Nintendo details 3DS Friend Code revamp

During its 3DS conferences in Holland and New York today, Nintendo mentioned that its Friend Code system has been updated, making it easier to find friends to play with and doing away with the cumbersome number-swapping involved in Nintendo system online play in the past. Almost.

According to the firm, gone are the days when you would have to input a 16-digit number for your friend, which got especially tiresome when you had to do it more than once depending on the game you were playing.

With 3DS, your personal Friend Code will come with the system, and once you enter a friend's into the handheld, it will remember it whether they are online or not.

There's no word on how long of a numerical sequence these codes will have just yet, or if it will be numerical at all. There was also no mention, just yet, of a cap to the amount of people you can befriend.

Should a pal come online, an orange light will flash in the top right corner of the system. 3DS will also not only auto-track the status of your friends, but make finding new ones easier.

You won't even have to manually enter any of your friends' codes, either, should you be connected through local wireless, as you will only need to press a button to send or accept a friend request. 3DS will then auto-log the number and remember it.

Sounds much easier than the current system, and hopefully more details will be revealed soon, because the handheld is out in March for both Europe and the US.

Get caught up on all things 3DS from both sides of the pond through here.

Thanks, Kotaku.