amiibo
amiibo (アミーボ, amiibo) are a line of interactive figurines available for usage with the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS systems. By scanning an amiibo with near field communication technology, players can receive various effects in games. For the Wii U, amiibo are scanned using the Wii U GamePad. The New Nintendo 3DS models are also natively compatible with amiibo, while older 3DS models will require an adapter to use the figurines.[1] While the concept of figurines using NFC technology to interact with the Wii U was previously explored with Pokémon Rumble U, Super Smash Bros. 4 was the first game to feature the amiibo branding, acting as the debut and flagship title for the line.
In Super Smash Bros. 4
Super Smash Bros. 4 supports the use of amiibo, with its series of figurines representing the various characters available for play in the games. While all playable characters are to be represented, alternate costumes, such as Alph for Olimar, are not featured in the line. amiibo figurines are not required to unlock any characters or other features in the games, and they are completely optional for playing both versions.[2]
amiibo, when scanned by the console, allows the character represented by the figurines to be used in-game; the character can be modified by players with character customization options available in the game, and their stats can be modified further by "feeding" equipment to them. Unlike with normal fighters, amiibo fighters can be given any kind of equipment, including the ones that they're not normally compatible with; for example, an amiibo Mario can be given Hammer equipment, which would normally be impossible. There is a limit to how many times the amiibo can be fed in one session, however, and any equipment that's given to an amiibo is permanently lost. Also, when boosting an amiibo's stats, the amiibo's stat total can't go higher than 120.
amiibo also gain gold and other items while fighting, which are retrieved when checking them in the amiibo menu. The longer the amiibo has fought, the more presents and gold are received. Trophies and customization parts picked up by amiibo can be retrieved when the amiibo is scanned on it's owner's console, however, it appears that CDs cannot be retrieved.
After this, they can be used as a specialized computer player, with the tag "FP" (Figure Player) above them. If they are used as CPU fighters, figurines start at level 1 like regular CPU players, but as they fight more often, they can continue to level up, to a cap of 50. As they gain levels, amiibo can potentially "learn" techniques from other characters; if a player frequently uses long-ranged, camping techniques, then the amiibo will also begin to emulate this behavior. This learning continues even after the 50 level cap is reached. In addition, an amiibo can gain improved fighting statistics, such as improved damage, knockback, and reaction times, the higher its level is. Finally, higher-levelled amiibo can adapt to individual matches faster than lower-leveled amiibo; if an opponent takes on an aggressive, rush-down style against an amiibo in one match, for instance, it will begin to make more use of defensive techniques like spot dodges and rolls.
amiibo can be used on any copy of the game, and the character on the amiibo is tied to the figurine, allowing for players to use its customized moveset and fighting style wherever they desire.
While Super Smash Bros. for Wii U natively supports amiibo, Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS was unable to do so until version 1.0.5, released on February 9th-10th, 2015. The user must have the appropriate hardware to use amiibo, as noted above.
Release
For Smash, amiibo are being released in waves. Several staggered release dates have been announced, with each date containing a subset of the entire Smash lineup. The known waves, the figurines they contain, and their release dates are detailed below.
Smash-related amiibo are priced at $12.99 USD in the Americas, £10.99 GBP in the United Kingdom, ¥1200 JPY in Japan, and €14.99 EUR in the European Union.
Wave 1
The first wave of amiibo launched on November 21, 2014, alongside the North American release of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.
Wave 2
The second wave of amiibo was released on December 14, 2014 in North America and on December 19 in Europe.
Wave 3
The third wave of amiibo released in Japan on January 22, 2015 and in Australia on January 29, 2015, and in North America on February 6, 2015. In North America, several of the amiibo will be exclusively available through specific stores.
In Europe, Wave 3 was split in two. Bowser, Ike, Lucario, Rosalina & Luma, Sheik, and Toon Link were released on January 23, 2015, while King Dedede, Mega Man, Meta Knight, Shulk, and Sonic are to be released on February 20, 2015.
Lucario (Toys "R" Us exclusive)
Meta Knight (Best Buy exclusive)
Rosalina & Luma (Target exclusive)
Wave 4
The fourth wave of amiibo will be released in Japan on April 29, 2015, and elsewhere in the world at an unspecified date in spring 2015. This is the first wave of amiibo that includes unlockable characters.
