While Nintendo has been extremely scant on details for its ‘flexible’ Wii U online network, word from NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime suggests the company is taking an open approach. Instead of being bound by terms of a central, unified network, Nintendo is allowing third-parties to run their own services.

“So instead of a situation where a publisher has their own network and wants that to be the predominant platform, and having arguments with platform holders, we’re going to welcome that,” Reggie told Forbes.

He added, “We’re going to welcome that from the best and the brightest of the third party publishers.”

Beyond that, Reggie did not delve into specifics. One looming question is whether the third-party services Nintendo is allowing will run on top of the Wii U’s online suite, which at least would allow for a unified login handle.

Presumably there must be some degree of basic integration, otherwise we’d be at a loss to see how this approach differs from how the PS2 tackled online.

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