Nintendo's first free-to-play game is a Steel Diver

Nintendo's first free-to-play game won't be Mario with paid Golden Tanooki unlocks, or Pokemon with a rapidly depleting energy meter. The project, which was briefly mentioned in an E3 analyst briefing last week, will instead be a new take on 3DS launch title Steel Diver.

Shigeru Miyamoto kept light on details about the project when he spoke with IGN.

"There is something we’re doing with the Steel Diver idea that I think is going to open things up with that game... It’s going to be very fun," Miyamoto said. "We’re exploring from a perspective of where we can take that from a multiplayer standpoint--it's going to have this four-player battle mode that I think is going to be very interesting."

Nintendo said the "degree of trust" consumers had with pricing for existing franchises led it to experiment with the business model elsewhere. How that business model will be implemented is still up in the air.

Fortunately, fans won't have to wait too long to see Nintendo's take on free-to-play.

"It's something that we're hoping to be able to show relatively soon," Miyamoto said.