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News

Amiibo Figures Can Only Store Data From One Game At A Time

by Mike Futter on Nov 12, 2014 at 12:52 AM

Nintendo Japan's website for Amiibo figures reveals a new bit of information about the figures. They'll only be able to store data from a single compatible game at a time.

The publisher has been touting Amiibos as having cross-game functionality, but that appears to be more limited than originally suspected. It isn't clear just yet how much of an impact this will have on their usefulness, though.

Right now, we only know that the toys store data from Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Implementation in Mario Kart 8 and Hyrule Warriors seems to simply detect the presence of the figure rather than require them to save data.

In Mario Kart 8, players can unlock a Mii racing suit that apes the look of the character placed on the NFC zone of the gamepad. In Hyrule Warriors, connecting a figure unlocks weapons and items.

Amiibo figures will also be used for Yoshi's Wooly World, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Mario Party 10, and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse. How exactly the toys will be used in those games isn't yet known, and it is possible that Super Smash Bros. will be the only game in the bunch that stores data.

We've reached out to Nintendo for more information. We'll update should we receive a response.

[Source: Nintendo Japan via CVG]

 

Our Take
If there is even a single additional game that uses the Amiibo data storage feature, this is a significant ding to the usefulness of the figures. Who is going to want to dump their level 50 Smash Bros. Mario? And if there isn't another game that makes use of the storage feature? That's not great news for Amiibo support and Nintendo's commitment to the product. This isn't a great situation no matter how you look at it.