Mario Comes To Life In Nintendo's Amiibo

Hero plumber Mario and his nemesis Donkey Kong are jumping intoa new line of interactive toys called Amiibo and Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime is here to show you how they work.

Amiibo are small figurines depictingpopular Nintendo Nintendo characters that each contain a wireless antenna and flash memory. They allow consumers to summon digital versions of the characters into compatible video games, and then save that characters data back to the toy when theyre done.

Its Nintendos first foray into the booming toys-to-life market, which has grown 22% over the last 12 months to $425 million in the United States alone, according to market research firm The NPD Group. The segment came to life in 2011 when Activision Blizzard Activision Blizzard launched the hugely successful Skylanders line of games and figures; The Walt Disney Walt Disney Company got into the fray when it launched a competing product, Disney Infinity, in August 2013.

Now Nintendo hopes to grab a piece of that market and drive sales of its Wii U console and 3DS handheld in the process. On November 21, the company released its first round of Amiibo characters: Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Pikachu, Kirby and Marth. Zelda, Luigi, Diddy Kong, Little Mac, Pit and Captain Falcon are due in December, and more will follow throughout 2015.

Last week I sat down with with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime and product marketing manager Daniel Orihuela for a hands-on demo of the toys, viabattlein the new Wii U game Super Smash Bros.

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Mario Comes To Life In Nintendo's Amiibo