The arrival of Animal Crossing: New Horizons has predictably triggered a surge in demand for Animal Crossing amiibo cards required to invite certain villagers to your island, so much so that some of them are now trading hands for significantly more than the value of the game itself. When you consider that these cards were supposed to offer a low-cost means of accessing amiibo-locked content, it's a rather bizarre turn of events.
While a re-run of the Animal Crossing cards appears to be taking place in Japan later this year – according to online retailer Play-Asia, at least – the idea of paying hundreds of dollars to get the Animal Crossing villager you truly desire is something that only the most dedicated fan will resort to. For me, I'm happy with a tiny plastic disc I was fortunate enough to pick during the Halcyon days of the 3DS.
Back in 2015, we ran a piece arguing the case both for and against the amiiqo (now known as the N2 Elite), a small device which could be loaded up with the NFC data from amiibo figures. The premise behind the unit is simple; using either a computer (with the bundled NFC writer) or an Android phone with NFC support, you can copy over the NFC data from any amiibo. A little button on the side of the device allows you to cycle through all of the amiibo data it currently holds. Once the data is on the N2 Elite, it acts like a 'real' amiibo – and it's possible to download amiibo data online for every figure and card released so far.
I'm not going to trawl through the debate again – as I said, we did that back in 2015 – but given the current madness surrounding the Animal Crossing amiibo cards, I'm thanking my lucky stars that I still have my old N2 Elite at the back of my desk drawer. Prior to the release of New Horizons, it hadn't been used in literally years, but it's now enjoying a new lease of life – and saving me a small fortune in the process.
Surely this is little better than piracy, you might say. However, at the end of the day, Nintendo doesn't benefit when someone pays an extortionate amount on eBay for a second-hand Animal Crossing amiibo card, so there's little reason to feel any kind of guilt in this particular situation – especially as I know in my heart of hearts that if the cards were available at their original price in my local games store, I'd snap them up as I'd much prefer to have a physical item – and that was a key line of debate back in 2015. The appeal of amiibo figures is arguably rooted in their status as lovely collectable items you can display on your shelf; the NFC functionality is, for most people, a bonus. Besides, irrespective of that, the key point here is that I can't buy them for their original price even if I wanted to.
The collectability of amiibo has been a key sticking point since the range began, with many figures now selling for several times more than their original retail value. The existence of such a market was bound to create the need for devices like the N2 Elite, and I'm personally thankful that I have the option to add whichever villager to my Animal Crossing island without having to pay through the nose. While the game lacks DLC content at the moment, the fact that Animal Crossing cards exist is almost like having physical DLC, and what's worse, players can't readily get hold of them without paying insane amounts of cash.
Should Nintendo have gotten more cards into production ahead of New Horizons hitting store shelves? Most definitely; the demand is clearly here. However, the recent coronavirus outbreak may have put the brakes on that particular plan. Should amiibo villagers be offered as in-game DLC? Maybe you could drop 99 cents to get your favourite character to visit your island? It sounds exploitative, but then isn't that what Nintendo is asking when it decrees that amiibo cards are required to summon these characters?
Let us know if you've got an N2 Elite you're using in the same way – and what you think about the current Animal Crossing amiibo card situation – by voting in the polls below and leaving a comment.
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Comments 127
I prefer using and getting amiibo legitimately, even if its through secondhand sources. That being said, I hold no ill will towards using a device like this even if the cards were easy and cheap. You don't owe Nintendo money, at least not for the cards.
That being said, I'd rather just be able to choose villagers. I'm not an Animal Crossing guy, but I might be if my village was Scoot, Bob, and Apollo.
Whew, some mental gymnastics going on there, will definitely make for an interesting comment section I'm sure. We have about 15 or so animal crossing amiibo, most bought for only a few bucks.
i wouldnt frown upon people using it but to me it would just feel a bit lackluster to use. to me, __more__ than half the fun of the amiibo is having the physical thing to play around with.
I got my Amiiqo shortly after the Switch was released a few years ago, I never got as much use out of it as I figured i might. Though I will say it worked wonderfully in AC allowing me to get my favorite villager Stitches!
"Surely this is little better than piracy, you might say"
This is little better than piracy, I do say
@mesome713 In the U.S. at least there's nothing illegal about backing up your own data. Also, there is nothing illegal about downloading data. Similar if someone dropped an amiibo in the parking lot and you picked it up if no one was around that could have dropped it.
