The Wii U will benefit from the holiday launch of 10 figurines

Jun 23, 2014 08:32 GMT  ·  By

Nintendo confirmed a lot of long-term rumors when it revealed the Amiibo line of NFC-enabled figurines during its pre E3 2014 event and the company apparently believes that the initiative can appeal to a wider audience than the similar Skylanders from Activision and Disney Infinity.

At the same time, the introduction of the physical statues that represent video game characters can also deliver a big sales boost to the Wii U home console, which has performed worse than the company has initially predicted.

Nintendo showed off 14 Amiibo figurines during the recently ended E3 2014 trade show, revealing that it would create physical representations of both classic characters like Mario and Pikachu, but also lesser-known ones like the Wii Fit trainer and Pit.

Regie Fils-Aime, one of the leaders of the company, tells Polygon that the variety and the built in fan base means that the potential is bigger than for rivals like Disney Infinity and Skylanders.

He explains that, “You're going to have people who want to collect Link, all these fantastic characters. So we think our footprint is going to be much larger than what the other people in this space have been able to accomplish.”

Nintendo says that all its NFC figurines are designed for two-way communication, which means that gamers will be able to load them into games, initially titles like Super Smash Bros. and Mario Kart 8, and use their special abilities.

At the same time, as experience is gathered, the figurines gain levels and new options for them are unlocked, which are carried over when they are connected to other consoles.

Regie Fils-Aime adds, “we believe that, given the lineup of figures, we're going to have a more diverse ownership base, not only male and female (because of Peach and Yoshi that appeal to girls) but also from an aging up standpoint because people are going to want to collect Samus.”

Initially, only the Wii U will support the new Amiibo line, but Nintendo also plans to launch a special add-on that will make them compatible with the 3DS.

At first, 10 figurines, led by fan favorite Mario, will be offered before the start of the holiday season and at the moment, pricing has not been announced.

The Wii U has recently received a solid sales boost after the launch of Mario Kart 8 and Nintendo hopes that Super Smash Bros. will have a bigger impact later in the year.