Nintendo has revealed three Splatoon amiibo are being made available for the game’s launch on May 29, 2015. According to the Nintendo Direct that aired on April 1, a special Splatoon bundle pack that includes the Inkling Girl, Inkling Boy, and Inkling Squid is part of the product launch, with the Inkling Girl and Inkling Boy sold separately. The official Splatoon website has been updated to note the Inkling Squid is exclusive to the three character bundle pack at launch.
Inkling Girl, Inkling Boy and Inkling Squid #amiibo figures launch alongside #Splatoon on 5/29! #NintendoDirectNA pic.twitter.com/QIxgkUtgjc
— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 1, 2015
The in-game functionality of the Splatoon amiibo has also been revealed. Tapping an Inkling amiibo to the Wii U gamepad unlocks exclusive missions based on the character. These exclusive amiibo missions are the only opportunity to unlock certain weapons and gear in the game. Some of the gear that has been revealed in the video include a Squid Hairclip with complementary school girl outfit, blue samurai armor, and a sci-fi battle suit with a coordinating weapon.
Additional amiibo gameplay has been shown off in the live Nintendo Treehouse presentation that followed the Nintendo Direct video. In the presentation (and as is visible in the screenshot above), the additional content amiibo compatibility provides appears to be significant when compared to other amiibo compatible titles. Whereas games like Kirby and the Rainbow Curse only unlock a single power-up per amiibo figure, Splatoon seems poised to make a bit more use of the amiibos by unlocking a decent number of challenges and more than one piece of gear per amiibo.
Players looking to unlock all the content they can in the game may want to invest early in the three character bundle pack since it is the only confirmed way to get the Inkling Squid. The limited nature of the Inkling Squid amiibo may make it harder to find if collectors jump on it as they have with other exclusive, hard-to-find amiibo, like the golden Super Mario .
It is hard for consumers to know for certain just how exclusive or difficult any amiibo is or will be to obtain due to shifts in demand and inconsistency in availability and messages from Nintendo. Once they sell out, some amiibo that have sold out quickly are promised replenishment, like Marth . In the case of the Super Mario amiibo , it has been previously described as exclusive to the Mario Party 10 bundle at launch without any further clarification. Nintendo later announced the Mario amiibo would be released separately from the bundle post-launch on April 3.
Will Splatoon’s Inkling Squid amiibo be a true exclusive? Signs point to yes since the Mario amiibo did have a disclaimer placed on its exclusivity being limited to “at launch.” The official product details page provided by Nintendo for the Inkling Squid succinctly states it is exclusive to the three character pack without any additional notes.
