Nintendo Is Interested In Bringing amiibo Support To Smartphones

Amazing! This will make tons of money. More money means more Zeldas.

If they do it, I hope some of the rarer waves get reprints. I still need Ness, Pit and the less common Fire Emblem peeps.

Does anyone else remember a few years back when Apple removed NFC from their iPhones, saying that no one really used it (then later put it back in when things like Oyster cards started to take off)? Or did I just dream that?

In any case, this is such a no-brainer, I'm surprised it hasn't been mentioned before. Guess from Nintendo's PoV, it's just that they needed to get a bit further along with mobile development before being able to talk about it

I think this is an excellent idea. Amiibo have been a huge success among those who already own Nintendo consoles...imagine if they opened up to a whole new market! It's also a great opportunity to give some of their lesser-known IPs some great exposure. I can also see them being integrated well within a free-to-play environment.

Please do and leave the consoles and handhelds free of their scourge.

@tysonfury That's simply not true. Nintendo made a truckload of money from the Wii and DS but we only got an original mainline Zelda on Wii in its dying days and we still haven't got one on Wii U. And it could be argued that the NX will have the definitive version of BOTW. Besides, Zelda games take time.

Not really surprising now that Nintendo is now properly committed to mobile development going forwards.

I don't envy Nintendo trying to get their apps/games to run on as many Android devices as possible; the specs can be so different between devices. It must be much easier to develop for Apple with the more stable platform, so not surprised that gets first mention.

It makes sense to expand amiibo to mobile, but NFC is so easy to crack as it is at the moment that waiting for better encryption is probably a good idea.

@Damo Just looked it up and as far as I can tell, iPhone 6 was the first with NFC. Someone correct me if I'm wrong...

Then, HHD Amiibo cards + New 50 Amiibo cards for ACNL + Amiibo Festival amiibos soon can be used for Animal Crossing mobile version.

Makes sense. If the tech is there and Nintendo are going into Mobile, would be silly not to really.

Maybe there's a Nintendo party games using amiibo coming to mobile phones.
@Sabrewing a quick search on amazon will bring up those Amiibo. They're pretty easy to find.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE

Zelda games released on the 3DS
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (2011) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D (2011)
The Legend of Zelda (2011) (Virtual Console)
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (2011) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition (2011) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap (2011) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages (2013) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons (2013) (Virtual Console)
The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds (2013)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D (2015)
The Legend of Zelda: Tri Force Heroes (2015)
Hyrule Warriors Legends (2016)

Don't you hate it when you forget Nintneod also has a handheld? I do it all the time.

Oh, and I'll save you the trouble -

Almost all of those are ports, not new games - though a lot of people were excited for OoT 3D ad MM 3D and would probably argue they are "newish" games b/c of the 3D - only 2 of those games were new, and ALBW was basically a remake, and HWL wasn't a real Zelda game and it was just a Wii U port anyway.

All that said, 3DS still got mor ethan it's fair share of Zelda games, 2 new, 2 "upgraded" and a whole lot of VC. Maybe @tysonfury doesn't even own a Wii U, only a 3DS?

Anyways, feel free to just reply "touche`" so that they don't spend all day arguing.

If if makes you feel any better, iOS will probably get Happy Home Designer: Hyrule Castle Edition w/ full amiibo support before we get BotW.

Sounds like a very smart idea... hopefully they do, Nintendo can get rich again and start making some games that don't sell as well as ye standard Mario (like Wario Land or Metroid )

@rjejr I knew someone would respond like this. I said "Wii U" and I said "original" and "mainline". Otherwise I could have mentioned VC games on the Wii U eShop, Twilight Princess HD, Wind Waker HD, Hyrule Warriors, etc.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Yes, YOU did say "mainline", "Wii U" and "original". But you weren't just posting a comment expressing your own opinion, you were replying to this comment -

"Amazing! This will make tons of money. More money means more Zeldas."

And in your reply you were telling that person that they were wrong - "That's simply not true." - That is your exact sentence as typed - "That's simply not true PERIOD" The original comment you replied to didn't mention "Wii U", "mainline" or original, it simply said "more Zeldas". So what's the point of you replying to a comment about "more Zelda" games - which Ntineod has plenty of on it's handheld - and telling that person that they are wrong - "That's simply not true." - and then saying you were only talking about "mainline", "original" and "Wii U", but all that person said was "more Zeldas". That just doesn't make any sense.

If you are going to so clearly state that somebody is wrong - "That's simply not true." - then you need to be talking about the same thing. You can't say "Wii U doesn't have any new original mainline Zelda games" therefore somebody is wrong for saying Nintneod makes Zelda games, b/c Nitneod has been making Zelda games.

I knew you couldn't just reply back "touche`", but I really was hoping.

