Nintendo has revealed more details for their upcoming Amiibo releases, including their functionality with upcoming 3DS title Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, and WiiU title Star Fox Zero.
In an official announcement, previously released Mario and Sonic figures will be compatible with the Mario & Sonic 3DS title, which is slated for a March 18th release. Their functions will include unlocking boosts for their chosen character's power for a day for in-game characters, as well as new costumes to represent the chosen Amiibo. Currently only Mario and Sonic figures are Amiibo compatible.
The game itself will sport 40 different characters and fourteen olympic-styled events, along with 270 different costumes that can be unlocked for in-game characters, as well as a training and a championship mode for player miis.
Star Fox Zero is also getting Amiibo functionality, although to what extent is still unknown at this time with Nintendo promising to release more information at a later date. It is likely that compatibility will be issued along with the Fox and Falco Amiibo's in some form, perhaps in the same vein as Mario and Sonic above. What is known is that Star Fox Zero will launch on the Wii U on April 22nd.
This is the third piece of news featuring Amiibo products from Nintendo. This morning, details confirmed current plans for The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD and the Wolf Link Amiibo, new Animal Crossing Amiibos and Amiibo cards and a re-release of some Pokemon Amiibos, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the series. This is all not good news, however, as some fans are disappointed with the Wolf Link Amiibo being tied to a new dungeon in Twilight Princess HD, which will in effect make the dungeon available to only those who purchase a physical copy of Twilight Princess HD when it releases on March 4th.
That however is not slowing down Nintendo, who have made over $21 million in Amiibo sales as of last November, with 7 million of those sales coming from the U.S alone. The "toy-to-life" niche is also rapidly growing in the world of videogames, with Amiibos rubbing shoulders with Skylanders, Lego Dimensions and Disney Infinity contributing to a 6% increase of sales from 2014 to 2015, netting $357 million in total sales.
So what do you think about this? Is Nintendo still printing money? Leave your comments below.
