by Doc, Owner, Founder, Man Who Is Secretly an amiibo and Hasn’t Had the Guts to Tell Anyone
Since the NFC Bank shutdown, amiibo bin files have suddenly become a concern of the amiibo scene. I’ve been doing my best to help people find them (links below), but I can’t keep up with the questions about them. This post will answer your questions about amiibo bin files.
What’s an amiibo bin file?
An amiibo bin file is basically the ROM image of an amiibo. Much in the same way that ROMs are used in emulators and flash cartridges, amiibo bin files are used to emulate amiibo. Think of it this way:
- ROM files are amiibo bin files
- Flash cartridges are Powersaves for amiibo
- Reproduction cartridges are NTAG215 chips
The only difference between ROMs and amiibo in practice is that you’re not emulating an amiibo – you’re always telling the game (either through the Joy-Con or through software modification) that an amiibo has been scanned in.
How do I use amiibo bin files?
Amiibo bin files are used in a lot of different ways. They can be used to:
- Create NTAG215 chips and amiibo cards, which function identically to normal amiibo
- Load into Powersaves for Amiibo for use on a Powertag
- Be loaded into emulators so the emulated game believes it’s had an amiibo scanned in
What are the Key-Retail and Unfixed-Info bin files?
These two files are the tools to decrypting the amiibo. When combined, they activate a program that decrypts your amiibo – separately, they can’t do anything. You need these for use in Tagmo.
What’s Tagmo?
Where can I find amiibo bin files?
Unfortunately, the biggest host for amiibo bin files is now down. NFC Bank died due to unknown circumstances. I’ve set up tracking pages at the below so that I can easily link people to hosts when I find them.
Can I cheat amiibo cards with Amiiqo?
Amiiqo doesn’t function any better than Tagmo, so I recommend using Tagmo instead. It’s available on more platforms, is more functional, and is significantly more reliable than Amiiqo.
Can I use amiibo bin files with chips besides NTAG215 chips?
Well, technically yes, but only if you have a Powersaves for Amiibo. Powersaves for Amiibo emulates an NTAG215 chip using the Powertag, so… it’s basically still a no. That’s okay – NTAG215 chips are cheap and easy to come by, so you shouldn’t have too much of a problem.