The only legal issue is for people redistributing backup data, and from my understanding, profiting off of it. But it might just be an issue to redistribute it even if you aren't profiting.
Definitely save alot of time looking for specific villagers.
Also get more use since you don't need to hunt down specific amiibo for in game unlockables.
@Cheez I'm afriad it is illegal unless you make the device yourself. It's illegal to buy backing up devices without Nintendos permission.
The data itself used for amiibo NFC tags might be copyrighted code, thus it might actually constitute piracy. I'm really not sure though, this question has been asked a few times.
I don't see why anyone would take issue with this thing given the current situation, and the content locked behind amiibo is already on the cartridge/disc, you're just expected to pay extra to have access to something you already paid for.
''Do you think Nintendo should make villagers available via DLC, given that the cards are so expensive?''
Yes - 47%
Most people are willing to pay for villagers? And we're blaming the big companies for putting micro-transactions in nearly every game...
@Emob It promotes piracy. It makes people think it's OK to steal from hard working people who spend their lives protecting their art. Stealing what isn't yours is never ok. Nomatter what the situation it is never ok to steal.
@mesome713 The device itself is perfectly legal, as it is just an NFC token that can store multiple data sets. The Amiibo DATA is the legal sticking point.
I have the Smash Bros. Villager amiibo, does it have functionality with New Horizons?
200 bucks to do what dirt cheap nfc stickers and an android phone could do lmao
Looks like they messed up the printing on your sticker, got it unaligned or something. I also have an Amiiqo from when they were still known as Amiiqo, and I agree it is great, my sticker is properly cut, but it is starting to peel.
@DaCh33f ? These are $40 new. (at least they were when I got mine years ago). They can hold 200 different amiibo at a time, is that where you got 200 from?
Villagers as DLC is a given - I just hope they're offered as free DLC.
I didn't have this device, but I have one like it. Got it back in my Breath of the Wild days. I have way too many amiibo - WAY TOO MANY - and it really broke the portability of the Switch caring a bin of those things with me. Still have all of my amiibo, so it was more of a backup/convenience deal.
Side note... I totally understand why some folks want a specific villager. From my perspective. part of the fun of AC for me is having NEW villagers move in. I like getting to know them and may find a new favorite!
@mesome713 For once I agree. Shut this down!
@TheAwesomeBowser Little late to the party, Amiiqo, or N2Elite as it's known now, have been around years at this point, the better part of a decade. And no, it isn't illegal to store NFC tags in a device like this. Nintendo might not like it, but the closest thing to breaking a law they did was with their original name which was too close to Amiibo and had to change the name to avoid any legal issues.
When you can add "... because [name of manufacturer] won't" to a sentence, that's enough of a justification for ya.
Nintendo could make these things illegal, but what they truly should do is just countering piracy with more consumer-friendly legal means.
My position on this is basically “do wot u want m8”. I’m not a huge fan of main features being locked away behind amiibo (it’s hard to think of many recent examples, but the original Splatoon had a decent chunk of single player content being amiibo-exclusive and there are a handful of other cases), so I’ve never really begrudged these devices for being able to circumnavigate the system. But I’ve never owned one either.
I think it’s personally fine to use it, but I also don’t feel not being able to pick the exact villagers you want is exactly a crime against humanity. Animal Crossing has always had a certain random element, which has been part of its charm. Desperately trying to get the idiot chicken off your island after it had the nerve to move there is... well, part of the experience.
That said, I’m half tempted to pick up a pack or two of the cards if they do come back at a standard price. There’s something inherently satisfying about opening up and packet and seeing what’s inside. Maybe I’m starting to sound like EA with their “surprise mechanics” and there are certainly parallels, but I don’t mind so much when the features are a) non-essential and non-advantageous, and b) not present in the game itself. There’d be something a bit icky if the game started asking you to buy bits of it from within the standard interface. I feel that would blur the boundaries in a way amiibo cards somehow manage to avoid.
@AlexSora89 I don't think Nintendo could make these illegal. Nintendo approached them in the past and forced them to change their original name of Amiiqo, but beyond that, they can't really touch this product.
Ideally, more cards and amiibo would be released to cater to demand a bit more and make some more money for the AC beast. But obviously that's unlikely to happen under the circumstances.
