No Wii U games support GamePad's NFC

One of the GamePad's most-hyped features has been neglected by third-parties and Nintendo themselves.

When the Wii U GamePad was first revealed, one of its features that drew a lot of attention was it's support for NFC (near-field communication.)  However, so far there isn't single Wii U game that makes use of the technology.

Skylanders: Giants is going to use NFC-like technology to save and deliver an action-figure's stats and upgrades, but it's not going to be a requirement. Nick Ruepp of Vicarious Visions, apparently thought it would detract from the experience. Speaking with The Verge, Ruepp said "We did entertain the idea, [but] We didn’t want to cripple the GamePad the entire time just so you could put your Skylander on the GamePad."

Rayman Legends was another title that many expected to make use of NFC technology, and one of Ubisoft's internal videos was leaked that showed how it might be used. Apparently they decided against it.

Bill Trinen, Nintendo's product manager, has confirmed that no announced titles are known to support the GamePad's NFC. "That is a new tech, particularly with it being available in the U.S.," he told The Verge. "A lot of the developers are wondering what are the options? How do we leverage it? As they start to come with their ideas, solutions and great content, we will talk more about it.

"I don't anticipate it will be too far out."

We'll see if Mr. Trinen is right. The GamePad is reportedly very expensive to manufacture, and it would be a shame if one of it's much-hyped functions goes unused. If you are unfamiliar with NFC, the leaked Ubisoft video is after the break. The feature is highlighted from 1:18 through the end of the video.

Source: The Verge