In Nintendo’s E3 2012 Analyst Q&A session, numerous questions were asked about the Wii U.  The questions ranged from what the initial memory will be to friend codes to how they will implement what they learned with the 3DS in terms of pricing for the Wii U.  One of the main points in the interview dealt with the issue of free-to-play and micro-transactions.

From Satoru Iwata:

With respect to the Wii U system, when we began working on it, one of our goals was to have a variety of purchase options and additional e-commerce options available at its launch. And because of that, we have prepared a Digital Rights Management system. We have designed the system from a technical standpoint to allow developers to freely take advantage of things like free to play and micro transactions.

The Nintendo President also said that Nintendo could (and may) make properties that could use the free-to-play model.  However, he states the current lineup Nintendo has does not necessarily work well for that model.  In addition, Iwata states that Nintendo may wait some time before attempting first party games that use a free-to-play model.

More from the interview, including thoughts about SmartGlass, exchange rates, and market schemes, can be found here.

Additional Source