The device is legal. Downloading Amiibo data you did not pay for is theft via piracy. Simple, it shouldn't be a debate about how difficult it is to get Amiibo cards right now. It shouldn't be a debate about how hard it is to get specific villagers. Those are called rationalizations.
I'm not going to tell you what you should or should not do. But there is no question you are breaking the law when you download Amiibo data without having paid for it.
@Jaxad0127 It's illegal cause Nintendo gives no permission for such a thing. It is illegal to sell a device that rips Amiibo data without Nintendos permission. Just like it's illegal to sell a device that can rip data from games.
@mesome713 Nintendo forced them to change their name from Amiiqo to N2Elite, if it were truly illegal, you'd think Nintendo would have shut the whole thing down when they forced the name change. But that didn't happen.
Nintendo may not like the device, but it isn't breaking any laws by existing. That would be like thinking that blank CDs and DVDs are illegal, because they too can store the data of things you're supposed to pay for in full.
I have my entire amiibo Collection copied to nfc chips and placed in coin protectors, it took forever to print and cut the inserts I made but now they're real purdy..
Also now I have two sleeves with amiibo coins that are easy to carry with me and a lot less of a hassle when going through a BotW amiibo loot session (I have ALL Zelda Amiibos, and it sucked going through them to all as there's quite a lot of them now and they take up a lot of space)
The fact that everyone is trying to be a moral compass is silly. Not everyone can afford these amiibos or wants to spend hundreds of dollars on them. I'm sure every single person here has pirated something, even if it's one song. Anyone over the age of 20 has pirated something whether it's a PC game, song, or streaming a movie off of a website. Don't be a bunch of hypocrites. It's also not illegal to use NFC cards. Nintendo forced the amiiqo name change, they didn't shut it down. That's like saying any blank media is illegal.
The N2 Elite puck doesn't actually work anymore and hasn't for over a year. I bought one over a year ago and the app has been abandoned for a long time. It doesn't work on Android 8 or higher and is complete garbage. They also don't even sell them anymore at least on eBay.
@mesome713 It doesn't rip anything. It's like saying blank CDs should be illegal. You take the data that's already online and put it onto an NFC sticker, that's it. Nintendo also didn't shut down this system, just forced the company to change the name amiiqo. It's not illegal. The actual device is just a blank NFC storage device.
@ivory_soul Hmm, just checked on mine, higher than Android 8 and my Amiiqo still works like a charm.
Note: I did download an unofficial update of the app a year or two ago, that might make the difference. Can't remember where I found that either.
@duffmmann There is a reason these aren't sold in stores. Nintendo also never stopped flashcarts, yet those were illegal too. Games top, Bestbuy, Target, Walmart, etc can never sell these.
@mesome713 Nintendo did sue over flashcards though. Meanwhile they approached this company about their name, but didn't try to stop the product like they did with R4 cards? Come on now, they're not the same. All they are, are rewritable NFC banks.
@duffmmann The one from the Play Store doesn't work and/or my puck might be a fake/faulty. I got it off eBay for $30 about a year ago. I could never get it to work, and the N2 Elite app on the Play Store has low ratings with many people reporting issues.
@ivory_soul Yeah I think the Play store version is outdated, but I was pretty sure it still worked, just wasn't updated with images of all the amiibo, that's why I found that unofficial version. I can't say if yours is a fake or not, I bought mine when they were new and still known as Amiiqo, years ago, and it was directly from the company's authorized US reseller at the time. Wouldn't put it past ebay to have fakes of something like that though. I've definitely gotten a fake SD card or two from ebay over the years.
I just bought NFC stickers and used those, they are super cheap and I doubt I'll need all 28 of them. If I do, I don't mind buying more.
As for this being illegal, the codes are right there on the cards. As far as I'm aware, they aren't encrypted and Nintendo has never denounced the sites doing this or even made a statement. So it's hard for me to say this is wrong.
It was my understanding that you're paying mostly for the figure when it comes to amiibos. Cards are different I guess since there's no way they cost that much to make.
“ Surely this is little better than piracy, you might say”
No, I say this IS piracy, pure and simple. The only way it isn’t is if you’re using it as a convenient backup of amiibo you already own - something the article makes clear isn’t happening here.
You’re a criminal. Fact.
@gaga64 Well the fact is, the device itself is not piracy. It's what the user decides to put on it or not that makes it piracy.
Having said that, I'm a pirate, woop dee doo. I've burned a CD or two in my life, and I've uploaded data into a game I paid for to explore parts of the game that are locked away without it. What a monster I am.
