The Wii U controller will deploy Near Field Communication technology...

The Wii U controller has been described as the "Swiss Army knife of controllers" by one developer, but today Nintendo confirmed that it will get yet another functionality. CEO Satoru Iwata used his investors briefing to announce that the pad will utilise near field communication (NFC) technology.

NFC is a standard of transmission used by many smartphones. It employs very short-range radio signals in order to transmit data between two devices. Think of it as a bit like the 3DS QR reader crossed with the StreetPass functionality.

Iwata mused over possible uses of NFC for Wii U by describing the possibility to "create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world". In simpler terms, Iwata stated that users might make use of NFC to easily make microtransaction payments.

Iwata also reiterated that the system is on-track to release worldwide between the end of E3 and the end of the year.