Nintendo Meets Skylanders As The Company Moves Into The NFC Figure Business

During Nintendo’s investors meeting, Satoru Iwata revealed that Nintendo is planning to release franchise themed NFC figures that wiII be formally revealed during E3. Similar to figure crossover games like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, the plan is to release statuettes of characters like Mario and integrate them into a variety of games, This completely original idea stands out a bit more since Iwata teased that these figures will carry over into a variety of games. And no, by that they don’t mean sequels, but the plan is for them to be compatible with multiple Wii U games featuring different worlds.

It’s easy to forget that Nintendo has had this concept in place since before the Wii U launched since it hasn’t been used outside of Pokemon Rumble Blast, and that game has proven to be a blip on the radar in terms of popularity. Rayman Legends teased bringing Rabbids and Assassin’s Creed‘s Ezio into the game using this method, but the idea was ultimately scrapped, (along with its exclusivity). I had thought this concept was going the way of the vitality sensor, but it seems like the Japanese game maker has had this trump card up their sleeve for quite some time.

But the question must be asked; how successful will this be when both of its competitors are releasing annual installments including the recently announced Disney Infinity 2.0? How much is too much? And how am I supposed to find space do all these things? Hopefully, we’ll learn more about the games these guys work with come E3, but until then, tell us whether you’re on board with Nintendo jumping into the collectable craze, and keep checking back for updates as they become available.