Wii U tablet can read physical objects with NFC

Nintendo is to employ Near Field Communication technology into the Wii U tablet controller, the company has confirmed.

The NFC tech allows the Wii U pad to read data from physical items and playing cards. It means developers and publishers can sell physical objects that connect to virtual game worlds – a relatively new format popularised by Activision’s Skylanders game.

The Wii U tablet can "read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world,” Company president Satoru Iwata said.

Iwata also claimed that the tech “will enable various other possibilities such as using it as a means of making micropayments” – likely a reference to credit-card scanners that make bank transfers without the need to enter PIN data.