Old Nintendo 3DS Getting External Support for Amiibo This Summer
Nintendo will roll out an external NFC reader/writer for older Nintendo 3DS systems in Japan in summer this year, the company revealed during its investor meeting today.
“Even though only Wii U has been compatible with Amiibo so far, we are making steady progress on compatibility with the Nintendo 3DS platform,” Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata said during the meeting. “New Nintendo 3DS is equipped with NFC as a standard feature. For existing Nintendo 3DS systems, we will release an external NFC reader/writer in summer this year.”
The New 3DS and New 3DS XL already features built-in NFC technology for the collectible figurines that unlocks with software updates. Nintendo issued a new Super Smash Bros. for 3DS update that added Amiibo support to the title earlier this month. The patch coincided with the launch of the New 3DS in the U.S. and the New 3DS and New 3DS XL in Europe.
Nintendo Considering Producing More Figures of Popular Amiibo
Nintendo will consider producing more figures of popular Amiibo if there's enough demand for it, CEO and president Satoru Iwata revealed during the company's financial results briefing.
"We will...consider additional production in cases such as when an Amiibo figure sells out shortly after launch, an amiibo is indispensable to play a certain game, and when we receive a lot of requests for an Amiibo figure from consumers and retailers," Iwata said.
Concerns about Amiibo rarity were first raised when certain figures were discontinued after the first wave of Amiibo. Some of the collectible figurines suffer from a demand that outpaces supply, creating a grey market of hard-to-find Amiibos and causing retailers to stores put a purchase limit on certain figures. Nintendo claimed today it was surprised about the high-cost auctions of certain figures online that were prompted by the scarcity issue.
Dr. Seuss’ The Babadook Parody Trailer
Parody artists have achieved their crowning glory: A new horror trailer, mashing-up The Babadook with scenes from 2003's The Cat in the Hat film, which starred Mike Myers as the feline of pure chaos.
Check out the terrifying trailer for Horror Report's parody -- called Dr. Seuss' The Babadook -- below via Bloody Disgusting:
We voted The Babadook as the Best Horror Movie of 2014.
These are the Most Popular Amiibos by Country
Nintendo outlined its best selling Amiibos by country during its investor meeting today, revealing that while the list differs by region, Link is the most popular figure across the board.
Link, Kirby and Mario occupy the top three spots in Japan, while Link, Mario and Pikachu hold these positions in the U.S., Canada and Europe. It's the same story in Australia but in a different order: Mario, Pikachu, then Link.
"This is the regional top sales ranking chart of each Amiibo figure," president Satoru Iwata said during the call. "This does not perfectly represent the popularity or demand for each character because some Amiibo were out-of-stock in some regions, but you can certainly see some regional differences in the sales trends."
Amiibo to Unlock NES/SNES Virtual Console Trials Soon
In today's Nintendo results meeting, Nintendo President Iwata revealed that NES/SNES Virtual Console timed trials on the Wii U will soon be available for unlock via everyone's favorite money sink: Amiibos.
Tapping an Amiibo on the Wii U GamePad will allow you to play a famous 'scene' from the Virtual Console's NES/SNES library. Tapping it in quick succession will reveal several different trials, allowing you to pick which one you'd like to play as if changing cartridges at rapid fire speed. Like Super Smash. Bros Masterpieces, the trials are timed.
We should expect to see the functionality appear during the first half of the year. While limited to the Wii U for now, Nintendo did mention that Amiibo support for 3DS "is progressing" in general.
Fall in Love with Batgirl All Over Again
Good old Diamond Select is always a must-see on our Toy Fair to-do list. And this year was no exception, with the company presenting figures and Minimates for Age of Ultron and Ant-Man, busts based on the classic 1960s Batman and Batman: The Animated Series, and a statue of the Yvonne Craig Batgirl that is just uncanny.
Diamond also had on display action figures based on Gotham, featuring Gordon, Cobblepot and Selina Kyle, but unfortunately we were not allowed to photograph them just yet. Look for the figures this year, however.
Other licenses in the mix at Diamond include Star Trek, Alien, Predator, Ghosbusters, Universal Monsters, TMNT, Clerks, and yep, Pulp Fiction, which is getting Minimates. A Minimate of the Gimp? Life is now complete...
Sons of Anarchy Creator Updates Potential Prequel Series
IGN recently spoke with Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter about the FX series' new iOS game The Prospect, but we also had a chance to ask about the potential prequel series. For awhile now, Sutter has talked about doing a continuation of Sons, either through comics or books -- or possibly even another show -- and noted there have been "serious conversations" about it -- although, according to him, "we wouldn't do that for a couple of years."
First Scream Queens Trailer Gets Bloody
FOX has debuted the first teaser for Scream Queens -- and it's bloody good.
From American Horror Story co-creators Ryan Murphy and Brian Falchuk, and Glee co-creator Ian Brennan, Scream Queens is an upcoming comedy-horror anthology series that has been picked-up by FOX. While the show isn't due until next season, the first teaser has dropped online, and you can check it out below:
While none of the series' stars are present in the teaser, the Scream Queens cast boasts American Horror Story and Glee alums Emma Roberts and Lea Michele, as well Halloween horror icon Jamie Lee Curtis, True Blood's Joe Manganiello, Zombieland's Abigail Breslin and Animal co-star Keke Palmer.
Robert Downey Jr. on Iron Man’s role in Captain America: Civil War
Robert Downey Jr. has opened up about the shifts we'll see in the Tony Stark character leading up to Captain America: Civil War.
"It’s natural to change your views," he told Empire. "The clues are in Ultron about where we might find him next. But what would it take for Tony to completely turn around everything he’s stood for, quote-unquote, because he was the right-wing guy who could still do his own thing."
"It’s a little bit of things following a real world continuum in, ‘What would you do?’ There’s always the bigger overarching question, that Joss brings up all the time--it’s kind of weird that these guys would have all these throw downs all over planet Earth and it looked like a little collateral damage happened over there, and yet when the movie’s over, it’s like nobody minds. You have to figure, ‘Were you to ask the question, what would the American government do if this were real? Wouldn’t it be interesting to see Tony doing something you wouldn’t imagine?’"
Funko Brings the Cute to Arrow, Evolve and More
Toymaker Funko has made a name for itself by offering up some of the cutest toys around, and the cute was out in full force at this weekend's New York Toy Fair.
They showed off tons of upcoming product from movies, comics, TV, and video games alike, including (deep breath) Harry Potter, Star Wars, Breaking Bad, Marvel, DC, horror classics like Jason and Freddy, Blizzard properties like World of Warcraft and Diablo, Frozen, X-Files, Ghostbusters, Assassin's Creed Unity, Magic: The Gathering, Family Guy, Game of Thrones, Orphan Black, Evolve, Bravest Warriors, 21 Jump Street, Tomorrowland, Arrow, The Flash, and more.