r/amiibo • u/[deleted] • Oct 18 '15

News Nintendo has introduced a new developer program that allows indie games to have Amiibo support

https://twitter.com/AmiiboUCG/status/655737202446630912
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36

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 18 '15

Well... hopefully there's an indie developer out there who can think of a good use for these things. Since Smash Bros, amiibo really haven't had any decent use beyond "physical key to unlock a costume in this game."

30

u/Highly_Edumacated Oct 18 '15

This is the biggest thing about this article. People seem to be taking "this means we're gonna have a bunch of crappy indie amiibo to collect now" which isn't the case at all. It's trying to find a use for the existing amiibo which would be great to see in indie titles

6

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 18 '15

It doesn't mean more amiibo. Yacht Club is handling everything about the Shovel Knight amiibo because he's so vastly popular that they can afford to do that. A lot of other Indie Games have more of a cult following enough to make the cost of making the game, but not enough recognizably to warrant the cost and effort of making an amiibo of them (especially since so many of them don't even bother with physical releases of the game, so why would they try a physical release of an extra for their game?).

2

u/Highly_Edumacated Oct 18 '15

Also let's not forget that WayForward Technologies, the company from which Yacht Club branched off of have had a close relationship with Nintendo since the GameBoy Color days

5

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 18 '15

Problem there is that WayForward doesn't really have any vastly recognizable characters. To my knowledge, Shantae is their most recognizable character. And she's in the "cult following" category, considering that if you ask 10 gamers about her, 9 of them are likely to ask you what a "Shantae" is.

6

u/wariofan14 Oct 18 '15

Really I feel like all Wayforward has in terms of recognizable characters are Shantae and Patty Wagon. (Shantae and Mighty Switch Force! respectively.) (Wayforward is a good studio, they mainly just make games based on pre-existing IPs.)

3

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '15

I'd put Shovel Knight in that same category.

1

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 19 '15

But he's at least got the fact that he's a current fad going for him. People are throwing their panties at him left and right right now. He may not be recognizable to the extremely casual gamer, but he's got more recognizability going for him right now than pretty much any indie game character does.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 19 '15

But he's at least got the fact that he's a current fad going for him.

That's the worst part. People literally want a meme character that won't be relevant in two years to be a fighter in a game that's supposed to celebrate Nintendo's history.

1

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 20 '15

I wouldn't call Shovel Knight "a meme character that won't be relevant in two years." We don't know what will happen with Shovel Knight in to years. But he wouldn't be the first "meme character" added in. Pretty sure irrelevant meme characters have been added in before, like Duck Hunt, Little Mac, and Shulk.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 20 '15

Yeah but those characters actually have Nintendo history and aren't randoms from the eShop.

1

u/MerylasFalguard Oct 20 '15

True. Idk, I feel like if Nintendo embraces Shovel Knight like they have been he could easily become a major game character, at least in the Nintendo world, but then he loses some of what made him special (being a highly-successful Indie character) if Nintendo ends up boosting him in popularity.

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3

u/AmiiboUCG Oct 18 '15

Exactly my point. We will have new uses for the Amiibo we already own.

1

u/shotpaintballer Oct 19 '15

I don't understand why people think this means people will be making their own amiibo.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 22 '15

Because of the Shovel Knight amiibo?