E3 2014: Nintendo announces Amiibo, its line of Wii U figurines

Nintendo today officially revealed and named its long-awaited line of NFC (near-field technology) figurines, confirming that Super Smash Bros. Wii U will be the first game to make use of them.

Dubbed Amiibo, the figurines act as a veritable memory card for compatible games. In the case of Super Smash Bros. Wii U, each figure will store its own unique stats and fighting style, and will evolve as they are played.

Any Wii U will recognize the =chips embedded in Amiibos simply by placing them on the gamepad, and will then load the characters into compatible games, making use of the unique data stored on the figure.

Amiibo support is also planned for Mario Kart 8 and will release soon. In addition, after the implementation of Nintendo’s NFC tech, Disney Infinity and Skylanders figures will gain unique functionality on Wii U.