@gaga64 Is there somewhere that is from Nintendo saying that we can't share amiibo data?
@RupeeClock it surely is piracy, there is no doubt about that. There is a small amount of code stored on the NFC chip, and that code, like any code, is protected under copyright.
@duffmmann the main use of the device is piracy.
Eh, I’ll stick with NFC stickers. It’s hard to support buying amiibo cards when they’re basically lootboxes.
@sanderev Sure, but that doesn't matter. The main use of blank CDs and DVDs a few years back was definitely piracy, didn't make those illegal either.
@duffmmann no. The main use of a blank CD is to create a personal copy of something you own. This is why we, here in the Netherlands, pay an additional tax on blank media (cds, mp3players, smartphones) for personal copies we make of music and video we own. This does not, however, include downloads from an illegal source on the internet or software (games inc).
@sanderev I know what the selling point of the blank CD and DVD was, but put yourself back in the early 2000s, and you'll see that the majority of them were being used for piracy.
And we can argue the same thing here too, this thing is just to backup my amiibos, which you can do with this device.
I love the justification for committing theft “the original creator/owner doesn’t benefit from a resale, so it’s justified... right?”
Imagine if we accepted that logic for other stolen property!
NintendoLife shouldn’t be creating acceptance of criminal behaviour.
I don't see the problem. When you buy an Amiibo, what are you really paying for, the figurine which has value in and of itself, or the few bytes of data contained in the base? I personally don't see how it's immoral or unethical to acquire the data without paying for the piece of the plastic it's attached to.
@Batty5 "there is no question you are breaking the law"
Which one? Which country? Is it the worldwide American copyright law?
I love this little device. I cannot stand Amiibos, as I'm not really a collector and these little trinkets are just clutter in my home.
No it isn't illegal. (****Ing LOL!)
No Nintendo can't shut it down.
No I don't feel bad at all in the slightest for using it.
Honestly I feel like Amiibos are a huge scam, and I'd feel worse for buying them. I'd feel like an actual bonafide idiot actually. Haha
Nintendo should just never have made these blind bags to begin with. That is a large part of the issue if you ask me. You'll never know if you get that one villager you want, so when they were still properly available a lot of potential buyers didn't buy them for this reason and if they want to use them now with New Horizons they're forced to pay a hefty amount if money to get them.
Or maybe I'm just salty myself for them being in blind bags and this having put me off from completing the entire set. I have about 3/4th complete and now I will never complete it because of this bullhockey.
Would you download a car?
@duffmmann yeah the device itself is fine, it’s a legitimate device, I actually have no problem with that.
But the downloading of data on to it that is Nintendo-owned proprietary data that the individual has not paid for and Nintendo have not made available freely? That’s piracy.
root a android device that has nfc on it then download Tagmo(free) and then run to amazon and order nfc cards you can get 52 for 10$ with this you can take your friends amiibo scan it with tagmo then write that amiibos data to a card...thus cloning amiibo....if your smart you can google and get the amiibo data tags from the internet too.
This is theft, plain and simple. Don't promote this scum
Just reprint the amiibo cards, Nintendo...
I’m going to go to a forum for international copyright lawyers who don’t know anything about video games to see them debate whether Sonic is better than Mario.
animal crossing is the dumbest possible pick to make the argument this is good, it's kind of a big focus that your villagers are random, its not like they're "locking game content" behind them besides a bunch of posters
sheesh. if you really want someone that bad, trade for them with bells or whatever. making this out to be "physical dlc" is one of the worst takes i've heard
@PBandSmelly I think if it was plain and simple, people wouldn't be debating over it so much.
@Almighty-Koz You don't need to root your phone. It makes it faster to get set up though, I think.
This seems to boil down to deontology versus utilitarianism again, or whether actions are moral/immoral regardless of their consequences or because of their consequences.
The author is making a utilitarian argument: this isn't immoral because nobody is losing money.
The comments are largely making a deontological argument: One has a moral duty to keep reasonable laws and a moral duty not to steal, so this is immoral.
Which means neither side will find the other's reasoning convincing by itself because both have different ways to decide whether something is moral.
@mesome713 that's not true at all.
You should donate all of your money to Nintendo like it's scientology. Gotta make sure Nintendo makes a profit.
@Ajent a copy of data that you weren't going to buy anyway is not theft.
