Nintendo has unveiled a Wii U and 3DS NFP platform, which will offer NFC figurines to rival Skylanders.
As part of its concerning financial results announcement, Nintendo has revealed an upcoming NFC platform that will let children use special Nintendo figurines with compatible video games.
Just like games such as Skylanders or Disney Infinity, Nintendo is branching out into scannable figurines that it is calling the NFP platform.
“We have decided to release character figurines with built-in NFC functionality that are compatible with video games starting from this year-end sales season”, said Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata. “We are calling the figures by their development codename, NFP, which comes from “NFC Featured Platform” and “Nintendo Figurine Platform”.”
The NFP range will use a base station peripheral compatible with the Wii U GamePad’s built-in NFC technology, but will eventually become compatible with the Nintendo 3DS too.
As with Skylanders and co, the NFP toys will be able to store a small about of data themselves, letting you customise your NFP to raise or train your characters.
“What is especially unique about NFP is that it is not classed as an accessory product of a certain software title but as a platform itself.”
“The figurines, which consumers can buy and collect, are going to work with multiple software titles to be released in the future, and we are aiming to develop more software titles compatible with the figurines.”
Although the NFP platform will only initially be available for the Wii U, which should hopefully boost sales, but will be modified at a later date for the 3DS and family so you can take your NFP toys on the run.
“Nintendo has been developing an NFC reader/writer for the Nintendo 3DS family, and we are planning to launch it in the first half of the next calendar year. This will make Nintendo 3DS compatible with the NFC reader/writer via infrared communication, and as a result, you will be able to read and write NFC data with the Nintendo 3DS device in the palm of your hand.”
Nintendo added that NFP characters will be compatible with Wii U software from the end of this year (just in time for Christmas), but 3DS compatibility won’t arrive until next year.
At E3 2014 in June, Nintendo will announce the titles compatible with the new NFP system, showcase the first NFP products and reveal some more information about the platform.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
