Pokémon Amiibo?

[The Outrage]

[video=youtube;odUjMhc6YgU]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odUjMhc6YgU[/video]

Nintendo introduced their own line of NFC figures at E3 in the form of Amiibos. While the first games that are expected to take advantage of this are all Mario games, there may be a potential for Amiibo in Pokemon games as well. The most obvious would be that Pokken Fighters we've heard about a long time ago that seems to not be surfacing. However....

...near the end of the video, Nintendo shows that they are developing a NFC peripheral for the 3DS. We've had something similar to this in the past--the e-reader. While the e-reader itself didn't prove to be too popular in North America NFC toys like Skylanders seem to be. It would be interesting to see how main series games will take advantage of NFC (hopefully in a way that doesn't make us go 'why didn't they just use wireless features') or whether future Nintendo handhelds will include NFC in general.

EDIT:
Here's an explanation of SSB4 Amiibo:

Takahashi: "I think the biggest distinction for the amiibo figures is first, we're releasing them with Smash Bros. and there will be figures for the different characters in the game. You can take the Mario amiibo and use it in Smash Bros., but then you'll be able to use it across different games that Mario appears in. For example, you can use the Smash Bros. Mario figure and use it in Mario Kart 8 when that functionality releases. You can also use that same Mario figure in Mario Party 10. So for the amiibo project in general, we're looking at having all of the figures be useable across a lot of Nintendo titles and not just the one game the figure was [visually] designed for.

To get technical, the amiibo is able to store data, and within the full data set you have this much data (mimics a large space with his pointer finger and thumb) which is reserved for Smash Bros. But then you have a subset of data (mimics roughly half of the space from the previous example) that says this is the Mario figure. Smash Bros will use the big chunk of data in the Smash Bros. amiibo, but the other games are able to read that this is a Mario figure through this other set of data that identifies the character, and that is how the characters are able to interact with the Mario amiibo.

When you use the Smash Bros. Mario amiibo in Smash Bros., it's able to do all of the different things designed for that game. When you take that amiibo and you use it in different games, it's not the Smash Bros. Mario, it's just a Mario. It's a more simple use for [amiibo functionality] but it's able to do those two things.

Takashi: "We probably won't prepare amiibo for every IP. We haven't finalized which ones we will just yet. It's tough to explain, but if there's something that particularly useful to have a dedicated amiibo for within a particular game, then we will probably create an amiibo line specifically in support of that."

Miyamoto: "So for example, if you look at the Mario amiibo from the Smash Bros. line, it's the Smash Bros. Mario, which is a little bit different from the normal Mario. We'll probably prepare a more standard Mario family line of amiibo characters that includes your typical Mario designs and typical Peach designs. Those figures would be the ones you use with Mario Party 10 or potentially with Mario Kart 8. As for Star Fox, we haven't decided what will happen when you put the Smash Bros. Star Fox amiibo on the GamePad yet, but I do want an Arwing amiibo (laughs).

Takashi: And the other thing is we're not putting any restrictions on size. We can make amiibo in a variety of size ranges. We could make a giant one. We could even make a giant robot amiibo (laughs)

These at least suggest that the Pikachu SSB4 Amiibo may have functionality in other Pokemon games. Given the cross-series possibilities, what if Pokken allowed us to transfer our Pokken Fighters into our XY or ORAS games and train them further, changing their movesets for the games? That would actually be a pretty interesting development.

 

[Silktree]

I see it being incorporated into ORAS as a loose nod to the e-Reader, much like the Pokéwalker being reminiscent of Pocket Pikachu and the original Mystery Gift feature. I doubt it will be very worthwhile, though.

 

[The Outrage]

@Silktree;
I'm not sure if they'd have the 3DS NFC peripheral in time, but including it with ORAS would be the best way to promote Amiibo sales for 3DS owners.

I'd like to see its application in future games. SSB4 has the Amiibos "train" and can be used as partners and opponents against the players. I personally wouldn't want to see Pokemon Amiibos where we train Pokemon, since we already do that in-game. However, I was thinking about what Game Freak was trying to do in XY with having friends around and people wanting to travel in groups. What if we can use Amiibos as secondary trainers in a future game? That would incorporate what SSB4 is doing with leveling up Amiibo as the trainers themselves would "grow stronger" as they play the game with you. It would be interesting as these trainers can actually be used across multiple games as well while retaining their original identities.