@Trajan They are the gods of gaming, so I wouldn't mind, I already buy Nintendo Stock every paycheck.
@mesome713 lmao I hope to God you're a Nintendo cuck troll.
@mesome713 so if I want just 1 villager I need to buy amiibo cards until I find it? LOL I can't even buy it from Ebay, because Nintendo wouldn't get any money from it right?
As someone who collects amiibo and owns over 150 of them, I see absolutely nothing wrong with pirating the data from them. Self-righteous grandstanders like mesome713 can shriek about how it's morally wrong all they want but I find it morally wrong that the damn things aren't available and have significant content locked behind them.
Take Samus Returns for instance. If you want to play Fusion mode then you have to have the squishy metroid amiibo. That is going to run you ~$50. That's an entire difficulty mode with a new costume that costs dramatically more to play than the actual game. The Wolf Link amiibo unlocks an AI companion in Breath of the Wild. I got TP Wii U at launch, got all the heart containers, played through the amiibo dungeon, and used my Shiek amiibo to heal right before I left the final room to get a fully powered Wolf Link for BotW legitimately. If you want to have that cool experience, Wolf Link is ~$30 out of box so have fun paying double the MSRP.
It is repugnant that Nintendo has allowed this to happen. Nintendo is locking people out of major content because they don't have a figure or card that's only available for inflated prices on the secondary market. If Nintendo wants to complain about this (which they haven't so far) then they can either sell cards of all the figures or they can make their own dongle that lets you pay to put figure data on it. Until then, pirate away because you were never meant to pay what these things are going for now based on the MSRP.
Oh and if you say you should have bought then when they were new, that isn't an argument because some of these weren't possible to get new. I remember sitting out in front of a GameStop at 4AM in the rain with a wet foot after stepping in a puddle for Wave 3 and there were people behind me who didn't get any of the new amiibo because the store had so few. Acquiring these things has always been a problem and while I found the hunt fun, most didn't.
@massi914 Yes. Or beg Nintendo to take your money. No one said an honest life is easy. But at least you wouldn't be pirate scum.
@able_to_think this is all well and good, but they're not arguing for any of these amiibo, they're arguing it's good for possibly the least vital amiibo in the history of the world
@Dodger In other words, we can't find harmony without a universal standard?
@mesome713 Why would I care about the others? I'm not going to give them money for a character, I'm just taking something that it's mine from the beginning.
@massi914 If you already have it, then why are you stealing another? You lying bro, stop lying.
@mesome713 I was trying to say that amiibo cards are like lootboxes and if I'm searching for a villager I couldn't care less about the other villagers that will find in the pack. So by using this fake amiibo thing, I'm just taking something that is mine from the beginning, since I payed for the game already. But they are just little bitc*es by unlocking an npc behind a paywall.
@massi914 You do know you don't need the cards to get the villagers don't you? Your not entitled to anything, be a thief all you want though.
I do love my N2 Elite, really makes the more experimental AC games like Happy Home Designer and Amiibo Festival worth it. However it does have a limitation in what sorts of Amiibo BIN files it can use, since they need to be pre-registered somehow. Other options like Powersaves don't have this requirement.
@duffmmann Was lookin at the N2 elite woops lmao
@mesome713 you are just a no sense fanboy
@mesome713 If you don't need the cards to get the villagers, wouldn't that mean that using NFC chips to get them is fine since you could have got them either way?
@mesome713 I think you should look into that again. You can check out a company called Western digital. They sell back up devices in most every store that sells electronics throughout the US. People use their hard drives to back up Wii, Wii U, and other systems games and it falls completely within an American's rights to do that.
When it comes to Amiibo Locked Content, I would pay what it costs for an Amiibo to unlock it via DLC.
I really do not want a bunch of extra cards or toys piled up somewhere. Considering the fact that both the 3DS and Switch are handheld devices makes the whole scan part ridiculous.
@Cheez A hard drive does not rip the game. That's illegal. Just like it's illegal to reproduce sports games from TV. Reproduction of any creators content without the creators consent is illegal.
@mesome713 Can you show where it is illegal to rip a game?
@ecco6t9 I would pay for it too of it had a reasonable price, perhaps.
What a joke. Why spend over a hundred dollars on this when NFC tags are a few dollars and achieve the same thing? I'd use one if the price tag wasn't absurd, but because it is, nah.
