Nintendo Network Revealed - Gamertags, DLC, But No Microtransactions

Nintendo has lifted the lid on its next-generation online service, set up to compete with the likes of PlayStation Network and Xbox Live. It's known as the Nintendo Network, and will provide gamer accounts, DLC and the possibility of full game downloads - but the company is ruling out microtransactions.

The platform was announced to offer a more unified online experience on the 3DS and the upcoming Wii U console. It will replace the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, which handled online modes on a game-by-game basis.

Mario Kart 7 already uses the Nintendo Network term while browsing lobbies, but during an investor briefing company president Satoru Iwata said that the platform will expand to offer downloadable content for 3DS games, as well as offer personal accounts for Wii U in a similar fashion to Xbox 360 Gamertags.

"With this, the ease of using a video game system when the hardware is shared by multiple family members - which has been a challenge we needed to tackle - shall be improved, and we will also be able to construct and offer the system by combining a variety of different services and content," Iwata said.

Although a download service will be part of the Nintendo Network platform, there's no firm decision on when it will become available. "We have not decided the concrete timing of when we will start it," the exec noted, hinting that DLC will arrive after the Network is launched. Relationships with retailers, wholesalers and capacities of SD cards must be taken into consideration, he said.

But microtransactions and 'freemium' games is a road Nintendo is not going to venture down. "As a software maker, Nintendo believes that its packaged software should be sold to our consumers in a form so that the consumers will know in advance that they can enjoy playing the software they purchased just as it is," Iwata said, referencing repeat payments for virtual items and add-on content.

"We believe that our consumers will be able to feel more secure if we offer our add-on content as an additional structure in which those who love the game will be able to enjoy it in a deeper way for a prolonged play time."