To the Nintendo fans out there, you’ll have to forgive me, I’m a bit late to the amiibo craze (or maybe it’s past the point of being a “craze” now :D ). I have only recently become mildly obsessed with them… but, I’m a little baffled at how under utilized they are. For the uninitiated, amiibo are figurines embedded with a NFC chip used across a variety of Nintendo Switch, WiiU & 3DS games, which allow them to read / write data for things like in-game items. To be honest, I haven’t used them very frequently in Smash Bros, nor any other amiibo-supporting game. None-the-less, I do really like collecting these things, but AFAIK there are no official ways of tracking the ones you own (aside from 3rd party apps like colliibo). Aside from the few minor in-game perks, I would love an excuse to sync them up to the Switch.
I’ve been playing with an idea for an amiibo Switch app-game-toy for a few months now and couldn’t help but mock up a few screens (below). I figured it could be a good thought exercise and it gave me an excuse to make some bubbly Nintendo-esque designs.
Needless to say (but I guess I should regardless), all character imagery, logos, and that sorta stuff belongs to Nintendo - I’ve simply put together some concept-fan-art and designs based on my ideal amiibo companion Switch app.
So here’s my “pitch”…
At the crux of it, I would love to have some sort of app directly on the Switch to track my amiibo collection. Nintendo has so many pre-existing assets (I’m assuming) to build out a great digital compendium to pair with the physical amiibo toys and this would be the perfect place for it! By taking the idea a step further, features like a photo-mode, digital extras like music or concept art, and mini-games could really bring the world of amiibo to life.
The question I have is why doesn’t something like this already exist? Seems to me that there is a business case to be made here. For the casual collector, I’m sure seeing an incomplete collection would be sure to drive more purchases. By including it on Nintendo’s online platform it could bring more value to that area of the business. As I was mocking up a handful of screens I couldn’t help but keep thinking of additional features to include (for example the ability to view your collection on your smartphone while you are out shopping).
In terms of what I mocked up, I’m obviously leaning heavily on existing amiibo and Nintendo branding, lifting many of the assets I found directly to make something new. I’ve always loved how approachable and tactile many Nintendo interfaces tend to be, so I tried to strike a balance between clean and readable, yet still fun. I can imagine many nicely animated parts such as the backgrounds panning, button selection states, etc.
Right, so if you made it to the end, congrats - you are at least as much of a Nintendo dork as I am (or maybe just doing me the solid of feigning interest)… Either way, let me know what you think!