Amiibo was frequently mentioned in Nintendo’s E3 digital conference, and rightfully so. It’s the latest iteration of Nintendo’s toys-to-life initiative, and just may be the most interesting gaming peripheral since the Nintendo 64 transfer pack.

Amiibo are collectible figurines of Nintendo characters that can be used with Wii U and 3DS games, in a Toy Story-esque way to breathe life into your action figures and play with them on your Nintendo consoles. We saw one application of this during the E3 Super Smash Bros. demo, where Satoru Iwata placed a Mario amiibo on his Wii U Gamepad, and Mario appeared on screen to help him fight. The figurines can both send and receive data from the Wii U and 3Ds. For example, an amiibo used in Super Smash Bros will be able to receive data from the game and evolve its fighting style the more it’s used, which means that no two figurines will be exactly alike in terms of gameplay style.

Other games that are confirmed to support amiibo are Mario Kart 8, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker, Yoshi’s Wolly World, and Mario Party 10. It’s not immediately clear in what ways the amibo will be utilized, and surely each game will make different use of them. However, if Nintendo creates exciting and innovative gaming opportunities, coupled with the “collect them all” nature of amiibo, they might manage to turn around the Wii U’s lackluster sales figures and capture the attention of a whole new generation of gamers.

Amibo will launch with ten figurines to start, and a peripheral is being developed for the 3DS to integrate amiibo with the handheld system. Check out the video below for the amiibo’s application in Super Smash Bros.