-er

  • smoison #19 4 years ago

    Since i'm an Adult, I guess this is not made for me....

  • Eighthours #20 4 years ago

    without having to tolerate the tiresome teenage bullshit you get on Live this sounds ideal.

    The problems of cheating little shits won't go away on the Wii just because they turn the voices off. Plus you'll have less ways to complain about them and get them chucked off the service.

    The lack of choice thing annoys me. We're all being treated like children. There are some responsible adults around who want to play like grown-ups, with voice communications, on games we're going to enjoy. The Nintendo strategy is regressive, insulting and merely masks a problem rather than getting rid of it as they claim.

  • Les #21 4 years ago

    "Since i'm an Adult, I guess this is not made for me...."

    Why not? An adult wouldn't really be into trashtalking... ;)

  • smoison #22 4 years ago

    There is more to online comunication then "trashtalking". But mabye not for everyone.

    For me online remins non existent on my Wii and probably will for a while if this si the best Nintendo can do.

    At least its free....

    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 16:51

  • electrolite #23 4 years ago

    You should at the very least be able to talk to your friends. And there needs to be a better way of linking up than Friend Codes. Apart from that, online ain't that big a deal to me, my friends live reasonably near me and though being able to play random strangers is appealing, I'm not bothered about knowing who I am. I can also do without drunken frat boys and emo kids mewling down the pipe at me, they put me off Live

  • afghan_jones #24 4 years ago

    Why does everyone assume all communications are used just for trashtalking or whinging?

    Its a hell of a lot more fun playing games like this when you can speak to the other players. The demolition derbies on Flatout UC were a great laugh, even notoriously trashtalking games like gears of war can be great when everyone is communicating properly.

    I guess what im saying is that voice comms are not necessarily a bad thing and can be a lot of fun.

  • jmctavish #25 4 years ago

    Live users please shut-up. Stop trying to justify the subscription costs of your service by trash-talking Wii online. Nintendo Wifi Connection is a completely free service and also wireless which even the mighty 360 can't do unless you spend Ł60 on a dongle.

    If people would stop monging out and actually think about friends codes for a minute it makes sense. The system means you can only interact and exchange information with people you actually know in real life or communicate regularly with on the net. It all keeps Nintendo's nose clean knowing you can't come into contact with random wierdos through their sytem.

    Obviously you can play without having any registered friends, but there is no way to interact with them and you may have limited game modes available.

    If you can't live with what your getting through Wifi Connection away and watch people fiddle with themselves on the Xbox camera or whatever you like to do online.

  • KraftWerk #26 4 years ago

    Personally, I prefer this approach. The point is to have a chance to play against human opponents even if your friends are busy/away/nonexistent.

    The more I think about it, the less interested I am in communicating with/knowing the nickname of random opponents in a game like this. Also, "There will also be no battle records kept for this mode, so whether you win or lose, it doesn’t matter. Just sit back and play." To some people, it might remove the main reason to play in he first place, but it suits me pretty well, to be honest.

    Then again, for instance, I only played Guild Wars with real life friends, so I guess I'm not really into the whole MMOG-concept.

  • L42yB #27 4 years ago

    "I can also do without drunken frat boys and emo kids mewling down the pipe at me, they put me off Live "

    Seriously, don't any of you people know that you can turn off voice communication on Xbox Live??? There is even an option for "Friend Only" communication where only friends can talk to you...

    And if that isn't enough, you can also mute players... and they stay muted forever (or until you un-mute them) so where is the problem? I think the voice communication system on Xbox Live is great and Nintendo should take sum ideas from how it has been implemented... far superior to what they are doing now...

  • Eighthours #28 4 years ago

    Why does everyone assume all communications are used just for trashtalking or whinging?

    Exactly. That line of attack is complete rubbish.

    If people would stop monging out and actually think about friends codes for a minute it makes sense. The system means you can only interact and exchange information with people you actually know in real life or communicate regularly with on the net.

    Of course on Nintendo's own forums, even if you "know" people on there you're not allowed to show off your friends code which is just ridiculous.

    I lose count of the number of people I played with regularly on PGR2 back in the day, a regular crowd who all ended up knowing each other. Would never have got a chance to do that within Nintendo's present system. It's backward. Imagine any other social activity where you couldn't talk to anyone. Imagine going to a pub and not being allowed to talk to anyone but your friends. Crazy.
    Edited by 1 at 18/09/07 @ 17:51

  • wizbob #29 4 years ago

    I have no interest in people trying to 'express themselves' or 'communicate' when I'm playing online - I like the idea of using humans as an alternative to AI opponents, mechanical turk style. Why don't they just swap the human player for a bot when the connection is dropped in games like mario strikers?

