Is Nintendo set to do what they did back in December 2006 with the Nintendo Wii.
Back then the Japanese Company with a minimum of fanfare rolled out a gaming console that became the smash hot product on retail shelves.
In 2015 the Company who has been struggling to find a hot hardware product is now reaping a lot of success following the launch their amiibo-action-figures that connect to video games through near field communications technology, the action figures have been a big success in the USA where they have been on sale since the 22nd of November.
The Company who sticks to finding success through unconventional means despite having flops like the 1989 Power Glove looks like they have pulled another rabbit out of the hat for retailers with these figures.
Nintendo said that U.S. customers have purchased 710,000 units of “Super Smash Bros for Wii U” since the game’s launch on Nov. 21 and that sales of amiibo so far “are approximately equal” to sales of the game. Amiibos are palm-size action figures based on Nintendo video game characters such as Link from the Legend of Zelda, Mario from Super Mario Bros and Pikachu from Pok?mon.
“Amiibo sales have performed quite well, especially if you consider the surveyed period was even before the Christmas holiday shopping season,” a Nintendo spokesman said.
Amiibo are also available in Japan, Australia and European countries. Nintendo declined to disclose amiibo sales figures for these regions, but local reports suggest sales in there haven’t been bad either. In a sign of one Nintendo fan’s burning desire to collect the figurines, Sony ‘s6758.TO -0.97% PlayStation 4.
But Nintendo has repeatedly rejected those calls, saying that it can find stable sources of revenue elsewhere, including through robust sales of amiibo.
Australian sales figures are not yet available.
