Nintendo to show off new NFC platform at E3 2014

So apparently, this Skylanders thing is quite a big phenomenon. Selling individual toys to interact with games? How genius! So genius that Disney has taken a stab at using some of its characters in a similar way, and now Nintendo is looking to get in on the action too. Rumors were flying around earlier this week that Nintendo had some new hardware to show off at E3 this year. While it wasn’t a new platform like some were interpreting, it could in fact be a new NFC bit of tech set to interact with the Wii U and 3DS by use of none other than toys of Nintendo’s world famous characters.

The new hardware was announced today during an investor briefing. The briefing text is available in Japanese, but various Twitter users have translated details, including reliable analyst David Gibson. According to these reports, a new series of games and figures codenamed Nintendo Figurine Platform is in the works. For 3DS, there’s a reader that uses infra red communication, while the Wii U will use the Game Pad’s in-built NFC abilities. The NFC reader will be used with figurines, and will be capable of both reading and writing data, so that you can customise characters to your own tastes. Rather than being confined to one game like the Skylanders or Disney Infinity add-ons, the figurine will be compatible with a range of titles – giving publishers an interesting way to sell add-on content, perhaps. Only one figurine was shown during the briefing – Mario, of course.