One of the biggest successes for Activision last year was their unique take on the Spyro the Dragon series. Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure did something that no other title has done in the past, and that is allow children to bring their toys to life within a video game. The new premise paid off, as the game sold like hotcakes – leaving the collectible Skylanders action figures sold out across nearly all retailers.
Nintendo must have found the idea pretty spectacular as well, because Nintendo president Satrou Iwata has announced that the Wii U controller will contain a similar technology called Near Field Communication (NFC). Iwata made this additional feature official during the same Nintendo investor’s briefing that brought us news of a new 2D Mario game on the 3DS, and he did a very good job at alluding to what NFC may mean for gamers.
According to the official press release from Nintendo, Near Field Communication will allow Wii U owners to do several very awesome things. Big boss Iwata didn’t get into any specifics regarding what Nintendo plans to do with the technology, but insisted that players would be able to use cards, toys, and even credit cards that were compatible with the tech.
“By installing this functionality, it will become possible to create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world. Adoption of this functionality will enable various other possibilities such as using it as a means of making micropayments.”
By implementing this technology with the Wii U’s controller, Nintendo has opened the door to what could be insurmountable heaps of additional income. Imagine the ability to go out to the store, buy a pack of Pokemon cards/figures, and then literally bring your latest purchase to life on your television screen – this is the kind of stuff that NFC makes possible. Whether or not that specific example comes to fruition is up to Nintendo.
Still, the premise of simply having to place your Mass Effect 3 action figures on your coffee table to get exclusive in-game content sounds appealing – especially if it means I don’t have to ruin the packaging.
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That’s cool I guess….if you like playing immature little kid games.
Lmfao, wtf are you talking about moron? Anything can be brought to life is what they’re saying. Guess you can’t read, but for example mass effect 3 figurines without even having to take them out of the package for bonus content.
Your comment in and of itself is kiddy and immature.
I like this game!
I’m just saying I play games that men should play. This is the kind of stuff would play if I was 10. And your comparing mass effect 3 to this? Really?
Real men aren’t ashamed to play fun games, even if their colour palettes extend beyond the muddy browns and greys of the games you play.
Hahaha, do real men even play video games?
Yeah idiot if you actually read the whole article mass effect 3 is even mentioned by the editor.
Just to make things clear. Mass Effect 3 hasn’t even been confirmed for the Wii U, that was just an example of what BioWare (or any third party developer for that matter) could do with this technology, and the possibilities extend far beyond the simple ‘kiddy’ merchandise that David is thinking of.
It also means Nintendo can implement NFC into their pre-praid cards – effectively removing the need to enter a horrifically long code to add funds to your Nintendo Network wallet.
Sounds like if you spend a lot of money on different things you will get a fun game experience. Since I personally am against spending lots of money, I doubt I’ll find this very useful. I don’t even like purchasing DLC so chances are I’m not going to go out and purchase packs of cards or figurines to bring home and upload onto my console for whatever purpose. It’s fantastic for those who do, but for me I’m apparently old-fashioned and still naieve enough to expect the initial $50-60 to buy a full game experience, rather than shelling that out plus another undisclosed amount to see all a game has to offer. It’s still early though, I think Nintendo could come up with something awesome enough to pry money out of even the tightest of wallets.