Nintendo looks at 3G for future consoles

As if the announcement that fans of the Nintendo DS will not have long to wait until they get their hands on a new version of the console was not enough, the Japanese gaming giant has revealed that it is looking ahead to even more exciting developments for the popular handheld device.

Satoru Iwata, the Nintendo president, has hinted that the company is considering adding unlimited 3G data access to future portable consoles, using a model similar to the Kindle, Amazon’s wireless reading device, which doesn’t require a monthly subscription fee. “I’m interested because it’s a new business model in which the user doesn’t bear the communications cost,” he said at a briefing for analysts. For now, gamers will have to make do with the Nintendo DSi XL, a larger version of the DS, which has had its two screens increased to 4.2 inches. It will be on sale in Japan later this month, and Nintendo say that those of us in Europe can expect to get our hands on it in the first quarter of 2010.