The Yarn Yoshi amiibo, New Super Smash Bros. Wave and More amiibo Updates

Another Nintendo Direct online presentation came and went, and we are left with the indescribable joy of knowing that amiibo are no longer confined to plastic casings and sub-par DLC tie-ins. You might be of the mind that the larger news in the presentation had something to do with Mario Kart 8, Super Smash Bros. or even Fire Emblem, but you’d be so terrifyingly, child-scarringly wrong that a conversation with you would be like licking an ice-cream cone and finding finger nails inside. No, the only real news of the day was this:

So long as you aren’t mistaking that nefarious hand for trying to squirt a poo out onto his Gamepad, you’ll likely come to the conclusion that the plush Yoshi is actually an amiibo. You’d be right. Are you getting it now? Does the world seem brighter today than it did yesterday? Stuffed animals have begun to communicate with the computers.

This Yarn Yoshi amiibo, which comes in three colors, is a tie-in to the upcoming Wii U game, Yoshi’s Woolly World. Both the game and the amiibo release in the fall. Popping that adorable little guy on the Gamepad will unlock a clone Yoshi that follows you around during play, which you can lap up and toss around in egg form to make the platforming easier.

Aside from the train-your-amiibo functionality you get in Super Smash Bros., this is the best use of the figures yet. But that isn’t to say the Nintendo Direct wasn’t flush with other exciting amiibo news.

Super Smash Bros. Wave 4

Perhaps the most ho-hum and also the most exciting, a new wave of Super Smash Bros. amiibo are already up for pre-order, due for release on May 29. Though previously revealed, here they are again with the new additions of Greninja and Jigglypuff:

(Robin, Lucina, Charizard, Wario)

 

 

(Ness, Greninja, Jigglypuff Pac-Man)

Importantly, three are exclusive to certain retailers, as has been the case sporadically in the past. You can only get Ness from Gamestop, Jigglypuff from Target and Greninja from Toys”R”Us. We don’t have a link for the Ness amiibo because, reportedly, the pre-order rush crashed the entire website, so Gamestop took the listing down. Don’t expect nabbing any of these figures an easy task.

Now that we have a relase date for Wave 4, Nintendo naturally let loose some new announcements for more waves down the line. Regarding Super Smash Bros., the following were revealed with tentative release dates spread throughout 2015.

Due July 2015 (Palutena, Dark Link)

Due September 2015 (Ganondorf, Olimar, Dr. Mario, Bowser Jr.)

Splatoon

In addition to the above Super Smash Bros. amiibo, Nintendo revealed three new amiibo tied to the third-person shooter Splatoon, all of which are also due out on May 29. You can buy the amiibo as a pack of three, or the two humanoids separately.

These three amiibo represent another cool integration into the respective game, unlocking new single-player levels and new gear when you touch them to the Gamepad. These also mark the first amiibo with characters completely new to the Nintendo universe, rather than the fighters who make up the classics roster of the Super Smash Bros. series. Their level of success at retail will be a strong indicator towards Nintendo’s long-term amiibo plans.

amiibo Tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits

The explosive popularity of the amiibo has lead to the assumption that amiibo-centric software would be released at some point across Nintendo’s consoles. The first fruition of that notion is amiibo Tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits, a slight little program that grants you access to demos of classic games when you tap your amiibo in. Here’s the rundown:

Strangely, the games you get have nothing to do with the amiibo you’re using. They’re randomly assigned, but permanent once activated. In other words, this is just another of the many ways Nintendo has come up with to get people interested in buying the classics all over again. Here’s to waiting for a real amiibo game in the future.

Nintendo also revealed a third kind of amiibo, separate from the regular plastic kind and the world-changing yarn variation.

Yes, that’s a card amiibo, a thing that takes all of the fun out of the entire amiibo concept. The first will be of the Animal Crossing series, compatible with a new budget 3DS title called Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer. You design homes for various Animal Crossing characters, using the amiibo cards to unlock new characters, and you do it happily.

As always, you can head over to Nintendo’s official amiibo website for all the up-to-date information. Be warned, the website has been chugging since these latest announcements. Try to hop past the opening screen via a Google search to get in if it’s struggling, or you can just head straight to the lineup page.

Finally, here’s the Nintendo Direct with all the goodies, from amiibo to new Super Smash Bros. fighters and even a new, super fast mode for Mario Kart 8.

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