Nintendo announces first third-party Amiibo figure (VIDEO)
Nintendo has just announced its first third-party Amiibo - Shovel Knight from Yacht Club's platform video game.
The first third-party Amiibo to be introduced as an interactive game figurine for Wii U and 3DS, Yacht Club's Shovel Knight has just joined Nintendo's popular Amiibo roster.
The news was initially leaked from the Twitter account of UK game retailer, Brighton, which posted an announcement the Shovel Knight Amiibo would be available starting November 27th, with preorders having commenced on the weekend.
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The tweet has since been deleted, giving rise to speculations Brighton may have prematurely gone live with the announcement.
Shovel Knight, the main protagonist in independent California game development studio Yacht Club Games' 2D side-scrolling title, was launched in June 2014 for PC, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, following a successful crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
While there have been other third-party Amiibo figurines like Mega Man, Ryu from "Street Fighter," and Pac-Man, these characters have been designed to work with Nintendo games, like "Super Smash Bros." The Shovel Knight Amiibo is the first figurine created exclusively for a third-party game, "Shovel Knight."
The Shovel Knight Amiibo will be unlocking some of the game's exclusive content for Wii U and 3DS. It is also geared to work with other Nintendo products Yacht Club Games will be developing in the future.
Having found considerable success based on critical acclaim and positive reviews as a digital game, "Shovel Knight" will be getting its own physical release on retail shelves in Europe on October 13 this year for Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and 3DS.
In a YouTube channel GameXplain interview with Nintendo's marketing and strategic planning head, Damon Baker, it has been revealed Nintendo is open to introducing more third-party Amiibos to add to its popular and actively sought-out game figurines.
