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- Help, my child wants an amiibo - what's that?!?
- And then what do you get from it?
- Our conclusion
Help, my child wants an amiibo - what's that?!?
Many children want an "amiibo" for Christmas this year - and parents shrug their shoulders. So what is that? We betray it!
"Mom, I want an amiibo!" - "Oh, well ... okay ... and what is that?"
amiibo (by the way always written in small letters and also in the majority simply "amiibo", there is no plural) are small figures, which exist only since end of November in Europe. They represent the well-known characters from the Nintendo world, so Super Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Bowser, Link etc.
These figures have built in their socket a chip that can connect to Nintendo consoles to exchange data. However, your child also needs certain Nintendo consoles: In the "Wii U", the amiibo have to touch the gamepad to exchange data, in "Nintendo 3DS" and "2DS" your child needs a special accessory that will be released in 2015 . For every console and game that appeared before December 2014, an update is needed to use the amiibo characters - but that's logical if you want to use new and "old" technology together.
And then what do you get from it?
It all depends on which game your child plays. So far only a few games are compatible with the amiibo.
"Super Smash Bros." for Wii U is the first game in which the amiibo play a bigger role : the character you hold over the gamepad appears virtually in the game. She can then be specifically trained - and come either as a combat companion or as a sparring partner used.
In "Mario Kart 8" and "Hyrule Warriors" certain content is unlocked by means of certain amiibo. So on "Mario Kart 8" the Mii characters get costumes from certain (not all) amiibo figures. If, for example, a Mario character is read in, you can unlock a Mario costume for the Mii racer. In "Hyrule Warriors", you unlock an exclusive weapon using the link figure (and only the link figure).
The games "Mario Party 10", "Yoshi's Woolly World", "Kirby and the Rainbow Brush" and "Captain Toad Treasure Tracker" are compatible with the amiibo and available from the beginning of 2015. Over the next few months, of course, many more amiibo figures and compatible games are planned.
Our conclusion
The figures are relatively cheap with 15 euros and look good on the shelf, but we would recommend to wait a bit longer with the acquisition of the figures.
Your child could be disappointed because so far the amiibo can not do much .
In just one game ("Super Smash Bros" for Wii U), the characters are already bringing something, and in the other two games they are just bringing a few - more or less meaningful - gadgets (see above) ... To the amiibo am To use Nintendo 3DS or 2DS, you need an accessory that will not be available until 2015.
So: either warn your child (because we understand that it's best for the kids if they're among the first to have a great new toy) or maybe it can wait until his birthday, because more figures and amiibo-compatible games should come in early 2015 on the market.
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