Nintendo Network Service Announced for 3DS and Wii U, Latter to Come Out by Year-End
At a corporate management policy briefing held by Nintendo, the Japanese company has announced that a new service named Nintendo Network will soon be launched for the 3DS and the upcoming Wii U. Moreover, the gaming giant’s next-generation console has finally received a release window, even as it was revealed that it will be launched during the year-end sales season.
The new network service is supposedly aimed by Nintendo towards encouraging competition and communication among users, while also managing the sales of digital content. Much to the relief of gamers, this service has been announced to support multiple accounts, instead to staying tied up to one account per system.
Furthermore, Nintendo also announced plans for releasing DLCs through this service. When the game launches on February 16, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy will be the first title for which add-on content will be sold through the new feature. Apparently, for full game downloads, the company will soon be preparing the necessary infrastructure on the Wii U, whereas such a framework is already said to be a part of the 3DS.
For the upcoming console, it is still unclear about when the service will start, as decisions regarding factors like the relationship with wholesalers and retailers are yet to be taken. The required memory capacity on gamers’ SD memory cards is another such factor which is believed to be under contention by Nintendo currently.
This move to launch the Nintendo Network seems to be heralding an end to the Nintendo Wi-Fi service which was introduced in 2005. Needless to say, the full capabilities of this functionality can only be explored with the Wii U which doesn’t come out until the end of this year. It would however, be on display at the E3.
