Report: Super Smash Bros for Wii U To Use NFC Figures

A report today by CVG indicates that Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will utilize Nintendo’s NFC technology to support the Nintendo Figure Platform.

According to the report, Managing Director of Nintendo of France Stephan Bole spoke with news site Le Figaro about Nintendo’s upcoming software and stated (via Google translation), “E3 is... an opportunity to show the use of NFC technology in Nintendo consoles. The NFC will be used in the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros."

A statement issued by a Nintendo UK spokesperson to CVG attempts to invalidate the earlier claim, stating that no official announcement has been made about NFC software, but stops short of denying the previous claim outright.

Near Field Communication (NFC) technology allows for physical objects like toys to be synchronized with games to add new content. It has previously been used in the wildly successful Skylanders and Disney Infinity franchises, which use dedicated hardware bases to scan in figures. The Wii U has NFC capability built in, which should allow players to scan in figures directly from the Wii U controller. Nintendo announced its Figure Platform program in the wake of poor hardware sales reports earlier this month.

The 3DS is currently unable to support the Nintendo Figure Program on its own, but NFC support is expected to be added early next year.

The Nintendo Figure Platform figures are slated for a Christmas release, and Nintendo has previously stated that E3 will see the announcement of several NFC-enabled titles. Super Smash Bros. is one of the Big N’s most anticipated and high-profile titles, and will certainly have a large presence at the convention, lending credibility to this rumor. Considering the Wii U version is shipping later than the 3DS iteration, the timing delay makes sense if Nintendo is attempting to work figures into the mix. We’ll find out exactly what Nintendo plans to do with its three-inch money makers on the floor of E3 next month.