''Mario'', a character in Nintendo Co Ltd's ''Mario Bros'' video games
''Mario'', a character in Nintendo Co Ltd's ''Mario Bros'' video games, is seen at the company's showroom in Tokyo July 28, 2011. Reuters/Toru Hanai

Nintendo might be out of the current-gen console race after conceding defeat to Microsoft and Sony following disappointing sales performance of Wii U, but it isn't completely down yet. The recent success of its updated 3DS handheld console is buoyed further by the unprecedented demand for its Amiibo-enabled figurines. Even as the Japanese videogame player struggles to meet the production demand for the figurines, it has dropped the asking price on certain Amiibo selections.

Gamespot reports that Nintendo has dropped the prices for three figurines from the very first run of the series. The bestselling Donkey Kong, Peach and Yoshi Amiibo figurines will now cost $10 as opposed to the original $13 sticker price. The discounted figurines could be considered as platinum-sales promotion of sorts because they happen to figure in the top-10 bestselling Amiibo figurines list released by the company earlier this month.

The company hasn't released any official announcement about the price drop. The listing on Nintendo's official website was quietly dropped to the current discounted price.

The move comes after the company recently released the third wave of figurines, which include Mega Man, Sonic the Hedgehog and Toon Link from "The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker." According to Siliconera, the fourth wave consisting of Charizard, Wario, Pac Man and more characters will launch in April, preceded by six more additional "Mario Party 10" Amiibos debuting in the month of March.

For those late to the party, Amiibos are NFC-enabled collectibles designed to incorporate interactive features such as saving game data for portability, adding costumes, unlocking extra characters, enabling game demos and additional content on the 3DS and Wii U consoles. Gamers can buy them off the store shelves and simply tap it onto their devices to unlock additional content.

The rapid increase in the Amiibo figurine roster can be attributed to the rising momentum of demand. Most of this, however, comes from die-hard Nintendo collectors. That's because the NFC-enabled toys don't add much to gameplay or content within videogames, apart from serving as really cool looking collectibles. Having said that, Nintendo has already sold over 5.7 million Amiibo figurines according to an Engadget report.

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Nintendo amiibo Power TV Commercial (credit: Nintendo YouTube channel)