Nintendo prepping Wii U e-reader service?

The Wii U’s semi-portable tablet controller could become the central focus of a new content service offering from Nintendo, according to online reports.

As well as being linked with – surprise surprise – a push to get iOS games ported onto the device, Forget The Box has been lead to believe that Nintendo wants to position Wii U as an e-reader.

It alleges that the plan is to get books, magazines, newspapers and graphic novels that would be stored on the console and then streamed to the controller.

Nintendo is said to be actively seeking publishers” for its new strategy.

Of course, this leads to the same question we’ve all been asking about the tablet. Users will remain tethered to within Wi-FI range of their Wii U. How can this hope to rival devices that are truly portable?

Perhaps this adds weight to the growing rumours that the new-look” Wii U tipped for a 2012 reveal will break the chain that keeps the controller shackled to the console.

Forget The Box also claims that the e-reader service will be compatible with 3DS, too.