The toys to life genre in video games has been around for some time. These are a range of smart toys that unlock content in the game by placing them on a special USB peripheral plugged into your game console.
Kids have enjoyed the close relationship between the toy and the in-game character and game publishers have enjoyed finding a way to turn sizeable profits.
However, until now these weren't really toys at all - more collectable figurines that would be displayed on a shelf. Each of them sat on a plastic base housing the smart chip and this meant they weren't as fun to play with.
Next month Yoshi's Woolly World will be released and with it a new amiibo character that is quite different than what has gone before. The Yoshi amiibo is made of wool.
But not only this, the smart tech is hidden inside the toy. Unlike other amiibo that are hard plastic and sit on a static base, here Yoshi is made of wool and has been freed from his plastic tether. This means that the figurine is as much a play thing as it is a way to unlock in game content.
As you can see Yoshi looks great, but the real change is when you see him in the hands of children. With the tech hidden inside this amiibo is much more a cuddly friend than gaming token.
Other game makers are following this approach as well. Skylanders Superchargers for example is including smart vehicles that don't have a static bases any more. This means that work as well on the living room carpet as they do on the screen.
Lego Dimensions' solution is to split the toys from the tech by enabling players to remove the minifigures from the small plastic bases. You just need to take care not to lose those bases.
This is one video-game trend that will be welcomed by both parents and children.