There is one interesting thing that ORAS could do with Amiibo if we're thinking current games. I have no doubt the Battle Frontier is under one of those clouds, and Emerald introduced the concept of the Apprentice. SSB4 claims that Amiibo would be much smarter than computer players, and we all know the dread of teaming up with NPCs. It would be quite interesting if we can train Amiibo apprentices who actually become smarter than NPC's depending on their level of training. It would make Multi-battles for people who can't find friends to play with all the time more accessible.

 

[King Robert]

@Silktree;
I'm not sure if they'd have the 3DS NFC peripheral in time, but including it with ORAS would be the best way to promote Amiibo sales for 3DS owners.

I'd like to see its application in future games. SSB4 has the Amiibos "train" and can be used as partners and opponents against the players. I personally wouldn't want to see Pokemon Amiibos where we train Pokemon, since we already do that in-game. However, I was thinking about what Game Freak was trying to do in XY with having friends around and people wanting to travel in groups. What if we can use Amiibos as secondary trainers in a future game? That would incorporate what SSB4 is doing with leveling up Amiibo as the trainers themselves would "grow stronger" as they play the game with you. It would be interesting as these trainers can actually be used across multiple games as well while retaining their original identities.

There is one interesting thing that ORAS could do with Amiibo if we're thinking current games. I have no doubt the Battle Frontier is under one of those clouds, and Emerald introduced the concept of the Apprentice. SSB4 claims that Amiibo would be much smarter than computer players, and we all know the dread of teaming up with NPCs. It would be quite interesting if we can train Amiibo apprentices who actually become smarter than NPC's depending on their level of training. It would make Multi-battles for people who can't find friends to play with all the time more accessible.

Huh, so I'd be the master and have a student? That's a pretty interesting idea, and if he could defeat me, then he'd be ready.

 

[Silktree]

I'm not sure if they'd have the 3DS NFC peripheral in time, but including it with ORAS would be the best way to promote Amiibo sales for 3DS owners.

Their website says that the first Amiibo series will be for the Wii U version of Super Smash Bros., which will probably be released after ORAS. But they don't have to release the peripheral alongside ORAS; the first Pokémon Battle e series was released 7 months after Ruby and Sapphire's release.

It would be quite interesting if we can train Amiibo apprentices who actually become smarter than NPC's depending on their level of training. It would make Multi-battles for people who can't find friends to play with all the time more accessible.

If it were just a random apprentice like the original Emerald feature, then using Amiibo wouldn't really be justified. There would be greater appeal if characters from other games were utilized this way, specifically the player characters.

 

[The Outrage]

If it were just a random apprentice like the original Emerald feature, then using Amiibo wouldn't really be justified. There would be greater appeal if characters from other games were utilized this way, specifically the player characters.

Given the Amiibos can save data onto them, I'd like to think you'd have options of customizing their appearance in-game.

I'm not sure how I'd like PC's appearing this way. If they're just there to battle you, its a bit of a waste of $15. If they're involved in the games more it might create a continuity snarl. I also don't really see them as becoming "customizable" in the same way an apprentice could be. For non-ORAS Amiibos, I'd actually like to see them traveling around with the player much like the XY friends were supposed to--except they'd have actual development in their teams.

Though I would be up for quality Pokemon figurines like the Red Nendroid in general.

 

[Silktree]

a waste of $15.

Lost interest already. No character is worth that much, no matter the functionality.

 

[The Outrage]

a waste of $15.

Lost interest already. No character is worth that much, no matter the functionality.

Not entirely sure what the cost is, but I think people who said that are basing it on Skylanders since I can't find official confirmation of their cost.

However, what if it wasn't a single character? How much does a booster pack go for these days?

I don't imagine kids buying NPC figurines, so to market this to them, they'd still obviously use the Pokemon rather than the humans. It would actually be cool if it could unlock a set of characters. Though, as I understand it, the Skylanders figurines simply unlock pre-programmed data in the games and if they do that with Pokemon, that's an awful cash grab since they offer events (when they used to exist) for free.

 

[ReadsALotOfBooks]

@The Outrage; your idea is what I still hope from playing online with others: you being in the same overworld, and splitting ways when needed, working together when needed.

 

[The Outrage]

Here's an explanation of SSB4 Amiibo:

Takahashi: "I think the biggest distinction for the amiibo figures is first, we're releasing them with Smash Bros. and there will be figures for the different characters in the game. You can take the Mario amiibo and use it in Smash Bros., but then you'll be able to use it across different games that Mario appears in. For example, you can use the Smash Bros. Mario figure and use it in Mario Kart 8 when that functionality releases. You can also use that same Mario figure in Mario Party 10. So for the amiibo project in general, we're looking at having all of the figures be useable across a lot of Nintendo titles and not just the one game the figure was [visually] designed for.

