If you’re like me, you were probably wondering when someone was going to take advantage of that NFC feature Nintendo built into the Wii U. And for that matter, who’d be the first one to do so? Well, as it turns out, Nintendo will be the first ones to initiate this with its upcoming Pokemon Rumble U. A leaked scan from CoroCoro has revealed that special figures will be made for use with the game.
There will be six standard figures and one special figure made for Pokemon Rumble U, including Pikachu. Using these figures with the NFC reader allows that particular Pokemon to show up in the game. You can purchase them at Pokemon Centers in Japan for 200 Yen each. The scan also states that the figures are trainable and can have battle data recorded on them, similar to Skylanders. It doesn’t state whether that’s a feature exclusive to the toys or if that’s something you can do with Pokemon you catch in the regular game.
And so, it has begun. Considering how prolific the Pokemon franchise is, and how The Pokemon Company will take any opportunity to squeeze as much money out of their audience as they can, perhaps this was inevitable. Still, at least the figures are relatively cheap compared to the Skylanders toys and seem to be completely optional. It’s only seven Pokemon out of a possible 649. But I guess we all have to wonder where they’ll take it next.
