Got it and loving the hell out of it! The improved 3D works so well and even does it in games that people said had bad 3D (Tales of the Abyss), it also makes gyro controls viable in Ocarina of Time and Star Fox as you won't lose your view because of changing angles, internet connectivity range and speed has improved as well. Even makes me want to replay old games and enjoy them as they were originally intended to be enjoyed. Only gripe would be the place of the stylus but it's hardly an issue.

I got the blue N3DS XL, use a blue theme and playing Alpha Sapphire BLUE EVERYWHERE! It looks so sleek and sexy it just begs to be touched and played with.

Ok but as shown in the GameXplain video he has to put the Amiibo back on the Gamepad in order to save its data.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zquyU50q10M&l...

It isn't happening simultaneously and to get rid of old data you need to put the Amiibo back on the Gamepad and it gets overwritten.

Also as the amiibotoys website states "In the case of an amiibo figure, the tag within the figure’s base doesn’t require any power of its own to operate."

So Amiibo's are Passive RFID Tag (or Passive Tag) and their read distances are only a few feet according to the technovelgy site, so it's not 20ft.

And, I re-read the links but I still couldn't find RFID being used to take workload off the CPU to open up bandwidth. I understand your explanation and it may be a possible application for RFID's but I still don't think that it's being used by Amiibo by what I've seen.

Yea, sorry about that i got a little carried away there :P

Alright, so the bulk of the data is on the Wii U but the Amiibo does have enough data on it to be used on other Wii U's and the 3DS, right?

Also, how is the Amiibo figurine still a factor if it's only in contact with the Gamepad to be activated? I've seen clips where after you tap the amiibo on the gamepad it is just set aside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aEx7D9mXFz0 0:14-0:21 seconds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAOpbShAMkM&l... 0:04 - 0:06
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zquyU50q10M&l...

^Just activates and then to save need the Amiibo to be in contact again according to screen prompts.

GameXplain's vid on Amiibo also gave an idea of how far the range is for the Amiibo and NFC sensor is (about an inch according to Andre)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAOpbShAMkM&l...

But after the activation it seems that the rest of the process is being handled by the Wii U on its own. Can you explain that to me?

I think I might have misunderstood you but Amiibo doesn't have anything to do with lack of voice chat, right?

I apologise in advance for this long post.

Thank you for the links I read up on them and this is how I understand how Amiibo works.

It's a figurine that can store data on itself as well as be unique so the figure placed on the Gamepad can be recognized (A Mario figure would be recognized as Mario). In Smash 4's case, once the figure is recognized by the Gamepad you can then put it off to the side and a FP is ready to be used in game (how else do you get 8 different amiibo's in a match? by placing them one by one).

I know that it is not pre-programmed A.I. like level 9 computers but I don't think that it offloads any CPU and none of your sources say that it does anything of the sort, I mean how can it?

Once the figure is placed and recognized the corresponding FP is enabled for fights. You then fight it and it gets trained/leveled up etc. based on what you do in the fight. Once you are done and want to save the Amiibo data you put the figure back on the Gamepad and its data gets updated.

From the amiibotoys.com link: '1KB and 2KB storage tags would also satisfy NFC standards which would help lower manufacturing costs. As the amiibo storage capacity is so low, it means extra gameplay features will always be ‘on disc’, and just individual character settings will be saved on the amiibo itself.' Bearing in mind that the higher end mentioned is 8KB.

I find it hard to believe that this could not have been made into a separate mode that did not require figurines as the data could easily have been saved onto your Wii U as another file (much like how other titles can have 'Extra Data'). It would certainly be possible and work just as well and you could train FP's versions of every character. The Wii U is no slouch.

So I think my point still stands that as Amiibo are unique storage devices that hold some data and can unlock some 'on disk' content OR future DLC content like costumes, by being scanned. The FP are still 'in the game' but locked behind a specific character's figure that you want to train.

The data you mentioned could just as easily be created and used in the game as a separate mode or within the usual Smash modes via FP inclusion, but because Nintendo need something to really drive the sales of the figures, they are pushing their usage as being integral to FP creation and training.

I'm going to pick up a couple of Amiibo as well but as far as I can tell, all the training occurs on the Wii U system itself and the unique A.I's data that you trained is saved onto the Amiibo figurine to be used whenever or wherever you want. 3DS/other Wii U's etc. The figure itself doesn't do anything else. Everything you need is 'in game' and done by the Wii U, you are just limited to unlocking FP and storing their data to the Amiibo.

And yes, as I said earlier in my post to stoneman194, Amiibo will have more functionality in many different games, some might be like Smash 4 and store data on a figurine and be innovative and others will be add-on content that would be downloaded and then unlocked if you have the corresponding Amiibo, like unlockable costumes and weapons...the Amiibo itself certainly isn't carrying all that extra content judging by its size limits and certainly not for present and future titles yet to be released :P

Amiibo's are a GOOD thing as it saves you the trouble of buying several different 'costumes' for MK8 only to have to buy more for some other game or any other add-on content. It's all tied to a specific figure being identified that will unlock content that is going to be either already IN the game or will be added later to be used across multiple titles.

But there is no mention of it offloading CPU to open bandwith or that it is absolutely essential to FP creation other than to simply allow you to access the feature limited to the character whose figurine you are using. So, I feel that training FP is being locked away just so that we go out and buy a figure or multiple figures to train an FP when all of that is perfectly possible on the Wii U itself as well as the storage of data.

TL;DR They don't take workload off the CPU, they just store data. FP could've been done on the Wii U as is but they want to give an incentive to us to buy more figures. Amiibo is cool for what it is but is still locking away an albeit small part of a game.

Let me know what you think.

Alright, can you give me a source for this info? I'm not arguing I just really want to know more about it

Why would it give you an advantage online?

I know how you feel and as cool as Amiibo is, it is still locking a small portion of content in the game from you. You can only train the character of the FP you buy and it kinda sucks when you have almost 50 characters in the game and this could have just been a separate mode, at the same time I know they need SOMETHING to push them otherwise why would people who don't care for figures buy them?

I can also see the benefit of them as one of those figures (especially of really popular characters) can be used in many games down the line so it might be a $13 initial cost but those 13 bucks go towards what'll likely be 13+ games as they are even patching in amiibo support for older games. so it's like a very long term season pass for add-on content and as they roll in more amiibo content the same figure you have will still keep going. They are also looking to make smaller cheaper figures or make them into cards so all of this could actually be really cheap and affordable in the long run.

haha and spam dodge in the air XD

It already looked breathtaking at the initial reveal so what sorcery is this?! I think this Nintendo magic is going to set a new standard for what you can currently do with tech and that maybe horsepower isn't everything.

If Nintendo is saying it looks better then it definitely does. So hyped for E3 2015!

My bad, you're right.