Nintendo has released its much-anticipated Wii U gaming console with NFC technology, enabling the game maker to incorporate physical objects into game play, in addition to possible support in the future for contactless payment for digital content.
In January, the Japanese video game maker announced that Wii U would incorporate NFC functionality. Nintendo’s Wii U system was released Sunday to coincide with the start of the holiday shopping season. The release makes Nintendo the first major console maker to adopt NFC.
The device carries an NFC chip from U.S.-based Broadcom, which also supplies Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technology for the Wii U. The console uses Broadcom’s BCM20792 NFC controller.