With Nintendo Network, online gaming will come to Wii U and 3DS

According to Satoru Iwata, president of the Nintendo Company, announced yesterday that the experience on Nintendo Network will be on par with that of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Iwata also stated that Network will be available on all next-gen Nintendo products being released later this year, including new shipments of the 3DS and the Wii U (set to launch this year’s holiday season).

Currently, any wireless communication that goes on between Nintendo devices is through shoddy connections on very specific networks- Nintendo consoles don’t allow connection to WPA protected networks- so this would be a huge step up for Nintendo in the online gaming market.

Iwata nipped certain functionality rumours in the bud when he said that the 3DS already had the hardware functionality to use Nintendo Network, and that it would be pre-installed on the Wii U.

Added Bonus!: NFC

What is NFC? NFC, or near-field communication, is a system that sends small bursts of information through nothing but proximity. The most commonplace examples of NFC are Mastercard Paypass and Google Wallet, both used to make payments wirelessly and quickly. However, Iwata said that the Wii U tablet controller would come with NFC capabilities built in. According to Iwata, NFC “[will make it] become possible to create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data … to expand the new play format in the video game world.”

(via: Mashable)