@Kalmaro It's illegal to steal any creators content. Only fair use is legal. Read the end of a football game. It's states, ANY reproduction of this content is prohibited. Even if you bought the sports game, it is not yours to reproduce. Same with basketball, baseball, soccor, music, movies, etc.
Unless a creator gives you premission, it's illegal.
You can does this on any art. Even a picture, website, essay, document, etc. Copyright laws give you the right to prohibit reproduction.
@mesome713 I hear what you're saying, I'm just not seeing anything to back it up. Where does it say that you can not rip your own games?
@Kalmaro https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp
That'll have all he info your looking for. Even info on roms, backups, emulations, etc.
Also read the copyright section where it states only the creator has the right to reproduce said content.
https://www.nintendo.com/corp/legal.jsp#copyrights
Let me know if you need anymore help mate.
@ComposedJam cool, hope you're enjoying Animal Crossing
@mesome713 are you going to report us lol?
@massi914 Of course not, I'm too lazy.
@ComposedJam thanks for recognizing my genius, have a great one
@ComposedJam People and their family are corporations. Your stealing from hard working families all because you feel entitled to the content that they create for free. That's about as low as it gets mate.
I'd be ashamed to even admit to doing such a low life thing.
@mesome713 Thanks, I was looking at their website and something caught my attention.
"The introduction of emulators created to play illegally copied Nintendo software represents the greatest threat to date to the intellectual property rights of video game developers. "
That kind of sounds like they are saying that legal methods exists. Then I noticed this here:
"Are Game Copying Devices Illegal?
Yes. Game copiers enable users to illegally copy video game software onto floppy disks, writeable compact disks or the hard drive of a personal computer."
So there supposedly is a legal method of getting a game copy but then they also say that game copiers are bad since it lets you distribute your game. That seems very confusing. The only option then would be a copier that copies the game in a way that doesn't let you redistribute it.
Which is all pretty confusing. I think another point is that they are saying what's legal and what isn't but thata it, its just their word and were expected to take it as gospel. I'm going to have to keep digging.
The wording on the site suggests that if you are not distributing anything, you're fine, which may be part if the fair use doctrine.
@Kalmaro I wouldn't say a universal standard is necessary for agreement. In a situation like this where people disagree about moral action because they have different premises, there could be a number of outcomes, including neither persuading the other, one persuading the other within the other's moral framework, or one persuading the other by challenging the other's premises.
Let's lock Bob the Deontologist and Joe the Utilitarian in a room until they agree about whether pirating amiibo figures is moral or immoral. If Bob says, "It's immoral because stealing is wrong!", his argument won't persuade Joe because Joe thinks stealing can be right. Bob, if he knows what Joe does think, could instead persuade Joe somehow that pirating amiibo figures actually hurts people and causes suffering. That would persuade Joe that according to his own beliefs, pirating the amiibo is wrong. Now the two both are in agreement that pirating amiibo is wrong, but without sharing the same premises. For all intents and purposes, a harmony between the two.
(Ignoring of course that they share a common idea that morality exists and that actions can be right or wrong, so there is a common belief there)
@Kalmaro There is no legal method unless they say so. You don't actually own the game. You can't reproduce it no matter what unless they say so. It's copyright 101. It's same for all content.
Copyright 101 states, reproduction and distribution is prohibited,
Only way to legally copy a game is through fair use, like streaming, etc.
"People Making Nintendo Emulators and Nintendo ROMs are Helping Publishers by Making Old Games Available that are No Longer Being Sold by the Copyright Owner. This Does Not Hurt Anyone and Allows Gamers to Play Old Favorites. What's the Problem?"
"The problem is that it's illegal. Copyrights and trademarks of games are corporate assets. If these vintage titles are available far and wide, it undermines the value of this intellectual property and adversely affects the right owner. In addition, the assumption that the games involved are vintage or nostalgia games is incorrect. Nintendo is famous for bringing back to life its popular characters for its newer systems, for example, Mario and Donkey Kong have enjoyed their adventures on all Nintendo platforms, going from coin-op machines to our latest hardware platforms. As a copyright owner, and creator of such famous characters, only Nintendo has the right to benefit from such valuable assets."
Nintendo states this perfect. Just cause something isn't available, doesn't make it right to reproduce or distribute a creators content.
@Varazadi It's smart for fortnite to do that though. Cause people will pull the trigger faster to buy a skin in fear it will be hard to get it later.