Fantastic idea- finally Nintendo are starting to think creatively about their products again. Just so long as they don't lose sight of their true value in the console business.

@rjejr I take your point.

The beauty of mobile games is that people can play them anywhere whenever they have a spare few minutes. However, people wouldn't be able to use the amiibo features unless they have the amiibo with them, so I can't see this being very appealing to most casual players.

Nintendo want to create a wider audience to sell their Amiibo to? Why on earth would they want to do that?!?!

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Thanks.

And it's ok, I'm pretty sure any minute now that guy is going to show up and say he doens't even own a 3DS, only a Wii U, he was talking about original mainline Zelda games and I'm going to look like an idiot, b/c that's the way my life usually goes.

@rjejr You should have also mentioned all the Nintendo DS Zelda games. There were some great games released on that system as well!

@Sabrewing Ness, Robin, Lucina, Palutena, Samus, Mega Man, Sonic, and GOLD MARIO are all getting restocked!

@crimsontadpoles I could see casual players buying the Yarn Yoshis/POOCHY and the amiibo cards.

@CosmoXY DS was last gen, I'm more of a "What have you done for me this gen?" kind of guy myself.

Wii U goes down in history as one of, if not the only, Nintendo console to not get it's own Zelda game as BotW is also on NX.

And every day I wonder when Ntineod will say - "Zelda is too powerful of a game to run on Wii U, please understand."

Now I know you are thinking, "oh no, Nintnedo would never do that." But there is a history of platform jumping on their consoles.

Dinosaur Planet on N64 became Starfox Adventures on Gamecube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfQbUWLKje0

Pikmin 3 was a Wii game until Miyamoto moved it to Wii U.

http://nintendoeverything.com/miyamoto-says-is-was-challenging-to-move-pikmin-3-from-wii-to-wii-u-making-pikmin-accessible-difficulties-with-portable-pikmin/

Funny part of that article, near the end when he says they couldn't do Pikmin on DS or 3DS b/c then it wouldn't be a Pikmin game any more. Guess he changed his mind.

So I do think Zelda BotW will be on Wii U, but I'm at like 95%. 2 years ago at E3 2014 I was at 100%. Game Awards in Dec 2014 I was at 100%. In 2015 when they delayed it until 2016 I was at 100%. But the delay until 2017 and NX also getting it got me thinking. And It's thinking about that 5% that's bothering me.

OK, kind of lost my way there. You were chiming in to agree w/ me and I basically replied w/ a rebuttal, sorry about that.

I don't disagree w/ sliegeach on the Wii U front, Zelda was due out in 2015, 2016, now 2017. It was supposed to be a Wii U exclusive built from the ground up for the Wii U and Gamepad usage and now they have taken out the interactive map. But worse than all of that for me is one person telling another person they are just flat out wrong. No call for that. 2 people can both be right. Just b/c 1 is right doesn't make the other person wrong.

@JamesCoote Yeah I think you're correct. iPhone 6 is the first to support Apple Pay. amiibo support for my phone would be welcome, yes.

Actually saw this one coming. Surprised that Skylanders and Lego Dimensions didn't try it too, or even a different cheaper company.

This is good for nintendo, as they can make even more money, but hopefully all this mobile apps, doesn't take them away from the NX when it comes out, and keeps them away from making great games for it...like it kind of happened already on the Wii U.

@Mega_Yarn_Poochy I don't care about those ones myself. I just want Gold Mega Man.

Well, they need to use amiibos for something

Honestly, I'm surprised that it hadn't been done yet... Actually I probably shouldn't. Nintendo wasn't quite ready for mobile when amiibo launched. Though maybe my dream of an amiibo app will come true. I even think I've mentioned it on here before.

They could develop an amiibo locker app that's free to download and put digital amiibo up for sale in the app. Buying a digital amiibo would not only unlock amiibo functionality, but gives you a bio on the character and what games he/she were featured in with links to the appropriate games on the eshop.

To use the amiibo in the actual game, you just open the app, select the amiibo you want to use and tap it on the device. The amiibo app would track the the level your amiibo is on in games like Smash, what unlocks you've acquired in paticular games like Mario Kart, and how many matches or coins you've won in a game like Mario Party ect...

For folks that have amiibo already, they could just tap their amiibo on their phone and all the info transfers over. It's a much more convenient option than to have to lug around cards/figures with you all the time. Obviously the card and figures would still be for sale for collectors.

While we're on NFC, I'm not sure why Nintendo doesn't have an eshop digital app. Load funds on the bad boy and tap to pay. Sure, you could just buy from the website, but it's a nice to have if you buy eshop cards. In a perfect world you could just scan a QR code and the funds would be added to the app.

I certainly wouldn't mind if this happened! More uses for amiibo is never a bad thing! The non-Mario and non-Zelda amiibos could really benefit from this, and could do more than just give out a costume or bonus items in games... even if it's just a special wallpaper for a phone or something like that.

