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A few weeks ago, we reported that GameStop and Best Buy locations had discounted three first wave Amiibo figures: Yoshi, Donkey Kong, and Princess Peach. According to Nintendo’s official website, the discount is now an across-the-board price decrease for the trio, from $12.99 to $9.99.
One likely reason for the price drop is the fact that all three characters will likely receive new Amiibo figures in the upcoming Super Mario line. Yoshi and Princess Peach are both officially confirmed for the new line, while Donkey Kong was revealed in a potential leak.
The three Amiibo figures are each compatible with a number of games, including upcoming titles like Mario Party 10 and Yoshi’s Woolly World. If Nintendo’s president has his way, that number will only increase. At a recent Financial Q&A, Satoru Iwata discussed the future viability of the line, and ways to continue implementing Amiibo into Wii U and 3DS titles:
We do not think that we can fully convey to consumers the full potential of Amiibo yet. This is because the way consumers use the figures for Activision’s Skylanders game or Disney’s Disney Infinity game is not exactly the same as the way they use Amiibo, and to make things slightly more complicated, Amiibo use varies depending on the software.
If we use Smash Bros. as an example, players can use Amiibo to train the figure player (FP) in the game, and the FP’s improved capabilities will accumulate in the NFC chip installed inside the Amiibo figure. By using Amiibo, players can nurture their own players, who can be either allies or rivals in the game. While this is one unique way to use Amiibo in a game, in Mario Kart 8, when you tap Amiibo figures to the NFC touchpoint of the Wii U GamePad, your racers receive special racing suits that you cannot obtain elsewhere. And, the new download software example I explained in my presentation earlier is where Amiibo can be used in place of, in a sense, a ROM cartridge to play some portions of certain NES and Super NES games.
We will continually propose different play styles that take advantage of Amiibo. But first and foremost, we understand that we have to change the current situation where many people are still wondering what they can do with Amiibo. We will persist until consumers understand that they just need to tap the Amiibo figure and something will happen, and will excitedly try it with a variety of software. If we can achieve this, Amiibo will become a precious possession for our consumers, so we definitely want to bring it to fruition, but in doing so we also understand that it will take some time.
Do you plan on taking advantage of the price cut? As always, let us know in the comments below!
Source: Nintendo News, Nintendo Life
I was able to get a discounted Donkey Kong and Peach Amiibo. So far so good on my collection of Amiibo! I’d be nice if they incorporated Amiibo support on older games such as Wind Waker HD, Super Mario Bros U, Super Luigi U and Super Mario 3D World!