"Super Smash Bros." for Wii U and the first round of amiibo figures, Nintendo's first foray into the toys-to-life category (popularized by Activision's "Skylanders" and Disney's "Infinity"), are both launching on Nov. 21, in time for the holiday shopping season, naturally. Almost all of Nintendo's favorite characters (Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox, Samus, Wii Fit Trainer, Villager, Pikachu, Kirby, and Marth) will be represented in this initial launch. Zelda, Luigi, Diddy Kong, Little Mac, Pit, and Captain Falcon amiibo will be released in December, with additional figures launching throughout 2015.

"Launching Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and amiibo on the same day kicks off the holiday shopping season with a bang...and a smash," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing in a company press release. "With a wide range of amiibo figures to choose from and a new Super Smash Bros. game on Wii U with more features than ever before, shopping for the Nintendo fan on your list will be easy this year."

With amiibo, Nintendo is letting people experience games in fun new ways. By tapping an amiibo figure to the Wii U GamePad controller, the Nintendo characters can be used in different ways in many compatible games. Some games, like "Super Smash Bros." for Wii U, will save data to the amiibo, while other games, like "Mario Kart 8" and "Hyrule Warriors," will give you bonus content just for tapping an amiibo to the GamePad. Other functionality includes: players who own a Link amiibo can use it as a fighting partner in "Super Smash Bros." to get a fun racing suit for their Mii characters in "Mario Kart 8" and to access a special weapon in "Hyrule Warriors."

For more information about amiibo, visit amiibo.com. For more information about "Super Smash Bros." for the Wii U, visit smashbros.com/us/. You can also check out the video below for a slew of more information on "SSB" and amiibo: