Wii U: Nintendo Planning 'Personal Accounts' Via New Nintendo Network

Nintendo has announced the 'Nintendo Network service' for the 3DS and Wii U, with which it hopes to "establish a platform" for community events, news, competitive gaming and the sale of digital content.

Nintendo cited 'Tobidasu Pricla Kiradeco Revolution', a Japanese 3DS game which is the first to receive downloadable add-on content.

Nintendo debunked any suggestion it would enter the social gaming market via the Nintendo Network however, saying it "does not plan to deploy businesses where our consumers cannot know in advance which item will appear as the result of their payment and they have to repeat the payments and, before they know it, they end up spending a huge amount of money in order to obtain the items they originally wanted to purchase." We're guessing that refers to the in-app purchasing model favoured by some games on smartphones.

Nintendo is also considering offering full games via the Network - although the Wii U is currently pegged as only featuring 'internal flash memory' or the aoption to store data on a USB stick.

"The decision must be made by taking into consideration such factors as the relationship with the wholesalers and retailers, and the best way to be embraced by consumers, as well as the environment surrounding the market and consumers, such as the required memory capacity on consumers’ SD memory cards. However, as an option for the future, the significance of this business field will increase," Nintendo added.

The Nintendo Network will also introduce profiles/personal accounts for Wii U gamers.

Nintendo confirmed this week that the Wii U will launch in time for the 2012 Christmas rush.