    Also, what's the point in registering friends on your console if you have to type in a new code every time you buy a game? and why not use the existing parental controls to toggle voice comms? They could even be set to 'off' by default.

  • smelly #30 4 years ago

    "The lack of voice comms makes the prospect online gaming on Wii a bit shit TBH"

    Ah bullshit.

    I've been playing online games for years and not felt the need to have voice comms until recently.

    After playing a handful of games on the 360 online with voice comms, and hearing lots of kids being complete nobs.. I've placed the headset in a drawer never to see the light of day again.

    Playing online is so you can challenge yourself against other players as opposed to just relying against AI. After all a real player is the best AI you can get.

    It's not about some racist little shite shouting obsenities at you.

  • Razorus #31 4 years ago

    This has the most promising looking Wii-online gaming so far. So what if you can't see who you're fighting, its more fun to play with Friends anwyay. If everyone just simply posts their Wii friend codes on a forum or something, you have a database of contacts that you can pummel.

  • smelly #32 4 years ago

    *I agree about friends codes per game being a bit silly though.

  • Kazzahdrane #33 4 years ago

    Voice coms would be nice but I accept it would annoy some family-oriented people, and the Wii not coming with a headset would mean there might not be that many people online talking anyway.

    However, not even seeing the names of people you play against? That's bullshit.

    WOO! I BEAT PLAYER 4 AGAIN. THAT GUY REALLY NEEDS TO IMPROVE!

  • smelly #34 4 years ago

    >WOO! I BEAT PLAYER 4 AGAIN. THAT GUY REALLY NEEDS TO IMPROVE!

    And that's different to saying "wooo! I beat dominic from new york, who i dont know and am never going to meet. That guy really needs to improve!"

    ??

    WTF Does it matter?

    All they're doing is preventing themselves from the wrath of the likes of the daily mail saying "my kid joined a game online and was beaten by someone called HUGECOCK"

  • Sl1pstream #35 4 years ago

    Seriously, lag? In a two player game?

    At least you could communicate with people in the Gamecube's online games.

  • adman123 #36 4 years ago

    Sweet as


    awsome news

  • Santino #37 4 years ago

    "Seriously, lag? In a two player game? "

    a fast as lightning paced 4 player FIGHTING game.

  • smelly #38 4 years ago

    "Seriously, lag? In a two player game? "


    Erm, I'll presume you just dont know how online games work and how fps games can cheat to make it look like there is no lag.. And ignore you (cant be arsed writing a huge technical post here)

  • smelly #39 4 years ago

    Lets play "spot the jealous 360 owners" in this thread..

  • Kazzahdrane #40 4 years ago

    smelly: I disagree with your post about player names, but good put-down to the dude with no knowledge of networking.

    It's taken SEGA months by all accounts to manage to get Virtua Fighter 5 to a playable state for TWO players online - if Nintendo get SSBB playable for 4 this will be a real feat of networking optimisation.

    And I'm not a jealous 360 owner, I'm a 360 owner who wishes he could have the a level of online functionality on his Wii even approaching that of his 360. However, this won't mean I won't buy this game - the single-player adventure mode looks meaty enough that an occasional game online just for practice will do just fine.

    So when do they announce Robotnik as a playable fighter?

  • Kami #41 4 years ago

    My two cents;

    As someone who's played online games for a fair few years (and used voice-communication for the most part), I have to say I think I'm becoming a bit of a grumpy old gamer. I loathe going into games with headset on and some obnoxious little prick is swaering and cussing like it makes him seem ten years older (when it just makes us realise wow, he really is thirteen years old and acting every bit of it!). Couple that with smacktalk, insults that quite frankly disgust me and squeaky voices of people whose balls have yet to descend and it's a recipe that has put me off the voice-communication thing for a long, long, long time.

    Okay, so friends codes suck. We know this already and we've bitched about it before. Not seeing names is also a pain, but as said, it's easy for a parent to walk by and her child is fighting against someone called MyBigCock - yeah, they can have it that you report names butn it's a lot of effort for a free service. Amongst friends though, you know who you're fighting and I'm sure that you'd all get the joke (unless the name was Ishaggedyourgirllastnight. Which might make things awkward...).

