This generation, Nintendo has truly embraced indie developers, even dubbing a handful “Nindies,” as they’ve put forth an effort to greater market these smaller titles. As a result of this closer collaboration with Nintendo, developers are greater utilizing the features of Nintendo’s systems, including Amiibo support.
The addition of Amiibo support in Shovel Knight received strong mainstream attention based on the fact that the game will soon be getting an Amiibo of its own. There won’t be any new Amiibo for Hive Jump, a 4-player sci-fi shooter from developer Graphite Lab, but it looks like the title will work with currently existing Amiibo. In a recent interview, Graphite Lab’s Matt Raithel gave some details about how the developer plans to implement Amiibo support in the game.
Let me start by saying we would LOVE to have Samus in the game, but I don’t know if that is on the table. There are a lot of very good reasons why a cameo might not make sense for our game right now. We are planning on including custom challenges and unique treasures which could only be unlocked with Amiibo. This feature is still in development so we’re not at a point where we can share more just yet.
While an appearance by Samus Aran in Hive Jump seems unlikely, it is interesting to see that Nintendo is giving developers the ability to use Amiibo in non-Nintendo games. The company seems to be investing in the future of smaller, independent developers, and that will only help build stronger support for the Wii U, 3DS and NX in the future.
Stay tuned to Nintendojo for more information on Hive Jump in the near future!
Source: Shigeru Reviews
Amiibo is Nintendo gold. They know they have a hit and are doing everything they can to exploit it and fairly so. Glad they are including third parties in the success as well.
UGH… I don’t want more amiibos for random titles, I want them to be something special.