A distinguishable Nintendo presence on store shelves.
☆ NintendObs Event – Nintendo Q2 FY3/2015.
With “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U,” we will launch “amiibo,” a new category of products for us. amiibo is a series of figures equipped with NFC that can connect with video games. It is not only one example of Nintendo’s IP utilization strategy but it also enables us to achieve multiple things at the same time.
Firstly, amiibo figures are offered at an affordable price range when compared to packaged video game software. Even people who may not be able to purchase software frequently may be able to afford to purchase character figures one by one. This could spark interest in the game or contribute to maintaining use rates of our video game platforms.
The amiibo figure lineup for “Super Smash Bros.” will continue to be released even after this year-end sales season, and we hope that this will help to update store shelves. As store shelf space is limited, some amiibo will remain stocked on the shelves as staple choices while some will be limited-time offers which will cede their positions to new ones once they are sold out.
With these offerings, I believe the Nintendo characters lined up on shelves, which usually only contain standard-sized boxes, will have an outstanding presence, and this means a lot to us.
Even though amiibo will be compatible only with Wii U at the launch, we are proactively making progress on Nintendo 3DS compatibility. As the New Nintendo 3DS handheld contains an NFC reader/writer, it will be able to support amiibo after a software update. The Nintendo 3DS platform will also be able to do the same via an external NFC reader/writer, which is scheduled to be launched in 2015. With these offerings, we will increase the amiibo compatible software lineup for Nintendo 3DS.
amiibo is a new category of products for us that creates a new kind of value by being supported by multiple titles. We hope that by making amiibo figures compatible with multiple titles, consumers will be happy to carry the figures with them and will be eager to try them with new software.
In “Super Smash Bros. for Wii U,” amiibo is an in-game character that you battle and train, and it can play with you as your buddy or even your opponent.
Of course, amiibo support will vary depending on the title and this is only an example of the possibilities. We will offer further instances of amiibo compatability with various products next year.
— Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo
Source: Nintendo JP.
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