Pop Culture Insider » Pokémon Exec Interested in Amiibo Support

Pokémon Exec Interested in Amiibo Support
by GameSpot | October 14, 2014 at 3:00 pm

The producer of the upcoming Pokémon games for 3DS says he is open-minded about adding Amiibo support for future games in the series.

Junichi Masuda, the producer of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, told GameSpot that Amiibo support would be considered if it provided something new to future Pokémon games.

Pokémon series developer Game Freak has already used the Wii U GamePad's NFC technology in a previous download-only game, Pokémon Rumble U, where figurines of Pikachu and co would be used to create more powerful versions of their in-game counterparts.

But Masuda would be interested in extending this idea to Amiibo support if it would introduce further gameplay elements.

"You might be aware that Pokemon as a brand used NFC for Pokemon Rumble U for the Wii U," he told GameSpot.

"Not in the exact same way as that, but if we can find some really cool way out to use Amiibo with NFC, and add some new type of gameplay, then I think we'd definitely be supportive of using it in the future."

Masuda's work on Nintendo's money-spinning series dates all the way back to the debut titles, Pokemon Red and Blue, which shipped for the Game Boy in 1996.

Elsewhere in his interview with GameSpot, Masuda offered comments on why Game Freak is making Pokémon games easier, whether we'll ever see a straight up reboot of the franchise, and why some of the hardcore elements are becoming easier.

Amiibo are plastic miniatures of some of Nintendo's most iconic characters. With a built-in NFC technology, these toys can interact with certain Nintendo games in various ways, though the specifics are not clear. A previous example cited by Nintendo is, when a Link Amiibo is adjoined to Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, that character then becomes playable in-game.

The first Nintendo game set to support Amiibo is Super Smash Bros for Wii U, and Nintendo has now revealed an initial list of other games that will support the toys in some form. They are:

Currently, the 2DS, the 3DS, and the 3DS XL do not support Amiibo technology, which is why Nintendo is set to release a new version of the handheld with NFC capability built in. Nintendo will also sell an adapter for existing 3DS models that will allow Amiibo toys to work with the system.

From November 28, the previously announced initial wave of Amiibo figures will ship across Europe and the US--these include: Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Pikachu, Kirby, and Marth.

Then, from December 19, retailers will begin to stock Amiibo figurines of Zelda, Diddy Kong, Luigi, Little Mac, Pit and Captain Falcon.

Take a closer look at some of the Amiibo figurines below.