To get technical, the amiibo is able to store data, and within the full data set you have this much data (mimics a large space with his pointer finger and thumb) which is reserved for Smash Bros. But then you have a subset of data (mimics roughly half of the space from the previous example) that says this is the Mario figure. Smash Bros will use the big chunk of data in the Smash Bros. amiibo, but the other games are able to read that this is a Mario figure through this other set of data that identifies the character, and that is how the characters are able to interact with the Mario amiibo.

When you use the Smash Bros. Mario amiibo in Smash Bros., it's able to do all of the different things designed for that game. When you take that amiibo and you use it in different games, it's not the Smash Bros. Mario, it's just a Mario. It's a more simple use for [amiibo functionality] but it's able to do those two things.

Takashi: "We probably won't prepare amiibo for every IP. We haven't finalized which ones we will just yet. It's tough to explain, but if there's something that particularly useful to have a dedicated amiibo for within a particular game, then we will probably create an amiibo line specifically in support of that."

Miyamoto: "So for example, if you look at the Mario amiibo from the Smash Bros. line, it's the Smash Bros. Mario, which is a little bit different from the normal Mario. We'll probably prepare a more standard Mario family line of amiibo characters that includes your typical Mario designs and typical Peach designs. Those figures would be the ones you use with Mario Party 10 or potentially with Mario Kart 8. As for Star Fox, we haven't decided what will happen when you put the Smash Bros. Star Fox amiibo on the GamePad yet, but I do want an Arwing amiibo (laughs).

Takashi: And the other thing is we're not putting any restrictions on size. We can make amiibo in a variety of size ranges. We could make a giant one. We could even make a giant robot amiibo (laughs)

The bolded parts might actually make it worth the money. Apparently, the Skylanders Amiibo simply 'unlock' pre-existing game content (who knows if its the same for SSB4 Amiibo)--it would be interesting to see how a Mario Amiibo interacts with a Pokemon game. Perhaps we'll get NPC's pre-programmed into the game that have themed teams to battle based on the Amiibo. You aren't buying the Amiibo for Pokemon, but you get a nice little bonus in it regardless.

Of course, how would a SSB4 Pikachu Amiibo interact with its native game series? The explanation above certainly suggests that these Amiibos would be able to interact with other games they appear in even if they weren't made for them. So now, we have a confirmation of 3 Amiibos (assuming all SSB characters get one) that can potentially influence our games.

Based on the image in the above article and in this one, Amiibos at least seem to be fairly good quality figurines. If I had spare money I would probably have purchased them simply for collector's purposes, so its nice that they'd have a bonus (tbh, I'm more excited about SSB figurines than I am about their SSB function)

 

[HyruleAlpha]

Part of the charm of Pokémon is collecting all kinds of monsters. Being able to have a physical form of those monsters makes the experience that much better. I'm not a collector, but I can understand it could have the potential to expand the Pokémon franchise.

 

[Osprey]

I can already see this happening: Pokemon events will not be distributed for free, but will come in the form of a Pokemon figurine. That thing will "come to life" once used, and won't work again (y'know so people won't swap theirs around with friends). And I detest this idea. All the way through. Maybe I won't mind a Charizard X in a badass pose, but ripping me off $15 for something that used to be free would make me furious.

 

[The Outrage]

@BlackOsprey;
That's jumping the gun a bit, don't you think? Though I could see them doing that occasionally to transfer special Pokemon, I doubt that Nintendo would allow for it given that the whole Amiibo line is advertised as "getting more for your buck" than Disney's or Activision's take on NFC. A one-time use doesn't work if that's what they're doing and literally no one is stupid enough not to raise that flag and cause a massive scandal.

As you can see, they're actually planning for Amiibos to have some cross-game applications. Even if we don't get a Pokemon Amiibo line, it would be interesting for ORAS and games going forward to have Amiibo capabilities so that we can unlock special trainers (meant to be avatars of the Amiibo character) to either battle or trade with in our games. We'd finally get to see what type of Pokemon Link or Mario would use. It would be a nice bonus for people who play Pokemon and are fans of Nintendo's other franchises.

