Gamers can access some of their favorite characters

Oct 8, 2014 07:03 GMT  ·  By

The development team working on the new Amiibo set of figurines at Nintendo announces that it plans to launch the second wave of toys for the general public soon after the first one becomes available, on December 19 in Europe and at a yet unclear date during the same month in North America.

The line-up will include well-known characters from the franchises of the company, like Luigi, Zelda, Pit, Diddy Kong, Captain Falcon, and Little Mac.

All of them have long-term fans among the Nintendo faithful and that should guarantee that they are quickly adopted by the community and create a wide variety of presences in the wider Amiibo universe.

All of the incoming figurines will be usable in Super Smash Bros. on the Wii U, via the newly revealed management interface, and those who want can also associate them with the 3DS version of the game.

The first line of toys can be picked up on November 28 in both Europe and in North America, and the fact that a second wave arrives in just three weeks is encouraging.

Nintendo is seeing the Amiibo line as a way to boost player interest in its games while allowing them to develop a deeper connection with their favorite characters.

At the moment, Super Smash Bros. is the only video game which supports them, but patches will be used to also make them important for Mario Kart 8 and future releases from Nintendo will also engage with them in interesting ways.

Amiibo and the future of gaming

Nintendo has been unhappy with the sales generated by the Wii U home console since it was launched, and currently the platform is not seen as a solid alternative to the Xbox One from Microsoft and the PlayStation 4 from Sony.

The launch of Super Smash Bros. will probably boost the numbers initially, but in order to make sure that the performance remains solid in the long term, the company needs a new way for gamers to interact with its device.

The Amiibo figurines are designed to be attractive as pure physical toys, while also introducing some new gameplay mechanics, storing experience, evolving over time or acting as opponents for friends when the player is not online.

Nintendo is clearly confident about the perspectives of its new initiative, but it will be interesting to see how gamers welcome them and if the Wii U can make the figurines a success.

Amiibo Second Wave Images (7 Images)

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