Nintendo Announces Wii U Online Features
At last, we have some really detailed news to report from the source on Wii U! Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata provided details on the online service which will be included as part of the Wii U package at a meeting with investors and media representatives in Japan earlier this week. This comes just after Nintendo rebranded the “Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection” to the much catchier and simpler name, “Nintendo Network.”
Finally, we’re going to see multiple user account support on Wii U. We’ll also finally be seeing direct digital downloads of software offered through the online service. This falls in line with the recent improvements which Nintendo made to its 3DS eShop service. The eShop now offers digital downloads of demos of games which can be purchased in stores. You can also finally store your credit card number for future purchases and download games while your system is in sleep mode.
Iwata explains the new developments. “This concept was built into the design of the Nintendo 3DS, and we already have the necessary infrastructure. We will prepare the same infrastructure for the Wii U. However, we have not decided the concrete timing of when we will start it. The decision must be made by taking into consideration such factors as the relationship with the wholesalers and retailers, and the best way to be embraced by consumers, as well as the environment surrounding the market and consumers, such as the required memory capacity on consumers’ SD memory cards. However, as an option for the future, the significance of this business field will increase.”
At the conference, Iwata confirmed that Nintendo will launch the Wii U in four major markets by the end of 2012—Japan, Europe, the US, and Australia. An exact date for release still hasn’t been specified. Meanwhile, we still have no idea when Sony and Microsoft are planning to unveil their next consoles. While Nintendo’s Wii has fallen way behind on the times, Nintendo has stated that Wii U is not just their answer to the current generation of consoles but the future generation as well. Perhaps Sony and Microsoft will want to get in on the action and will show a little more movement on the PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 by the end of the year. Regardless, we now know a little more of what we can expect from the Wii U as regards its online capabilities.
Recent Comments