Besides, they make enough money peddling legendaries as movie promotions. They've already made it so that serial codes are included with the purchase of XY for a limited time period, but even then, its just Pokemon you could have gotten already.

tl;dr let's not devlove this talk into "GAME FREAK IS GOING TO STEAL OUR MONEY" conspiracies, but instead imagine how this could be used to advance the games. Game Freak could already charge us for "DLC expansions" for new Pokemon yet they haven't so no reason to think they'd waste time on toys to do that.

 

[Joshawott]

(Random point: a Nintendo employee has confirmed that "amiibo" is always spelt like that. Never capitalised and it's both the singular and plural is "amiibo").

Anyways, I think at the moment the amiibo brand and functionality is uncharted territory. Although we know the technology is also going to be used in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Kart 8, Mario Party 10 and Yoshi's Woolly World, we don't know how they will be used in games other than Super Smash Bros. for Wii U (and presumably, the 3DS version once amiibo support comes to that platform).
Also, we don't know which characters will be receiving figures yet. Sakurai said that he hopes for all playable characters in the upcoming Super Smash Bros. will receive them, which is rather telling in that although they're likely to, it might be confirmed yet that all of them will be available as amiibo. If they do, then at the very least we will have figures of Pikachu, Charizard, Lucario and Greninja (only Pikachu is 100% confirmed at this stage). Is amiibo are intended to be used across a wide variety of makes, it makes sense for the Pokémon figures to be used in Pokémon games, but how they will be is a rather interesting thought.

The Vs. Recorder in XY already has the option to let you have a mock battles against the teams you've saved battles of, but I do like the suggestion here of having an amiibo figure that is capable of recording the information of your team, enabling you to have mock battles against people. In those instances though, as both players will need to be together with their 3DS consoles, I have to ask why people don't just an actual battle?

I think one way of looking at this shouldn't really be how Pokémon can make use of amiibo as a figure-to-game platform, but perhaps, how Pokémon could make use of amiibo as a cross-system NFC opportunity? For example, imagine if a future Pokémon title comes bundled with a standard amiibo (for the sake of argument, something basic like a Pokéball or to be cool, it could be an amiibo of the version mascot). This amiibo could be used to say, transfer battle videos from your 3DS game's Vs. Recorder, which could then be used with the Wii U GamePad's NFC reader and a free eShop application to watch saved battle videos on your larger TV screen. Maybe there could also be a facility where people can upload their teams onto the Nintendo Network (as opposed to just battle videos), where they will be able to be downloaded for you to save to your amiibo and either directly battle yourself or run simulated battles against your team.
At various post-XY release events I've been to, even Nintendo have struggled to project battles onto the big screen (there has been unit failures and the realisation that some of their methods don't work with downloadable copies of the game). If amiibo could save our teams and let us battle on the big screen via a native Wii U app, it could be really useful.

I see it being incorporated into ORAS as a loose nod to the e-Reader, much like the Pokéwalker being reminiscent of Pocket Pikachu and the original Mystery Gift feature. I doubt it will be very worthwhile, though.

amiibo isn't launching on the Nintendo 3DS until 2015, so I wonder if GameFreak would even bother incorporating any compatibility into those games when they could just save it for whatever game they plan to release after OR/AS. Sure, you said that the first e-Reader set wasn't released until R/S had been out for 7 months, but as OR/AS were announced only 6 months after the release of XY, I wonder if GameFreak will even be thinking of the Hoenn remakes when that time comes around.

a waste of $15.

Lost interest already. No character is worth that much, no matter the functionality.

Not entirely sure what the cost is, but I think people who said that are basing it on Skylanders since I can't find official confirmation of their cost.

Reggie Fils-Aime stated in an interview that amiibo will be priced similarly to Disney Infinity and Skylanders figures.

 

[The Outrage]

I think one way of looking at this shouldn't really be how Pokémon can make use of amiibo as a figure-to-game platform, but perhaps, how Pokémon could make use of amiibo as a cross-system NFC opportunity? For example, imagine if a future Pokémon title comes bundled with a standard amiibo (for the sake of argument, something basic like a Pokéball or to be cool, it could be an amiibo of the version mascot). This amiibo could be used to say, transfer battle videos from your 3DS game's Vs. Recorder, which could then be used with the Wii U GamePad's NFC reader and a free eShop application to watch saved battle videos on your larger TV screen. Maybe there could also be a facility where people can upload their teams onto the Nintendo Network (as opposed to just battle videos), where they will be able to be downloaded for you to save to your amiibo and either directly battle yourself or run simulated battles against your team.
At various post-XY release events I've been to, even Nintendo have struggled to project battles onto the big screen (there has been unit failures and the realisation that some of their methods don't work with downloadable copies of the game). If amiibo could save our teams and let us battle on the big screen via a native Wii U app, it could be really useful.

