In early November, Nintendo of America’s licensing manager, Damon Baker, spoke to IGN about the possibilities of Amiibos for third-party and independent developers. In short, other developers could integrate the Amiibo figurines for their games on Nintendo consoles such as the Wii U and 3DS. Baker said that conversations about those possibilities are taking place. It really sounds like Nintendo is open to the idea. I am all for the integration of toys and video games, so I hope Baker and Nintendo’s intentions for integrating third-party and indie developers are sincere. The possibilities of Amiibo figures going beyond Super Smash Bros. are both interesting and very enticing.
The Amiibos launched last month, and they already appear to be selling very well. All of the Amiibos that have been announced so far for Nintendo are based on the character roster for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS. All the designs for the Amiibo figurines are based on the characters’ appearances from the new Super Smash Bros. game. However, the Amiibo line is already producing figurines of characters from third-party developers. Wave three features Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Capcom’s Mega Man, but both characters are part of the Super Smash Bros. character roster.
The partnership between Nintendo and Loot Crate to release Amiibos was a brilliant idea. However, if Nintendo can bring in more developers into the program, it could be a business master stroke that would give a lot more juice to the Amiibo program. In addition, and it provide a way for both Nintendo and other developers to make piles of cash. For example, what about Pokemon Amiibos for the Pokemon video games? I am referring to Pokemon characters beyond the Pokemon characters who appear in Super Smash Bros. and are getting Amiibos.
I am not sure Nintendo would ever want Amiibos to cross over with Skylanders or Disney Infinity, but just imagine what would happen if they did. The possibilities are literally endless. Since Nintendo already got Amiibo figurines made for Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog, why not a new Sonic the Hedgehog game that is Amiibo compatible with its own line of Amiibo figures? The same thing goes for Capcom’s Mega Man. Another idea to keep the fighting game theme would be Street Fighter. That would preclude actually getting a Street Fighter game on the Wii U, but a game like Street Fighter seems like a good game for the Amiibos. The Rayman series is another franchise that could easily incorporate Amiibos.
The future for Amiibos sounds very exciting right now. However, that future depends on the routes in which Nintendo takes the program and whether the Nintendo brass actually thinks outside the box. Wave Two of the Nintendo Amiibos hit the shelves on December 14. Wave three is due out in February 2015.
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