Amiibos Are Not Region Locked, Can Only Save Data For One Game

[Steven Bogos]

Amiibos Are Not Region Locked, Can Only Save Data For One Game

Now that Amiibos are starting to appear in the wild, various reports about their functionality are cropping up.

Normally, we wouldn't even consider the possibility that an NFC figurine could be region locked, but going by Nintendo's IGN [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/137239-New-Nintendo-3DS-to-Maintain-Region-Lock], we can now confirm that no, the Nintendo Amiibo figures are not region locked.

Following a firmware update on a Japanese system, IGN was able to pop an American Amiibo figure onto the Wii U GamePad and register it to a Japanese profile without any problems. So, you needn't worry about having to import toys from Japan to work with your imported Japanese system, or your collection becoming useless if you happen to move to a country outside of where you were born (a concept Nintendo has trouble grasping).

For some additional Amiibo news, a report from official Japanese Amiibo website [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/480831/amiibo-figures-can-only-store-data-for-one-game/].

However, Nintendo does state that an Amiibo with data already stored on it can still be used for read-only games, like those in which it unlocks secret items (such as in Mario Kart 8 [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138441-Mario-Kart-8-First-DLC-Pack-Arrives-Nov-13-with-Link], where the Amiibos simply unlock player costumes).

17 Amiibo figures are due out in the "first wave" by the end of this year, with a second and third wave of 11 additional figures due out by next February [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/138529-11-New-Amiibos-Announced-Sonic-Megaman-And-More-Update].

Sources: CVG [http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/11/11/nintendo-amiibos-are-not-region-locked].

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[Omega Pirate]

I almost considered buying the Link figure, since I'm a Zelda fanboy. But then I saw that huge yellow stand they used, geh. Oh well, maybe some other Amiibo figure will be worth buying.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

I almost considered buying the Link figure, since I'm a Zelda fanboy. But then I saw that huge yellow stand they used, geh. Oh well, maybe some other Amiibo figure will be worth buying.

Same here.
But if you're a fan of Ganondorf, when he comes out he shouldn't have any of the plastic to hold him since his Smash concept art has a nice pose and won't need anything to improve the stability.

I pre-ordered Link but then I canceled my preorder because of the yellow plastic, curved sword and because it Link is facing the floor far more than in the prototype amiibo. Now I'm waiting for Little Mac to be show. I don't trust the prototype screenshots anymore with the first series being so bad. And I'm hopying that Nintendo will release a Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf amiibo. HW Dorf is awesome.

Spoiler

OT: Well I didn't expect it to be region locked so that's not really new for me. However I was surprised that it will save data for only one game. Not that it will affect my decision of buying them but still surprised. It won't affect any of the announced games that will support amiibo because for now, only Smash is saving data on the amiibo while other are read only. But it seems to be a bad idea to not include enough memory to save at least 5 games if they plan on making amiibo more than just unlock stuff. Training your AI and having him on the go seems like a nice idea so it would be sad if in all their future games they end up just unlocking stuff instead of being something interesting like in Smash.

 

[KazeAizen]

I almost considered buying the Link figure, since I'm a Zelda fanboy. But then I saw that huge yellow stand they used, geh. Oh well, maybe some other Amiibo figure will be worth buying.

Same here.
But if you're a fan of Ganondorf, when he comes out he shouldn't have any of the plastic to hold him since his Smash concept art has a nice pose and won't need anything to improve the stability.

I pre-ordered Link but then I canceled my preorder because of the yellow plastic, curved sword and because it Link is facing the floor far more than in the prototype amiibo. Now I'm waiting for Little Mac to be show. I don't trust the prototype screenshots anymore with the first series being so bad. And I'm hopying that Nintendo will release a Hyrule Warriors Ganondorf amiibo. HW Dorf is awesome.

Spoiler

OT: Well I didn't expect it to be region locked so that's not really new for me. However I was surprised that it will save data for only one game. Not that it will affect my decision of buying them but still surprised. It won't affect any of the announced games that will support amiibo because for now, only Smash is saving data on the amiibo while other are read only. But it seems to be a bad idea to not include enough memory to save at least 5 games if they plan on making amiibo more than just unlock stuff. Training your AI and having him on the go seems like a nice idea so it would be sad if in all their future games they end up just unlocking stuff instead of being something interesting like in Smash.

The amiibos are interesting. Nintendo is stubborn, not stupid which I think a lot of people actually forget. Amiibos are also different from their Skylanders and Disney Infinity counterparts in that they are more of an addition to already existing games and not a completely new game unto themselves. Smash is obviously the game they are making the big push with for these things but I'm sure they'll do something novel and interesting with them for games released post Amiibos. Frankly I'm glad that they were able to do something with them for pre-existing games in the first place. I never expected them to do something truly awesome for Mario Kart 8 or Hyrule Warrirors.