Nintendo has announced that the first third-party characters in its amiibo figurine range will launch in February as part of Wave 4. Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog and Capcom’s Mega Man will be released in Japan along with Shulk from Xenoblade. Both of them will cost 1,200 yen each, about $13. They represent two out of the three third-party characters who will appear in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. An amiibo figurine for Bandai Namco’s Pac Man is expected to launch later next year.
Nintendo has also revealed Wave 3 of the amiibo figurines will be released in Japan on January 22, 2015. This wave will be made up of eight different characters including Meta Knight and King DeDeDe from Kirby, Bowser and Rosalina from Super Mario, and Toon Link and Shiek from The Legend of Zelda. Fire Emblem‘s Ike and Pokémon‘s Lucario make up the remaining characters. In North America, all eleven amiibos in Wave 3 and Wave 4 will be released simultaneously in February 2015.
Despite this announcement, we are still waiting for the reveal of the first amiibo-compatible third-party game. This year the figurines will be able to interact with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Hyrule Warriors, Mario Kart 8 and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker. There are several amiibo-compatible games lined up for next year but they are all published by Nintendo.
The company recently told IGN that it is actively researching ways for its third-party partners to use amiibo. Although there are no Mega Man games currently announced for Wii U, Sonic Boom: Ryse of Lyric launched in North America on Monday. Could Sega patch the game to make it compatible with the Sonic amiibo? Hopefully we won’t have to wait long to find out.
Which other third-party characters would you like to see appear as amiibos? Leave your answer to the question in the comments section below. As we approach the official launch on November 21, stay tuned to GameSkinny for much more amiibo-related content.
