In Nintendo's digital event for the Electronics Entertainment Expo 2014, the company revealed Amiibo, which is Nintendo's new product category of collectible figurines similar to Disney's Infinity and Skylander figurines.
The Amiibo is the company's entry into the "toys to life" category, according to Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America. The figurines, once they come in contact with the Wii U GamePad, appear within the game as avatars, where they can level up as they beat enemies and complete stages.
Fils-Aime said that the Amiibo have unique characteristics and functions that can only be seen in the Wii U.
"There's a special chip that's embedded in every figure," he said. "Any Wii U system will recognize the figures by touching them on the Wii U GamePad, and when that happens, they spring to life in compatible games in cool new ways," said Fils-Aime.
The Amiibo figurines currently include Mario, Princess Peach, Pikachu, Link and Samus Aran, with many more characters to come.
The first game that Amiibo figurines will be compatible with is the upcoming and highly-anticipated Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U. Each Amiibo character will have a unique fighting style and stats and will evolve as a fighter the more you play with them in the game, developing unique skills and abilities along the way. This is made possible because while the figurine downloads data to the Wii U, the Wii U can also send data back to the figurine, storing and updating your character's data.
The Amiibo figures will also soon have compatibility with Mario Kart 8, with more games that will use the characters currently under development. Nintendo is also reportedly developing a puck-like device that will be launched next year which will allow the Amiibo figurines to be compatible with the 3DS as well.
The Amiibo figurines will launch during the coming holiday season, coinciding with the release of Super Smash Bros. for the Wii U, which the company hopes will boost the Wii U's dismal sales compared to that of the Sony's PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One.
In the same digital event, Nintendo also revealed a first look at the new Legend of Zelda game, which will be released in 2015. The new Zelda, according to director Eiji Aonuma, will return to its roots of an open world environment that players can explore freely. A short trailer of the game was also played, showing Link in a battle against a giant enemy within an anime-inspired environment.
