Iwata: Amiibo Isn't Copying Skylanders Or Disney Infinity - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 23 March 2015 / 6,617 Views
Nintendo President and CEO Satoru Iwata has told Time that their Amiibo figures aren't just copying Skylanders or Disney Infinity. They rather bring something new to the table.
"At first glance it may look like we’re a trend follower with amiibo," said Iwata. "But really what we’re doing is, we have introduced amiibo in a way that is new and where amiibo do things in our games that they can’t do anywhere else. From that perspective, we feel that we are a trendsetter."
"It’s true that if you go into a retail store, and you see the retail shelves, that from a retail perspective, we’re leveraging the structure that’s in place for how the toys to life category is being sold. That’s a hurdle that’s hard to overcome in terms of differentiation. But in terms of how the amiibo are used in games, we do feel that we are taking the lead in terms of broadening what toys to life can be."
"What’s interesting about the Smash Bros. games, is that the Smash Bros. games do not represent the Nintendo characters fighting against one another, they actually represent toys of Nintendo characters getting into an imaginary battle amongst themselves," added Iwata. "And frankly that has to do with a very serious debate that we had within the company back then, which was, ‘Is it really okay for Nintendo characters to be hitting other Nintendo characters? Is it okay for Mario to be hitting Pikachu?"
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A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. Outside, in the real world, he has a passion for the outdoors which includes everything from hiking to having received his B.A. in Environmental Studies. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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Yes Iwata, yes they are.
Just because you changed a few things, doesn't mean you didn't get the idea from Skylanders...
Seriously, it'd be one thing if he said that they expanded on the idea but at least give credit where it's due.
Iwata pls. It's all right to incorporate ideas from other businesses!
Iwata is right... Nintendo isn't just copying Skylanders and DI... because they are a better product than the Amiibos lol.
indeed, at least skylanders figures have a game that is designed around them, they aren't just an afterthought stuck on for 20euro extra.
Yeah, the figurines in Skylanders and Disney Infinity are actually necessary. Amiibos are disposable trinkets--and I'm glad for it, since I don't want any.
Having worked in Japanese businesses before now you find this sort of thing is very common in Japanese corporate culture. Lying about blatantly obvious small things happens all day, every day. My favourite recent one was the massive steaming pile of bull when the producer of Sonic Lost World said they didn't try and copy anything from Mario Galaxy at all and were shocked when the game was finished to find it was very similar.
Never change, Iwata. Never change.
its this sort of around-the-houses, spindoctor crap that makes it hard to like nintendo, they can't just shut up and run with something, they not only have to claim its new and innovative, but that theyre the leaders in said field, however way they can. it's irritating and just blatently not true.
Trendsetters?
Do you know what "trend" means?
You can't just do a thing and claim you've started a trend when you're still the only one doing it.
They have their heads up their asses.
at least they'll know the moment they get colon cancer.
LOL
The idea is directly copied. That's obvious. But it's also fine by me, because I don't mind companies copying and tweaking ideas.
However, Skylanders and Disney Infinity actually create original games for their figures. Nintendo judt turned theirs into the most ridiculous DLC practice in the entire industry. On top of that, they've made their most interesting characters insanely hard to find and produce lower quality figures than what you find in Skylanders and especially Disney Infinity.
the only difference I see the the use of amiibo... they are basically collector figures to me because they basically do nothing worth while.
He can say that if they were first or even teased something - but they weren't. Not even close.
North America innovates - Japan copies. It happens in cars, to electronics, to entertainment, and gaming. Always has - always will.
I'd so much like to punch Satoru Iwata in the face.
lol yeah right.
They're not copying by making their Amiibos more limited and hard to find.
Even if it was, who cares? You know how much money is these figures?
Skylanders brand recently passed 2billion dollars of revenue. I'd care about that.
LOL
The idea is directly copied. That's obvious. But it's also fine by me, because I don't mind companies copying and tweaking ideas.
However, Skylanders and Disney Infinity actually create original games for their figures. Nintendo judt turned theirs into the most ridiculous DLC practice in the entire industry. On top of that, they've made their most interesting characters insanely hard to find and produce lower quality figures than what you find in Skylanders and especially Disney Infinity.
Are they a line of figures that are purchased for use with a console gaming system? Yes. Are they a copy of Skylanders and Disney Infinity? Not so much. Disney Infinity more closely copies Skylanders in concept in that you have to buy a platform to attach to the console to use them. Amiibo is a farther reaching concept, in that you don't need to buy any peripheral attachment, they interact with more than just a single game, and will be useable for both home and handheld gaming. "we are taking the lead in terms of broadening what toys to life can be." There is nothing untrue about that statement. The differences between Amiibo and Skylanders/Infinity combined go way beyond the differences between Skylanders and Disney Infinity themselves. That's what Iwata is pointing out.
regardless, their claim that they didnt copy and are in fact, the ones setting the trend is awfully ignorant. skylanders and disney infinity only need a base because its a ,ultiplatform title and the base ensures it works across those platforms, the base itself is identical across all major systems and is interchangable between them, the figures released in early games are still supported in new ones, the scope is shorter because its a third party product versus a first party product, nothing more nothing less.
Oh, and if you want to use Amiibos with your non-new 3ds, you need to buy an external reader tht they have yet to launch.
When you say interact with more than just a single game, the interactions are trivial in places (new costume for link in Zelda:Dynasty warriors) but also a skylanders figure from the original game now works with Adventure-Giants-swap force- trap team on the consoles/pc not to mention the games outings on the 3ds and on mobile devices. Would imagine that if you compared the two now at least a skylanders figure is probably compatible with far more games over all the systems than an Amiibo for a handful of Wii-U/3ds (only new) games.
