We hope you love entering long strings of arbitrary characters into your Wii when you want to multiplayer because Nintendo has no plans to drop the more obnoxious element of the DS's otherwise excellent WiFi service when they port it over to their new console. From an IGN interview with Nintendo Entertainment Analysis and Development's general manager, Takahashi Tezuka:

IGN Wii: What is your plan for the Wi-Fi Connection and how might it compare to Xbox Live?

Takahashi Tezuka: Well, the Wii Wi-Fi Connection works the same as the Nintendo DS one. It's the three qualities that we emphasize. It's easy, safe and free.

IGN Wii: Will it have a central interface a la Live that all games will interact with, or will it be different on a game-by-game basis?

Tezuka: It'll be just like the DS so the interface will depend on the software.

IGN Wii: Will Wi-Fi Connection on Wii also use a Friends Code system?

Tezuka: Yes.

Sorry, Nintendo, that sucks. Most of us were happy to leave behind the entering of endless and easily fuddled cryptographic strings into our consoles when we stopped playing Castlevania 2. Although Tezuka emphasizes this is part of Nintendo's strategy to keep WiFi free, we'd be happy to pony up some cash as an option. Scrawling down a 16 character friend code and laboriously entering it just so our girlfriend can enter our Animal Crossing town is worth paying to avoid.

Wii Wi-Fi Just Like DS [IGN]

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