Nintendo has copied toys-to-life pioneer Skylanders, announcing ‘amiibo’ a new range of interactive toys which will be compatible with a range of Wii U games.
With Mario having been unveiled as the first amiibo, the smart chip incorporating figures will bring in-game characters to life when placed on the Wii U’s touchscreen incorporating gamepad.
“When you touch amiibo to the game pad, the characters' details are downloaded into the game you’re playing,” President and COO of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime said in unveiling the new toys.
A blatant copy of the Skylanders toys, Nintendo has given a nod to the amiibo’s roots, using the amiibo unveil to highlight the benefits of playing Skylanders on the Wii as opposed to a PlayStation or Xbox.
“Along with amiibo, Disney Infinity and Skylanders have unique features that can only be discovered with the Wii U,” Fils-Amie stated.
Although only a Mario amiibo has been shown off to date, we anticipate that a full range of familiar Nintendo characters will be given the toys-to-life treatment.
The first Wii U game to be compatible with the amiibo figures will be the new Super Smash Bros offering, a title set for an October 3 release.
“Super Smash Bros will be the first game to be compatible with amiibo,” Fils-Amie stated.
He added: “Your own figure with its own unique stats will not only appear but evolve as you play Super Smash Bros.”
Looking to how the amiibo world will evolve, the Nintendo America head went on to add: “Super Amash Bros is just the start, amiibo play is being developed right now for other Nintendo games. One of these is Mario Kart.”
Nintendo has yet to announce how much individual amiibo toys will cost.
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