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Nintendo’s Amiibo are called Toys-to-Life collectibles, they are displayable figures of characters that appeared in Nintendo’s famous video games. Amiibo offers players in-game functionality that allows them to enjoy games to the fullest.
Generally speaking, Amiibo is a very well-known collectible that is no stranger to fans of Nintendo games. Due to the success of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, more and more new players have joined this community resulting in the demand for Amiibo to peak again. But what is Amiibo exactly? Why would you want to buy them? Let’s dive into this topic and find out the science behind the popularity of Amiibo.
1. What is Amiibo?
Amiibo is an action figure or card officially launched by Nintendo with virtual content embedded. Players only need to use the Switch controller to read the data in the Amiibo figure or card to get the special rewards in the game. Of course, the specific content players get differs from game to game. Simply put, Amiibo can also be understood as another form of DLC.
DLC refers to the “downloadable content” which is added to some games after they are released. Generally refers to the official downloadable packages released by the manufacturer after the game is released to expand the game content, such as adding new maps, characters, costumes, etc.
Amiibo is a relatively new collectible. Nintendo created it back in 2014 as a series of toys-to-life figurines to enter the market for toys. It was launched in November 2014, following the launch of Super Smash Bros. for their Wii U console. Now, you might have heard of toys-to-life products like the Skylanders and Disney Infinity, and they are some of the other toys-to-life products that were released around the same time, but none of them are as successful as Nintendo’s Amiibo. Despite the fact that Amiibo was not an essential part of your game experience, it offers you great value that elevates your immersion level.
Not only do they give you in-game functionality, Amiibo are just well-crafted action figures that you can show off to friends, making them hot sales items among collectors.
2. Different Kinds of Amiibo
The majority of Amiibo are small figurines you can put on a shelf, but some Amiibo also come in different forms. The NFC cards that Nintendo uses are so small that they can even fit inside playing cards.
Amiibo takes the form of:
- Figurines
- Playing cards
- Plush toys
- Cereal boxes
3. How Do You Use Amiibo?
Amiibo, typically come in the form of figurines, have a small NFC (Near Field Communication) chip built-in to their base. It is a chip that allows two devices in close range to exchange information. It’s the same technology that is used to make contactless payments available in stores.
Most Nintendo consoles in the market have a sensor built into them to read the NFC chip in an Amiibo. Just place your Amiibo close to your Nintendo console and it should read the content embedded in the chip. If you are not sure where the sensor is, here is a list of where it is located on a console.
- Nintendo Switch: The control stick on the right Joy-Con, or the Nintendo Switch logo on the Pro Controller.
- Wii U: The white rectangle icon on the left side of the Wii U GamePad, below the D-pad.
- New 3DS series: The bottom screen. Applies to the New Nintendo 2DS XL, New 3DS XL, and New 3DS.
- 3DS series: Requires the Nintendo NFC Reader/Writer Accessory, sold separately. Applies to the Nintendo 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS.
Individual Amiibo each have different in-game functionality for each game, and can be used in two ways: read/save and read-only. Some specific Amiibo can even be used in multiple games.
4. Read-Only Amiibo Functions
Most Amiibo in the market are meant for read-only functions and players use them to unlock special contents in the game. For example, if you scan the Wolf Link Amiibo in the game Breath of the Wild, you get to summon an adorable wolf companion who will be at your side and help you throughout the game. As many Zelda fans already know, this wolf is the main character of a previous game in the Zelda franchise, to think you can bring two Link together in one game. Ah, what a treat!
Also, did you know that you can scan Tears of the Kingdom Link Amiibo in its previous game, Breath of the Wild, and get a treasure chest that contains weapons, as well as some food for your character to cook with?
In many of these cases, Amiibo unlocks special content that you otherwise cannot get through normal gameplay. Although like we said before, none of these special contents is going to prevent you from enjoying your game, you might risk losing game experience on a whole other level if you ignore Amiibo.
5. Read and Save Amiibo Functionality
On top of the read-only type, some Amiibo also have the functionality of saving game data in their NFC chip. Take the example of the Super Smash Bros. series, you can scan a compatible Amiibo to create a “figure player”. This is an AI character that gets better and better in a fight as you battle against it. It is unique and only exists in Amiibo that you decide to store the training data. It offers you a whole new game experience and allows you to take your figure player to a friend’s house to fight against the same figure player.
Note for the read/save type Amiibo, each Amiibo can only store data from one game, which means that if you want to use Amiibo with different game data for other games, the original game data must be deleted before it is applied to your new game since it can only store data for one game at a time.
6. Amiibo Availability and Rarity
Like most collectibles, Amiibo’s availability and value vary greatly. Some Amiibo found in big box stores like Walmart, or online at Amazon, can be bought very cheap, but none of these sellers guarantee you any specific figures that you might need in your game.
As mentioned above with the Zelda franchise, Nintendo continues to release Amiibo alongside the launch of its new games. If you see a new figure that you’re interested in at a fair price, it’s worth grabbing. It is fair to say new Amiibo flew off the shelves in a matter of days due to high demand and fast expanding player community.
Our Nintendo fans at Sirius Gamez have listed 8 major Nintendo games that offer you great game experiences with the addition of Amiibo:
- Animal Crossing
- Monster Hunter
- The Legend of Zelda
- Super Mario series
- Mysteria
- Super Smash Bros.
- Yoshi’s Crafted World
- Metroid
- Kirby
By the way, there are many players on the Internet who share their Amiibo’s functionality, you can do some research to see if a particular Amiibo is the one you need for the special in-game content that you were looking for.
Now you know what Amiibo do and why they are popular collectables everyone wants. Aside from their functionality, they are just cool action figures that are made with solid craftsmanship. If you are a Nintendo fan or action figure collector, Amiibo is just the right collectible that you must consider!
