Playing EA games on Wii U creates an Origin Account for you

Whether you like the service or not, playing an EA game on the Wii U will automatically register you with an Origin Account. EA has updated its privacy policy to accommodate for Nintendo's upcoming console, which is set to launch on November 18.

In Section V.3, titled "Information Provided To EA By Third Parties – Wii U", it explains, "If you sign up to play EA games through a Nintendo Wii U console, your Nintendo account information will be provided to EA so that we can establish an Origin Account for you."

It then states: "You need an Origin Account to play EA’s titles online."

"By signing up to play EA’s titles, you agree that limited user account information can be transferred to EA. Information transferred to EA includes your Mii information, email address, Nintendo Network ID, friend list, country, language and date of birth but does not include credit card number or other financial account information."

This really shouldn't come as a surprise – especially if you already own an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3. These are the exact same rules that apply when playing EA games on either one of those systems.

EA's Origin service has been hailed as a "huge success" by EA. The service, which started in June 2011, has rallied 12 million users and 50 different publishing partners, despite its rivalry with Valve's Steam platform. In July, EA rolled out the "landmark" Origin 9.0 update.