Nintendo boss Satoru Iwata doesn't believe that the amiibo figures are clones of Skylanders or Disney Infinity.
When Nintendo released a selection of NFC figures last year alongside Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, fans and industry folk made comparisons to other, similar figure models that had been on the market for some time.
Iwata feels that the introduction of amiibo is "in a way that is new" and where these characters do "things in our games that they can't do anywhere else." By looking at the amiibo concept from that perspective, he feels that Nintendo are "a trendsetter" and are "broadening what toys to life can be."
Do you think amiibo offers something different from other NFC figure collections?