Cross-game amiibo are actually what I'm interested in right now, however I don't see why we need an amiibo (something that at the lowest costs $8 if going by current NFC figure prices) to transfer videos from the 3DS to the WiiU. I'd like to think that the WiiU and 3DS would have better communication with each other in the years to come.

I've talked about my amiibo ideas for cross-game possibilities and Pokken in the above posts already, but perhaps amiibo may bring us back to another age of Stadium-like games. Maybe people don't really want their children bringing their expensive 3DS's around where they can lose it, but these amiibo allow you to upload your teams in a WiiU Stadium game and battle. You'll have your party of 6, plus a box of substitutes for your team when you load them up in the game.

Of course, the question for these trainer-like amiibo would be what they would look like. Do human figurines really sell that much?

 

[Joshawott]

I think one way of looking at this shouldn't really be how Pokémon can make use of amiibo as a figure-to-game platform, but perhaps, how Pokémon could make use of amiibo as a cross-system NFC opportunity? For example, imagine if a future Pokémon title comes bundled with a standard amiibo (for the sake of argument, something basic like a Pokéball or to be cool, it could be an amiibo of the version mascot). This amiibo could be used to say, transfer battle videos from your 3DS game's Vs. Recorder, which could then be used with the Wii U GamePad's NFC reader and a free eShop application to watch saved battle videos on your larger TV screen. Maybe there could also be a facility where people can upload their teams onto the Nintendo Network (as opposed to just battle videos), where they will be able to be downloaded for you to save to your amiibo and either directly battle yourself or run simulated battles against your team.
At various post-XY release events I've been to, even Nintendo have struggled to project battles onto the big screen (there has been unit failures and the realisation that some of their methods don't work with downloadable copies of the game). If amiibo could save our teams and let us battle on the big screen via a native Wii U app, it could be really useful.

Cross-game amiibo are actually what I'm interested in right now, however I don't see why we need an amiibo (something that at the lowest costs $8 if going by current NFC figure prices) to transfer videos from the 3DS to the WiiU. I'd like to think that the WiiU and 3DS would have better communication with each other in the years to come.

That was my thought too, but maybe the use of amiibo as a middle-step could reduce latency between the two systems and wireless interference? One thing I noticed in the number of events I have been to is occasionally, the organisers have had to make shout-outs for people to stop using the wireless communications as to not confuse those trying to set up tournament matches. The introduction of infra-red has helped reduce this, but the issue does still crop up.

I imagine that for the earlier rounds, it would be much more efficient to just have people use their 3DS consoles as they currently do, but for Top 16 matches and such, the ability to have battles on the big screen without some convoluted, dedicated contraption would probably save a lot of money and effort for Nintendo - when they could just supply events with a Wii U unit with the game installed and an amiibo NFC pad for 3DS games.

I've talked about my amiibo ideas for cross-game possibilities and Pokken in the above posts already, but perhaps amiibo may bring us back to another age of Stadium-like games. Maybe people don't really want their children bringing their expensive 3DS's around where they can lose it, but these amiibo allow you to upload your teams in a WiiU Stadium game and battle. You'll have your party of 6, plus a box of substitutes for your team when you load them up in the game.

Of course, the question for these trainer-like amiibo would be what they would look like. Do human figurines really sell that much?

That would be a really cool idea, especially as I have heard horror stories of people having their consoles stolen at events.

In regards to what the amiibo could look like and if they'd sell, in my post I suggested that such an amiibo would be bundled with the game, like the Wireless Adapter with FRLG and the PokéWalker with HGSS. That would obviously cut out the sales part - as they would sell as much as the game(s) . With appearance, maybe a standard design like a PokéBall or the bundled game's version mascot? Maybe if the idea is to release them separately instead, this function could be compatible with the Pokémon Smash Bros-branded amiibo, as well as amiibo of the starter Pokémon Nintendo could release?

Using the game protagonists as amiibo could be difficult, as although we have the base designs, Gen VI now gives us the option to swap out clothing and customise things like skin and hair colour and I imagine that if they had trainer amiibo, people would want one that looks as much as their in-game avatar as possible.