Uh-oh: Street Fighter IV preview mentions 3DS friend codes

You know that thing you were really hoping wouldn't happen?

Yeah, well, it happened.

As discovered by Tiny Cartridge, a recent Famitsu Street Fighter IV preview outlined the game's online options, which include custom matches, brawls with random foes, and - of  course - throwdowns with friends.

And thus, a dilemma: how do you ensure that your friend isn't actually some sort of vile, mustachioed villain bent on kidnapping you right through the videogame? That's right: convoluted numerical codes. For some reason.

The Famitsu article failed to mention whether friend codes will be distributed on a per-game basis or one-per-console, but let's be honest here: the original DS plowed through sales records with reckless abandon, so Nintendo's probably taking an "if it ain't broke" approach here.

Too bad it is broke. Er, broken. Whatever.