Wii U Remotes with Embedded NFC Technology
- The Wii U, Nintendo's next games console expected to ship during the second half of 2012, will be embedding NFC in its remotes to enable players’ interaction with NFC-compatible figures and cards, or even payments (games, in-game contents, apps and other goodies).
- The new remote, which also works independently from the console, can visually be compared to a tablet, with a 6.2 inches screen. This dissociation should enable the company to diversify its possible uses: stylus, switch from TV screen to the remote’s, videoconference, browsing or payments (micro-payments for instance), etc.
- According to Nintendo, the Wii U will be available in Japan, in the US, in Europe and in Australia in time for the next Christmas holiday season.
- This innovation shows that the physical/virtual frontier is vanishing in the sector of video games too. This solution is original because it relies on the use of contactless technologies to redefine the interaction between gamers and their virtual environments and because new payment features have been added. The possibility not to send one’s payment data may allow the Nintendo Network to be slightly ahead of its rivals, including Microsoft‘s Xbox Live and Sony’s Playstation Network. The risk that this data be compromised should then be limited: a major asset considering last year’s hacking cases (see May 2011 Insight).
- After a discouraging online start (rather unsuccessful Wii Store) Nintendo counts on simplicity of use and ergonomics to improve its achievements and develop “couch-commerce”, here redefined in a gaming context.