Wave At Wii U With NFC Chips

Wii U

Apparently it's a day of minor Wii U developments, as more information has emerged from Satoru Iwata's briefings to investors. The latest tidbit is that the Wii U controller will feature a NFC (near-field communication) chip. This is the same technology featured in the PayPass credit cards and some upcoming Android phones that allows data exchange wirelessly over short distances.

What does this mean for Wii U? Well, for one, it allows the use of the controller as a mat for card and figurine-based role-playing games. As Iwata himself notes,

"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."

That last sentence is interesting too. Look forward to waving a credit card against the controller to instantly buy content. No more clumsily typing in codes with an analog stick.

Reader Comments:

Posted by nshady 27/01/2012 3:40pm

I think this is legitimately cool.

Posted by zen 27/01/2012 8:23pm

the wii u controller has a camera right? will it do ar card stuff?

Posted by nshady 27/01/2012 9:27pm

Yep.