The Nintendo Network will add new online functionality to 3DS games

It looks like Nintendo may finally be getting the message that great online functionality is now a necessary part of the modern-day gaming experience.

While announcing the company's third quarter financial results today, The Big N unveiled the Nintendo Network: an online network platform that is coming to the Nintendo 3DS and the upcoming Wii U.

The Nintendo Network will allow players to enter competitions for specific games, communicate with one another, and to buy DLC.

Although no specific release date for the service has yet been given, we're told that DLC is coming to a couple of Japanese games as soon as next month, so hopefully the west won't be far behind.

Nintendo also took the opportunity to have a dig at social games, as per usual.

Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo, explained Ninty's position on the matter in the following passages:

"Please note that Nintendo, as a software maker, does not plan to deploy businesses where our consumers cannot know in advance which item will appear as the result of their payment and they have to repeat the payments and, before they know it, they end up spending a huge amount of money in order to obtain the items they originally wanted to purchase.

"As a software maker, Nintendo believes that its packaged software should be sold to our consumers in a form so that the consumers will know in advance that they can enjoy playing the software they purchased just as it is. We believe that our consumers will be able to feel more secure if we offer our add-on content as an additional structure in which those who love the game will be able to enjoy it in a deeper way for a prolonged play time."