Future releases
| SSB4 characters without announced amiibo | |
|---|---|
| Expected |             
|
| Unclear |    
|
Shinya Takahashi of Nintendo's SPD division confirmed that the plan is to ultimately release amiibo figurines for all characters on the roster[3]; it is unspecified whether this includes Mewtwo or the Mii Fighters. The original announcement of amiibo also featured a number of characters and designs for characters that do not have any amiibo planned or known, including ones for Lucina disguised as Marth, Mr. Game & Watch, an 8-bit Mario, and more.
Sales
Over 710,000 amiibo from Wave 1 were sold prior to the introduction of Wave 2, with Nintendo also stating that sales were approximately equal to those of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.[4] amiibo of Link were said to be the most popular, with Mario and Pikachu being the second and third most popular, respectively. Pre-orders for amiibo of Rosalina also broke sales records for Target, with the figurines selling out in only 35 minutes.[5] At the end of 2014, it was announced that amiibo had outsold Super Smash Bros. for Wii U by a factor of two to one, with over 2.6 million figurines being sold. [6]
Cross-compatibility
Games compatible with Super Smash Bros. series amiibo
The following games have effects when an amiibo from the Super Smash Bros. series is scanned:
| Game | amiibo | Function |
|---|---|---|
 Ace Combat 3D: Cross Rumble Plus |
            |
Unlocks skins for the player's fighter based on the scanned characters. |
| Code Name: S.T.E.A.M. |
    |
Makes the scanned character usable once per level, although they cannot be revived at checkpoints. |
 Hyrule Warriors |
|
Unlocks the Spinner weapon for Link. Permanent unlock. Gives the player a weapon for Link with at least three stars every time after the first. |
 |
Gives the player a weapon for that character with at least three stars. | |
 |
Gives the player a weapon with at least three stars, a random material, or a random number of rupees. Up to five can be scanned daily. | |
 Kirby and the Rainbow Curse |
 |
Unlocks infinite star dash for Kirby for one level per day. |
 |
Unlocks a Meta Knight mask for Kirby and increases the speed of his tap dash for one level per day. | |
 |
Unlocks a King Dedede hat for Kirby and gives two additional health bars for one level per day. | |
 Mario Kart 8 |
 |
Unlocks racing suits for the player's Mii themed after the scanned characters. Permanent unlock. |
| Mario Party 10 |
  |
Compatible with amiibo Party mode. |
|
Allows the player to play Scratch Bonus and win Mario Party points. | |
| One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X |
 |
Unlocks matching costumes for various playable characters; see here for more details. |
 Xenoblade Chronicles 3D |
 |
Awards tokens that can be used to unlock music and character models. |
Other series of amiibo compatible with Super Smash Bros.
The following amiibo from other release sets are compatible with Super Smash Bros. 4:
| Series name | Compatible amiibo |
|---|---|
| Super Mario |
|
Gallery
How to work amiibo figures with the Wii U.
Promotional art depicting Mario and Link's amiibo in Smash 4.
Trivia
- A level 50 Fox amiibo called "WaveShine" was entered into a small, local tournament in Canada as a joke; initially losing its first match, the amiibo ended up making it to the loser's semifinals before finally being knocked out by semi-professional Brawl smasher FireFly.
- Various amiibo with production defects have been discovered, with the first of these attaining notoriety being an amiibo of Samus with two arm cannons instead of just one on her right arm; it later sold for $2500 USD on eBay. Following its discovery, several reports of other defective amiibo also surfaced, with some of them also being sold on eBay.
References
- ^ Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U: amiibo
- ^ IGN: Super Smash Bros. Wii U Gameplay Demo -IGN Live: E3 2014
- ^ IGN: E3 2014: Nintendo on Amiibo, Smash Bros., and Custom Figurines
- ^ Nintendo Has Sold 710,000 Amiibo in the US
- ^ Target-Exclusive Rosalina amiibo Sold Out in Record Time
- ^ http://www.screwattack.com/news/amiibo-figures-outsold-smash-wii-u-nearly-2-1-2014
