A Nintendo official website was spotted, earlier today, explaining the company's online policy for the Wii. The information has subsequently been withdrawn but we have managed to glean as much information from it as was possible.
The website suggests that Nintendo will fully support online gameplay and the Wii will connect through a wireless router or a USB 2.0 LAN adaptor. The online service for Wii will be free while it will use the Friend Code System which was introduced with the DS. Many gamers expect Nintendo to introduce a few enhancements to the Friend Code System, or at least make it optional under the Parental Control settings. The main gripe with the DS online strategy is that each game has its own code while if your memory is erased for any reason you lose your Friends Code.
Another interesting insight into Nintendo's plans comes from the mention of Virtual Console and how new developers will use it as a gateway to promote their products. From day one of the Wii's development Nintendo has made it clear that it plans to make the Wii a developer friendly platform; in that respect the development kit is extremely affordable for most content creators while we now find out that all Wii owners will be able to see what games are available from independent developers through the Virtual Console. According to the website: It (Virtual Console) also will be home to new games conceived by indie developers whose creativity is larger than their budgets.
Stay with MegaGames for more Wii information as launch day approaches.