Miyamoto Puppet

Just recently we all had our first real look at Star Fox Zero, and the response to its various E3 showings seemed to be a mix of excitement and hype, combined with some mutterings of disappointment and divided opinions on the control scheme. Nintendo has a number of months to convince millions of Wii U owners that it's a game they simply have to own in the Holiday season, though, and it'll be intriguing to see how opinions evolve up to the end of the year.

As with any major release from Nintendo, amiibo also comes up. Will there be exclusive figures? Will there be any stock? When it comes down to Star Fox, Shigeru Miyamoto seems to be clearing the ground for a low key approach. Speaking to Kotaku, Miyamoto-san effectively reiterates that the game will use the existing Smash Bros. Fox figure - while the upcoming Falco is also expected to have support - but has played down the prospect of amiibo being definitive to any of the game's core content.

Use of 'Amiibo' with a capital is Kotaku's, not ours!

In terms of being able to unlock content, I don't really want to go down that path. For this game, I think of it more as, for people who have the Amiibo, they're going to get a little something extra and that's how I'm planning on it with this game. So rather than actual abilities or things like that changing in the game, it would be like getting a different skin for the Arwing or something like that.

...I'm really not thinking about there being locked content or there being a mode that you won't be able to play if you don't have one. Since we already have the existing Smash Bros. Amiibos I basically want to put in something so if you already have those Amiibos, I imagine people will try and tap them on Star Fox anyway, and I want to make sure there is something that gives them a nice charge when they do that.

Of course, Shigeru Miyamoto previous floated the fun prospect of a transformable Arwing amiibo, but that does seem like a bit of playful fantasy; with Nintendo, it can be hard to tell. The idea of amiibo - perhaps from a broad range - unlocking skins does bring Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy + to mind, though in that case plane skins can also be found and collected in the game for those that don't own the figures.

How would you like Star Fox Zero to utilise amiibo?

[source kotaku.com]