E3 2014: Nintendo’s amiibo figures sure are pretty cool up close [Gallery]

Yesterday we learned what the name of Nintendo’s new Skylanders-like figurine platform would be, amiibo, and so late afternoon we made a bee-line to check out them out in person. Official Only Verdict You Need: they’re pretty sweet looking, dude.

They’re about the size of the competition, at least in height. Sitting on puck-like pedestals, they’re clearly derived (thematically at least) from the character trophies earned in Super Smash Bros Melee. The figures on-site are just prototypes, more than likely hand-painted with intricate detail (just take a look at that Marth cape!) but they’re fabulous to look at.

The big difference between Skylanders, Infinity and Nintendo’s amiibo seems to be that the amiibo figures span the “short and plumpy” to “tall and extremely thin” spectrum. Link, in particular, looks as though he may be a fairly frail figure.

We’ll see how these *actually* end up being designed when they release this Fall alongside Smash Bros, but for now I’ll just keep walking past Nintendo’s booth hoping one happens to leap out of its glass cage and into my pocket, and my heart.