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All week long, rumors have been flying about the beloved platformer from Yacht Club Games, Shovel Knight. First it was being said that the Shovel Knight character was being added to Super Smash Bros., and then a Shovel Knight amiibo was leaked by UK retailer GAME.

During a pre-PAX Prime event, Nintendo has now laid the rumors to rest. While we still don't know whether or not Shovel Knight will make his way into Super Smash Bros. eventually, we do know for sure that a Shovel Knight amiibo is on the way, and it will work with the Shovel Knight video game on both 3DS and Wii U.

In the goofy Shovel Knight amiibo's reveal trailer, some if its specific functions were announced. So far, it's only confirmed to be compatible with the actual Shovel Knight games on 3DS and Wii U, as well as future Yacht Club Games titles on Nintendo platforms. Presumably, this will also apply to the upcoming expansion Plague of Shadows that is being planned for Shovel Knight.

In any case, the Shovel Knight amiibo, which still lacks a confirmed release date or price (though the leak suggested a November 27th release), adds significant value to the Wii U Shovel Knight game as well as the 3DS version. The Wii U version of Shovel Knight actually adds a full-on co-op experience to the game when the amiibo is activated, whereas both versions of the game will allow users to customize Shovel Knight's color and save that data on the amiibo. Furthermore, both versions of the game will unlock special challenge maps using the amiibo, which will be exclusive to the Nintendo versions of the game.

Yacht Club Games is the first independent studio that Nintendo has allowed to create an amiibo. However, it is highly likely that other independent studios will put out amiibos in the future as well, as Nintendo has confirmed that they've received pitches from numerous indie companies since the amiibo figures were initially revealed at E3 2014.

Shovel Knight Amiibo

Sadly, Shovel Knight amiibo functionality for first-party Nintendo games is not in the cards at this time, but the possibility of it being incorporated in the future has not been ruled out. If the rumors about Shovel Knight coming to Super Smash Bros. as a DLC character turn out to be true, it would be very fitting for amiibo functionality to be added as well. Another first-party Nintendo game we think would greatly benefit from the Shovel Knight amiibo is Super Mario Maker, which allows users to change Mario into other characters using amiibo.

Will you be standing in line for the Shovel Knight amiibo? What other indie companies do you want to see come out with their own amiibo figures? Let us know in the comments.

Shovel Knight is available for Linux, Mac, Nintendo 3DS, PC, PS3, PS4, PS Vita, Wii U, and Xbox One. Of course, the amiibo functionality with the game is exclusive to the 3DS and Wii U versions of the title.

Source: IGN