Super Smash Bros. Wii U and Amiibo Are Going to Make 2014 After All

Was that ever in doubt? It was. I’ve heard more than one forum-goer, podcaster and Nintendophile fret about possible Super Smash Bros. Wii U slippage into 2015 in the wake of E3, where the company’s gaze was fixedly on the 3DS version.

But no, Super Smash Bros. Wii U is coming this year, and you can throw down with the likes of new characters from the Mario series, Punch-Out!!, Pokémon X and Y, Xenoblade Chronicles and more on November 21.

That’s just a few days after the season’s final heavy-hitters make their showings (Dragon Age Inquisition, Far Cry 4, LittleBigPlanet 3 and Grand Theft Auto V are due on November 18). It’s also the final Friday and weekend before everyone hops into planes, trains and automobiles for destination Thanksgiving-ville (and, more crucially for both sales and retailer stocking reasons, it’s a full week prior to Black Friday).

Nintendo’s also revealed that November 21 will be the day it simultaneously rolls out its preliminary amiibo lineup. Amiibo is Nintendo’s characteristically quirky-sounding vamp on the vaunted toy-game. Like Skylanders and Disney Infinity, players buy clusters of figurines (in this case, Nintendo-specific) which are then capable of wirelessly interacting with Nintendo’s 3DS and Wii U, as well as–and here’s one of amiibo’s unique selling points–swapping data between the two platforms.

To make a data transfer happen, you just tap the figures on the Wii U GamePad, and Nintendo says several of the figures work across multiple games. Upcoming games that support amiibo at launch will include Super Smash Bros. Wii U, Mario Party 10 and Yoshi’s Woolly World, as well as Mario Kart 8, but Nintendo’s not saying when the latter will happen, and notes the game “may” require a software update to make it amiibo compatible (why “may” and not “will” is anyone’s guess).

In the initial November amiibo wave, Nintendo’s rolling out Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Pikachu, Kirby and Marth (that’s 12 in all). It’ll follow with a second wave in December that’ll include Zelda, Diddy Kong, Luigi, Little Mac, Pit and Captain Falcon (six in all, or 18 all told by 2014’s close).

Checking up on sales of the 3DS version of Super Smash Bros., Nintendo says the beat-em-up’s done quite well, sales-wise, turning out more than 2.8 million copies sold worldwide, counting both retail and digital versions (it launched on October 3 here, and on September 13 in Japan). In fact, Nintendo isn’t doing half bad this year in first party sales, considering the Wii U’s chicken-egg install base problem. Mario Kart 8, its Wii U-buoying force of gonzo-racing nature went on to sell in the vicinity of three million copies after its arrival last May.

Nintendo says Super Smash Bros. Wii U‘s suggested retail price will be $59.99, while its amiibo figures will sell for $12.99 a piece. Nintendo’s special Wii U adapter that’ll let Smash fans use up to four original GameCube or WaveBird controllers with the game will sell for $19.99. If you don’t have a GameCube controller, you can pick up Nintendo’s special (and I assume limited time offer) Super Smash Bros. Wii U one for $29.99. Of if you just want to grab everything in one package (game, controller, adapter) Nintendo’s selling a bundle for $99.99. All three of those SKUs will be available when Super Smash Bros. Wii U launches on November 21.

Last but not least, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Nintendo’s Mario-series-spawned puzzle game starring a character that looks like a mushroom (but isn’t), will launch on December 5 for $39.99. Nintendo says the game will support amiibo figures as well, but sometime in 2015.

That’s Nintendo’s holiday in a nutshell. It’s also IP proving grounds time. With Disney’s and Activision’s respective toy-game updates just out, will Nintendo’s amiibo resonate? Will kids clamor as much for Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong and Zelda as I’m assuming they’ve been for Disney’s formidable stable of Marvel superheroes, or Activision’s reinvigorated originals by studio Toys for Bob?

Nintendo’s strategy, I’m assuming, involves Smash-bashing its way through the holidays, clinching a noteworthy chunk of family gaming sales, then emerging in 2015 with brag-worthy handheld and set-top sales figures. Trouble is, no one knows what’s coming in 2015 or when. Star Fox? Splatoon? Zelda? Xenoblade Chronicles X? Mario Marker? Yoshi’s Wooly World? We’ll see.

But Nintendo’s been lurching from first-party blockbuster to first-party blockbuster. That may be enough to tread water, and at least the company’s finally delivering on its first party promises. But since games take at least a year if not two to develop top to bottom, and given how much more technically advanced (read: not possible on the Wii U) today’s multiplatform superstar games are, it’s hard to imagine third parties falling off their horses in January 2015 and crossing their fingers the Wii U’s going to be able to keep pace with (much less supersede) its rivals through 2016.