From new ways to play Pokemon to new ways to pay for Pokemon, the Wii U’s newly-revealed NFC feature lays the groundwork for new business and gamplay opportunities for Nintendo and its partners.

Things haven’t been looking especially rosy for the Wii U over the past few months.

E3 crowds were interested in getting their hands on the company’s next generation console last June, but that’s fairly common for new gaming tech. For the rest of the world, the system didn’t seem to have a real hook they could sink their teeth into.

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