I'm sure there will be Negative Nancies saying, "Ugh, what took so long?" I'm just really happy that this happened. I can finally be Catsylvania on all of my future Nintendo things.
http://i.imgur.com/8TL3ybV.jpg

"This is one small step for gamers, one GIANT leap for Nintendo" - BlackNMild2k1 Nov 13, 2013

We've talked about this for so long that I initially just glanced over the headline without paying attention to what it means.  Then I kind of did a double-take.

Good!  This is exactly how it should work!  And this kind of makes things current.  I figured they would get to this around the same time everyone else would move on to something else and just be perpetually behind.  Nintendo needs to make deliberate leaps regarding online gaming to catch up.

It's a fine addition, although it's sad that something that should be a standard feature has to be celebrated when it happens on Nintendo platforms.


And we're still a long ways off from what I really want, which is cross platform purchasing and playing of Virtual Console games. Buying something like Legend of Zelda twice just to play it on my 3DS and Wii U doesn't make much sense to me at this point.

Wait, how do you know the YouTube app is coming later this month. I didn't catch them saying a time at all. I walked away wondering if it's already up or coming later.

Unfortunately, that is a side effect of not having a unified account from the beginning. I think it is Nintendo not sure knowing how to handle that next thornier issue. If they do allow you to pay for the game once and then you can download it on to both systems, there will probably be a big uproar from people who have bought these games twice for different systems in the past. What do you do about those people? Give them refunds for all the stuff bought twice? Ignore them? And how many times will they expect to be able to redownload the same game?

Right now Apple allows you to download an item you bought to five different devices. After that, you have to pay for it again. I would think Nintendo would want to also impose this sort of limit to ensure future sales on future devices. However, does that mean the number will be 3 installations of a software before paying again? 2? 4?

Its a first step and a welcome first step but we still don't know where it is headed or if they will just stand pat now and see how this turns out.

According to GoNintendo, you can do cross-platform purchases with the new unified account. :-)

So you're saying that if you put money in the account, then you can buy games on either system..!!

ummm, yeah, that would be the purpose of a unified account and mentioned in the OP.

now when you can cross-platform play (VC games at the very least), then you have something additional to get excited about.

edit: unless you meant that you can buy 3DS games from your Wii U eShop, or vice versa, then that would be some new news.

So now that we can use our Nintendo Network ID's on the 3DS, does that mean unified friend lists also? No more friend codes, right?

Hey its the update they been promising us since BEFORE THE WII U RELEASED.

I read that's right. It should combine your friend lists. I didn't watch the Nintendo Direct yet so I'm not sure the article I read is accurate.

Baby Steps. We'll get there.... eventually. ;)

So will it merge your friends list then?

It should be like Amazon or iTunes. You have a limited number of devices you can authorize and if you want to add a new device after that just de-authorize an old one on the list. No repaying for digital purchases ever.

Wii U and 3DS unified accounts?! About damn time!

Now that the wallet for the Wii U & 3DS are unified, I wonder if Nintendo will bring over the $14 stuck on my Wii account that is technically on my Wii U. I would spend it if I could access it, but I'm not buying anything else for the Wii, especially not digitally.

The ID is still tied to hardware, right?rights

This is so awesome! Can't wait!  :cool;

I think so. I hope not, but I think so. I just wish they would get around to letting me do a Wii U to Wii U transfer. I get sad staring at the Zelda edition I have, that's still sitting in the box. I haven't even registered the game/book codes it came with :(

Not necessarily. For example, if you sell your WiiU you can erase your NNID from it and reuse it on another system.  You can also still access your miiverse stuff with your NNID online without a console.

That's cool. Does it keep track of your eshop purchases as well?

That's the part I wasn't sure about, sorry for my butting-in earlier. I think they're still tied to the hardware they're purchased on. If someone can prove me wrong, PLEASE do, lol.

This sounded nice at first, but after thinking about it some more it doesn't really do much. Stuff like VC games are still limited to the one platform, so it's just a shared money balance which, for me, doesn't really matter. Second, if the unified friend list is true, this is actually a bad thing if the limit is still 100. Then we could have only 100 friends between 3DS and Wii U instead of the 200 we have now. Not all the people I have added own both.

It is a step in the right direction, and it's good to see as I didn't think it would happen. But I hope things because more unified in the future.

I'm pretty sure it's the first step of many towards an actual unified account system.

This update happens next month (?)

end of 1st quarter may see expansion on the idea, and maybe by end of 2014 we will have all the pieces in place to actually call it a Unified NNID Account.

Nintendo is a turtle in this game. They dance to their own beat, and usually several songs behind, but they'll get there eventually. Just can't say if all of us will still be around to care by the time they do...

I think if Nintendo decides to allow one purchase for all systems in the future Nintendo could address the issue multiple ways.


1) Just ignore the issue...you got to play the games on both system a year before anyone else...not the best idea.


2) Give them a perk.  You can upgrade all your Wii purchased virtual console games for free on the Wii U when they are available.  A nice perk...it gives you value that could be much higher than your previous purchases.


3) Give a reimbursement up to a certain amount for each unit console.  This is tricky.  You can not give a reimbursement for the whole amount, because that could get costly fast...but if you make the amount too high it is costly because some gamers would not have purchased that much.  If you make it too low gamers might complain.  If you do tiers what happens if you just miss a new tier.


I think the perk idea is the best...but we do not even know if Nintendo will do this.  Another option is for Nintendo to just wait until Next, Next generation and handle it then.

I thought about this before and I have a pretty fair solution for this issue. It's part of a larger topic I've been meaning to post in the Nintendo Console Discussion board that I've been too lazy to type up.

I won a bet here, right?

If it's the one I'm thinking of you're going to need to complain to Aaron as to not being able to collect on it.

This is a giant step forward for Nintendo. Now all they need to do is offer Wii and DS games on the eShop, allow Paypal integration, and offer humble bundles for games on eShop and bring the entire Virtual Console to the Wii U and 3DS and all will be good.

I couldn't really remember who I even made it with. ;)

Ugh, what took so long? :p

I'm like BNM. When is my Wii account going to be unified so I can spend my lost funds? I want my $2!

I want my $300+..

I used the eShop once to try it out and then not again until this issue of mine was resolved - How do I get what I pay you for? | Nintendo Tech Forums

Holding onto monies like that is serious bullcrap. I'm looking at you, Steam...

Are you complaining about the sales tax or the random cents being left in your account?

Oh I forgot Tj Spyke may have lost that bet :D

http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m74/nickmitch889/Its-about-damn-time_zps8b22504e.gif?t=1384752915

Too bad Nintendo is blocking message sharing and friend requests from 3DS Miiverse. GoNintendo confirmed this a few days ago.

Would you rather predators to be able to take advantage of the system?

That must mean you don't support Xbox Live, PSN, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit, forums, or fuck, pretty much the whole fucking internet then.


Jesus, I hate that alarmist attitude.

...or Wii, Wii U...

Now that I think about it, was Kytim being sarcastic? I'm not good at picking that up in text.

I was being sarcastic towards Tendoboy.