Gaming companies Nintendo and Activision have announced a new collaboration Tuesday at the E3 conference: Nintendo characters Bowser and Donkey Kong will be playable in the upcoming Skylanders game.
There are three companies making physical toys that work as in-game characters, Activision's Skylanders, Disney Infinity and Nintendo's Amiibo. They all work in the same way, too: A toy is placed on a platform that reads the NFC chip embedded in its base, connecting to the gaming platform and translating the information on the chip into the game -- so technically, they could work on each other's platforms.
The Bowser and Donkey Kong figures put the theory into practice, able to work in both the upcoming new Skylanders SuperChargers game and on Nintendo's own Amiibo platform.
The figures will be exclusively available in Skylanders SuperChargers starter packs for Nintendo consoles, the Wii, the Wii U and the 3DS. However, the toys will also work in editions of the game across all platforms.
"Activision's Skylanders games have been very popular on Nintendo platforms, and we hope this collaboration will delight fans of the franchise," said Satoru Iwata, President of Nintendo. "We believe this unique approach will help expand the entire category and make it appealing to even more players."
In Skylanders SuperChargers, a new suite of characters will be linked to vehicles, which will need to be deployed in special land, water and sky zones -- areas destroyed by the series' returning big bad Kaos, who is sort of, when you think about it, an inspiring lesson in perseverance.
Bowser and Donkey Kong have been designed with vehicles and attacks that fit their legacies: the Barrel Blaster plane for Donkey Kong and the Clown Cruiser car for Bowser. Donkey Kong's attacks include barrels and bongos, while Bowser can breathe fire and summon Super Mario series regulars, Koopas and warp pipes.
The starter packs will be available when the game is released -- September 20 for the US, September 25 for Australia and the UK.
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