Nintendo has just announced at an investor Q&A today that it will be bringing to life something that we’ve wanted ever since we heard the Wii U had NFC functionality: Nintendo figurines with NFC.
Yes, it’s true. The company, in the throws of a downward fiscal spiral, laid out the first of its NFC plans today, which it plans to showcase more of at E3. Last year Nintendo developed an internal group, dubbed NFP — for NFC Featured Platform and Nintendo Figurine Platform — to create themed figurines that can read and write user data across games. Develop Mario in Super Smash Bros and bring him over to a friend’s to use his upgraded skills in the latest Super Mario Galaxy game. Develop Link in the latest Legend of Zelda, and bring him into Nintendoland or as a character in an RPG or DLC for Mario Kart. (All these are hypothetical, duh.)
Where Skylanders and Disney Infinity games are stuck to their respective series, Nintendo can leverage theirs across an entire platform. Or a handheld! Nintendo’s President Satoru Iwata also revealed that an add-on device would be made available to let the figurines work with the 3DS through its infrared reader.
OR WHATEVER.
It’s Nintendo (finally) getting into the collectibles genre and leveraging IP better. I can imagine a special edition Metal Mario or an evolved Charizard or a Toon Link making appearances over the next few years. Money! The company needs it.
Just give me those figurines! I want!
More at E3. Where we’ll be salivating.
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