Wii U getting user accounts as part of 'Nintendo Network'

Nintendo is slowly catching up in the online department, as Satoru Iwata unveiled the "Nintendo Network" in an investor presentation today. The "Nintendo Network," whose logo was just spotted on the Japanese Theatrhythm cover, will cover "competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content," Iwata said, for both 3DS and Wii U. Elements, like the "Community" building functionality, have already been implemented in Mario Kart 7.

For the Wii U, the Nintendo Network will support multiple personal user accounts per system, finally ending Nintendo's insistence on tying software purchases to a single system.

The Network may also entail digital sales of retail 3DS games. "This concept was built into the design of the Nintendo 3DS, and we already have the necessary infrastructure," Iwata said. "We will prepare the same infrastructure for the Wii U. However, we have not decided the concrete timing of when we will start it."