    However, the voice-com thing I will not miss in Wii online gaming, and nor will I miss it or use it in PC games. I'm just at a stage where I find it stupid have to put up with a bunch of retards who act their shoe-size. I loved playing Quake 2 back in the day on MPlayer, most people were okay and had fun and yeah, there was a little smacktalk but certainly not on the level you get these days, where you get one obscenity for every 1.5 words.*

    In short, I've very little time for people who can't communicate like proper human beings. Friend codes, bad. Not seeing names, bad but understandable. No voice-comms? Big deal...

    * This whole argument is when it is at its worst. Half of my online gaming time is spent talking to great people from many different countries and walks of life and I thoroughly enjoy it, but the other half of the time you always get one or two who ruin it. However, personally I'm fine with things like S2B2 not having this feature - I don't think the game needs it and it'll be fun and frantic and drop some lag issues, and most of us will be playing it regardless...

  • Crovax20 #42 4 years ago

    All of you complaining about its online... be glad it has online.

    The real thing you should be complaining about is the release date. FFING USA gets it months earlier YET AGAIN.

    PLEASE NINTENDO, why can't you be like microsoft and give us games in a timely manner? Its not like you can't afford to spend some extra bucks on translation (which I doubt will be much work for SSBB)

    I'm really getting sick of it, not only is there a lack of good games for the Wii, the good games that are coming/are out there always get a 2-6 month delay at minimum for Europe.

    If Nintendo (and Sony, yes you are just as bad) keeps doing this, I will seriously consider importing my console from the USA next gen

  • dudefella #43 4 years ago

    God... Nintendo really needs to take a hint from MS and Sony. Their online service is shambles, and it won't do at all. You can't see people's names unless they're on your friends list, what? And this friend code bullshit... ugh. Smash Bros Online is a totally awesome concept, but it looks like the execution will come up wanting.

  • dk_rare #44 4 years ago

    You may be scoffing at friend codes now, but after the mass rapings of young XBL users who will be laughing? Nintendo, thats who.

  • ResidentKnievel #45 4 years ago

    online mode is just another tiny aspect of one massive game. Its certainly not my most anticipated game just so i can play people online.

  • Monkey_Puncher #46 4 years ago

    All this talk of "I don't play online to be sworn at and be racially abused by 5 year olds" talk is utter nonsense, neither do I. Which is why I mainly play with friends online or use the mute button, the fact is though if I'm playing online with friends it's a hell of a lot more fun to be able to chat to each other while I'm playing. Just give us the option that's all I'm asking, and have a system where parents can block voice comms.

    Nintendo are really shooting themselves in the foot with this setup in my opinion, they have some of the best multiplayer games around that should be a dream to play online (god knows I've wanted to play Mario Kart and Smash Bros online for years).

    This is an incredibly basic setup that's clearly aimed at casual and very young gamers. This could have been a good chance to sell the Wii to the more hardcore gamers, but instead they've gone for the Fisher Price my first console approach again.

    Oh and before you call me a 360 fanboy, I'm anything but. I was a diehard Ninty until they adopted this "people want short games" ethos, they lost me about halfway through the lifespan of the Gamecube. I'm really hoping eventually Nintendo will give me a reason to get back into their home consoles (I have a DS and love it) but it just seems increasingly more clear that they're leaving the hardcore behind and aiming for a new market.

  • Sl1pstream #47 4 years ago

    DoA worked without serious lag. If only that game was, you know, fun.

    I'll probably get Brawl anyway but Nintendo has got to stop pretending they're serious about online play.

  • Genji #48 4 years ago

    Well, I know that I play Xbox Live to get racially abused by 5-year-olds. Why would you play it otherwise? There's something wrong with the people in this thread.

  • Les #49 4 years ago

    “This could have been a good chance to sell the Wii to the more hardcore gamers, but instead they've gone for the Fisher Price my first console approach again.”

    Why don’t people understand that there’s little sense for Nintendo to put effort into this?! The hardcore are a very limited group and most of them will get a Wii anyway because of Super Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess and Smash Brothers regardless of their online offerings. They’re just great games.

    BTW, I had a great time yesterday as a Warhawk rookie in team-deathmatch without any voice comms. Wasn't playing with friends though... ;)

  • Toothball #50 4 years ago

    I'm going to set all of my taunts to "Show me your moves".