Nintendo’s collectable statues have been officially announced in Nintendo’s E3 Digital Event and they have an official name: Amiibo.

Amiibo is the NFC program (think Skylanders and Disney Infinity) featuring Nintendo characters. These figures will be able to transfer information to the Wii U and reciprocally save player data — in this way, these characters are your own. No new hardware is necessary besides the figures, the NFC station is right on the Wii U GamePad itself.

The first game that will be Amiibo compatible will be Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. Buying the Amiibo figures will allow you to have a CPU that is customizable, trainable, and all your own. Specifically, the Amiibo’s fighting will adapt and improve to better fight you, the player.

The first set known so far are in the below image: 

Amiibo’s aren’t limited to just Super Smash Bros. for Wii U either, they will be also heading to these other upcoming games (although exact details are still unsure):

Amiibo isn’t going to be Wii U exclusive — expect some incoming hardware for Nintendo 3DS to allow for Amiibo scanning:

Catch the whole video detailing the program:

My Opinion:
I can’t say I’m too surprised by any of this, however I am curious how they are going to be working these figurines into so many titles. Sure, Smash Bros. will be easy enough, but can the Wii Fit Trainer make an appearance in Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker? Either way, I already want these so badly. So. badly.

Lou Contaldi is MONG’s Nintendo Specialist and senior editor. You can follow his incoherent ramblings at Twitter.