Nintendo Amiibo Rumors For 2017

With the toys-to-life taking a huge hit in 2016, one can’t help but wonder how much life the industry has left in it, but one platform that still seems to be going strong in this area is Nintendo Amiibo. Rumors show support through 2017 meaning there is still life left in the near-field communication platform that Nintendo has developed.

Nintendo burst onto the scene with Amiibo to coincide with the release of Super Smash Bros. on both the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS. It promised to release a toy to go along with each fighter available. This included fighters that did not fit into Nintendo’s first-party line such as Mega Man, Sonic, and Pac-Man. After release, fighters were continually added via DLC (Downloadable Content) and likewise, Amiibo items were produced.

According to Let’s Play Video Games writer Laura Dale, Nintendo looks to complete the Amiibo collection of Super Smash Bros. fighters in 2017. In a recent tweet, Dale has Final Fantasy‘s Cloud along with Bayonetta listed to be released alongside a Super Smash Bros. port in the first six months after Nintendo debuts their new home/handheld hybrid system the Switch in March 2017.

For folk who have been asking, this is my best attempt to lay out Nintendo Switch Software support as I understand it. pic.twitter.com/jFZbrMWHip

— Laura Kate Dale – Mastodon "@LauraKBuzz@tech.lgbt" (@LaurakBuzz) November 20, 2016

It has long been rumored that Super Smash Bros. Switch might collect all DLC in a ‘Game of the Year’ edition. Nintendo recently reissued past Amiibo that were initially scarce in the days after Smash’s release including Pit (Kid Icarus), Ness (Earthbound), Gold Mario, and various other fighters from the Fire Emblem series.

While Bayonetta and Cloud are just rumors at the moment, Nintendo can confirm the release of several Amiibo in 2017.

Yoshi’s Wooly World debuted on Nintendo’s Wii U in 2015. With it, Nintendo launched a new line of Amiibo to mirror the yarn world featured in the game. At the time four Amiibo were made available. There were three different color variants of Yoshi (green, pink, and blue) in a small form as well as a Mega Yarn Yoshi that was the size of a typical stuffed animal a child might have.

February 2017 will see the release of Yoshi’s sidekick Poochy. Poochy helps Yoshi complete stages, and he will be featured prominently in the upcoming 3DS version of the remake of the 2015 classic now titled Poochy and Yoshi’s Wooly World. Poochy’s Amiibo will continue in the same fashion as Yoshi to be made of yarn.

At E3 in June, Nintendo took the entire conference to showcase the next game in The Legend of Zelda Series, Breath of the Wild. The game was initially set to debut on the Wii U this holiday season, but with Nintendo migrating their developers over to the Switch platform, they elected to hold off releasing Breath of the Wild until 2017.

During the E3 presentation, Reggie Fils-Aime announced that there would be a new set of Amiibo made available for Breath of the Wild. At the moment the Nintendo website lists three different figures, the Guardian that was featured in the gameplay video, Link riding Epona, and Link with a bow drawn. An official date for when the Amiibo will be released has not been given, but it is expected to be at or near the same day Breath of the Wild launches for the Wii U and Switch.

As for the rest of 2017, the company has been quiet on what one can expect to see from Nintendo Amiibo support. Japan has confirmed an Amiibo to go along with the next installment of the eShop title Box Boy. It is not known whether or not this will come to the U.S.

Capcom is also expected to release another series of Amiibo to go along with their title Monster Hunter Stories. Despite the pleading of some fans, Monster Hunter Stories has not been dated for a North American release so the only way to get the Amiibo figures is by importing them.

Are you still collecting Nintendo Amiibo? Is there one that has eluded you, or is there a certain character you would like to see get the Amiibo treatment?

[Featured Image by Nintendo of America]