I like the amiiqo picture. Got one of them. Helps to bring all my amiibos everywhere easily

That seems interesting but i cant see how that would translate into an interesting experience (specially since amiibos are almost useless is most games i own)

Cool! My Droid already has an NFC-Reader.

I hardly see Apple allowing Nintendo to use the NFC chip in iPhones as is is only used for Apple Pay. But seeing their new found friendship, it would be really awesome if it happened.

I'm all for it if you have the supply to meet demand.

@Sabrewing All of the Amiibo you just mentioned except Pit are still abundant in my local game shop...

@rjejr "Zelda was due out in 2015, 2016, now 2017. It was supposed to be a Wii U exclusive built from the ground up for the Wii U and Gamepad usage and now they have taken out the interactive map."

Nintendo has shown signs of working very hard at all its initiatives to transition to a new set of platforms and it's bearing fruit on 3DS to a degree and mobile, but none of it is on Wii U because it was abandoned for all but a couple sustaining games of limited resources or collaborations so internal teams could ostensibly work on a solid string of releases for NX.

It dawned on me after seeing how many games on 3DS coincide with Wii U games, that Metroid Federation Force may have been another cross platform game or at least meant to have something to pair with on Wii U. Probably very early on a decision was made to move any Metroid game to NX (hopefully as a mainline game).

Did this happen in other instances? There was clearly a plan to have games mirrored on both the home console and portable system in the current generation leading up to NX (probably originally meant for late 2017 or 2018 or something). Problem is development for Wii U stopped making sense. So, now we are getting a weird imbalance and these scrapped games or half-games or games that don't make marketing sense without the other half.

If you are buying this theory then there likely is a Pikmin 4 that was meant for Wii U, right?

Anyway, it's a mess and no fun for people wanting more out of the Wii U, but I do think the NX and the next wave of games could be impressive and I, for one, am enjoying Pokemon Go, looking forward to Super Mario Run, and even still play with miitomo occasionally. ... and AM2R.

@aaronsullivan I feel like summarizing your entire post into - "Dear Nintendo, where do I send my Wii U in for a refund or a 3DS trade-in?"

But rather than write another long bitter self-entitled post - I meant self entitled the other day BTW, I typed self righteous - I'm just going to move forward. By which I mean back.

Thanos is going his hardest to find a new home console and get me to believe. I'm at 75-25 hybrid, which is pretty good b/c I was at 85-15 about a week or so ago. But who would buy one after watching Wii U wither on the vine? If it's a $100 NX/3DS Player, ok, but not a $249 home console. Of course they'll sell a million or two, no matter what they produce at any price it's Ntineod, so they'll sell a million or two, but why make a home console unless you are planning on selling 25-30 million? Wii U is a punchline at this point. I think if they wanted to stay in the home console market they needed to make a few more games for it. And not Mario Tennis and AC:aF either. And get Zelda out reasonably on time in 2016, telling Wii U owners to wait until the NX launches doesn't make their home console look any more desirable.

Would you spend $300 on a NX Home if all it did was play the same games as a $199 NX Away, even if it didn't have TV out? Would you even pay $299 if it also had a 3DS catridge port? I mean, I want to play 3DS games on my TV, but $99 is my upper limit for a "3DS Player".

So much damage to their home console rep, is it repairable as the $299 price drags on? (OK, I just threw that last part in there to get you to agree w/ me after your comment about it's price not dropping the other day.)

If they want to go 3rd party, they are doing a very good job heading in that direction in my eyes. Though I suppose when Apple buys them they'll just be 1st party.

Eh.

You wouldn't hear me complain one bit about phones getting Amiibo support, more uses for the 15 or so figurines I have sounds great to me!

Imagine in Pokemon Go you could get extra candies, stardust or items from scanning Amiibo.

No interest whatsoever- I don't even own a single Amiibo.

@rjejr

You spell Nintendo wrong; maybe your oompah loompahs can sort it out for you.

@Zach777 I spell Ntneod wrong on purpose, and differently all the time, so the Ntinedo ninjas don't find me while they are sweeping the internet looking for people who bad mouth the company.

tin foil hats keep me safe IRL

I mentioned the possibility of amiibo support when talking about future smartphone games the other day, but I think the meaning behind what Miyamoto said may have been misinterpreted.
NFC technology has been present in android devices for years, while it was only added to iPhones from the 6 onwards, and until now even that was limited to Apple Pay.
So it sounds as if they were simply not willing to consider something that would have been possible on one operating system and not the other, probably in order to avoid alienating any players.
(The Pokemon GO Plus is also an example of this, as they had iOS compatibility ready in time for their initial release date, but delayed it until the Android compatibility was in place.)

Of course! They will drown in money that way!