Amiibo’s have been flying off shelves left and right into our lives ever since the release of Nintendo’s smashing fighter back in November of last year. These NFC figurines are in a competitive market too and they’re performing admirably against Skylanders, and Disney Infinity figurines. Which is impressive when you consider Disney’s characters are among the most recognizable characters for people of all ages, add in their recent acquisition of Marvel to the mix, and you start to see the reach Nintendo’s IPs have across generations of people.
People are even going to great lengths to catch them all like Pokémon outside of gaming outlets to online retailers such as eBay, for a high price. These little characters, which are brought to life on Nintendo’s current hardware systems, have become quite the collector’s item. But for those who are looking for a little more out of them, Nintendo may have found a solution for you.
Nintendo recently announced in their latest Nintendo Direct on April 1st, that amiibo TAP: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits would be coming to Wii U for free this Spring, no joke. You can tap your amiibo on the Wii U Gamepad to play highlights from; you guessed it, Nintendo’s greatest titles across the Nintendo Entertainment System’s diverse catalogue. You can cycle through 9 scenes from whatever game you get by simply tapping the NFC reader on the Gamepad. I say whatever games because the franchise that your character belongs from doesn’t necessary mean you get a classic from their franchise. Nothing is predetermined so the surprise is; you can have the same amiibo as a friend and get a completely different game. For example, if you both have Link, from the Legend of Zelda franchise, one could get a Metroid title, or F-Zero. But there’s a catch, you can only play up to three minutes of that title. So Nintendo is encouraging you to own more than one so you can try out as much classics as your wallet can afford.
Now the argument is, who cares? Most gamers have already played these games; probably even beat them. Why would one waste space on their limited internal flash memory to play these timed trials? This isn’t the first time Nintendo dabbled with timed trials either. Dating back to Smash Bros. Brawl, Nintendo introduced ‘Masterpieces’ to the franchise that serve the same purpose, no amiibo needed. The difference is your time varies depending on the title, whereas amiibo TAP: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits won’t.
But his new initiative from Nintendo is not for the hardcore gamer, it’s for those that didn’t get the chance to grow up with these characters. It’s for the gamer that doesn’t necessarily play more than what Nintendo dishes out every year. These gamers are looking for something quick to play and drop whenever they please without the worry of losing progress.
This free download will introduce young and old gamers all over to when Nintendo’s games actually packed a punch. When they didn’t have the casual gamer in mind. When there wasn’t an invisible line drawn to label what level of gamer you were. To a time where there wasn’t any hand holding or super guides to help you save the day. They were just made to be, interactive entertainment. They were also a tad more rewarding when you finished them. Getting a sneak peak to these games will show these gamers how far gaming has come along since then, as well as how many assists have been added to accommodate a less experienced gamer. So if the right people get their hands on the download and own a fair amount of amiibos, Nintendo could see a boost in revenue on the eShop to some of their fan favourite titles when it launches this spring.
Nintendo’s figurines have also appeared in other exclusives such as Mario Kart 8 and Mario Party 10 to name a few, and now Amiibos are getting their own game, sort of.
What do you think of Amiibo TAP: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits? Are you going to download it?
