According to an IGN interview with Madden ‘08 associate producer Damian Zerr, Madden ‘08 on the Wii will not use Friend Codes, and I say thank God. Here is an excerpt from the interview:
IGN Wii: Does Madden support voice chat or any type of online communication? Also, will players need friend codes to hook up, chat, and play?
Damian: Madden Wii does not support voice chat this year. We do have a basic EA Messenger chat service which allows you to keep connected with friends during online play. EA Messenger is separate from the Wii friends list so when you’re online you search for people by using their online EA Nation Persona.
IGN Wii: Does the online mode automatically import your system code, or do you need a separate friend code to play Madden online?
Damian: Madden Wii doesn’t support the Wii friends system during online play. This is something we’re still working on with Nintendo. For now our online play uses your EA Nation Persona to search and manage your EA Messenger account.
IGN Wii: How many of the game modes are multiplayer enabled? Can you play all mini-games, tournaments, and modes on and offline? Are there any online seasons/tourneys for the Wii version?
Damian: Pretty much all of the standard offline game modes are local multiplayer enabled. Social gaming is the big push for us this year with the inclusive of Party Mode and Online Play. We don’t support online tournaments this year. However this is something we’re looking at for next year. With this being the franchise’s first year online on the Wii we have concentrated on delivering the core Madden gaming experience at a high quality.
