One of this year’s E3 announcements that escaped my attention until today is Nintendo’s announcement of the “Kind Code“. This is a system whereby if you find yourself stuck at a certain point in a game, you can activate the Kind Code, and the game then plays itself. In this way, you can figure out puzzles, or learn the best way to defeat a difficult boss.

My first take after reading this was distaste – that it was essentially a cheat added in by the game designers. And while in some ways it is, I can’t wholeheartedly object to the idea. When I think back to games like Metal Gear Solid 2 and Eternal Darkness, which I had to stop playing because of a too-difficult boss, I realize that I’d have loved to skip that portion of the game so that I could experience the rest of the story after that particular battle.

Super Mario Brothers Wii will be the first game to make use of the Kind Code. I’ll likely buy it, since it seems like a perfect game to play co-op with my wife.