Nintendo uses this tactic on limited supply items to help encourage people to preorder in fear they might miss out on something special.
It's also why Nintendo doesn't discount games often. Cause then not as many people would buy it day one which is when the developers need the money the most to help get starting on their other projects.
It's a storage device despite how people want to use it. Nintendo doesn't own NFC technology, it's perfectly legal to download amiibo data and use it. It is illegal to distribute said data. (U.S.) I am a-ok with people doing either. In a way it's like emulation which I'm a big fan of.
@mesome713 I think that its too early to say that making a copy is strictly illegal, their wording makes it very clear that a method exists, they just stop short of saying what it is, for obvious reasons.
Then there's the Fair Use Doctrine that says that people can make personal copies in certain situations and have ruled in favor of the individuals as well as against them so...
This all ultimately falls into the gray area. Nintendo will, of course, say all of this is illegal because why wouldn't they? However, they can't prove it definitively until the courts say so amd they haven't, the rules are too vague and the issue has never been brought up to them.
The closets we've gotten to answers are the cases like "Sony v. Universal Studios".
@mesome713 If that is really what you believe there is still an error in your logic. For instance, DVD or Blu-ray drives can rip DVDs and Blu-rays. Yet still not illegal. Sports games are actually only an issue because of all of the money behind it. Technically, TV show that is sent over the air is publicly own, because the airwaves are publicly owned. For instance you are free to record the nightly news, an episode of Friends, etc. As long as you don't resell it. Similar anything on the radio is free to record. People use to record entire albums off the radio, and the record companies got upset and started requiring radio stations to break up the songs so people would stop doing that and buy albums. Back to sports, the only reason that is seen as illegal is because a few specific national sports leagues have so much money that they sue anybody that tries to reproduce their content and they keep it in litigation so long that it isn't financially worth it for the person who is abiding by the law in recording what is legally theirs and paid for through taxes. I hope this helps you understand a little bit more about legality. But in case it isn't clear, and backing up your digital data, or anything is completely legal. Selling data that has been privately backed up isn't legal unless it is outside of it's trademark, copyright date, etc. That's why anyone can create Wizard of Oz, Dracula, or other works that are in public domain. In fact, similar to sports, the only reason why Micky Mouse and some other famous characters can't legally be used is because Disney spent a lot of time and money on their lowers to change public domain laws. You might want to read about public domain, you could find it interesting.
@Cheez Your just answered yourself. It's illegal to reproduce sports games and they can sue the heck out of you if you do. Same with Disney and everything else. That's what a copyright is, it states it's illegal and they can sue you for it.
And no you don't own the music either. Try to reproduce a song and upload it on YouTube without making money off it and watch what happens.
@mesome713 Google and look into vexatious litigation and reread what I said. Also google Mickey Mouse Protection Act. Once you've done this I would love for you to get back to me.
@Cheez Those have nothing to do with current and active copyright laws. Your just jumping all over the place and missing the point.
I have the cards, bought them at first announce of the game, and got them for like $5/pack. That said, I must state that it is not a guarantee. There have been times when I scan the given amiibo card and the game simply tells me that the villager can't come right now or is busy...something to that effect. I have scanned the official KK card 5 separate times and all 5 have failed.
I kind of feel like Nintendo keeps inventing ways to recycle the amiibo uses; which is cool considering the ridiculous price of the upcoming Lego sets. That said....
Dear Nintendo,
Please make a DLC code where if you have the AC figure amiibo you can, like Smash, save your island in this case to it; that way the whole one island to an account is lifted and you are not as a player cheating.
@ComposedJam People make corporations, you can't have one without the other. I'd be ashamed you differ from such greatness. Nintendo is one of the best to ever be created, since the 1800s they have made people and gamers god like. You'd be wise to fall in line.
@ComposedJam thanks again champ, hope you are enjoying Animal Crossing!
During the Welcome Amiibo update I bought Moose cars from eBay and still have it. Nintendo didn’t profit from that one.
However, I did buy the toon link Amiibo for breath of the wild as an NFC disc from Etsy...
A while back, I bought a bunch of fake amiibo cards Ally Express for BOTW, they worked great, but the set was missing some of the newer ones, so bought some NFC stickers off of Amazon and downloaded some apps and the amiibo info and wrote them to the tags, so if you are a morally loose person like myself, you can google it and find the information you need to do it for your AC amiibos
Payed loot is just as immoral as illegally using code that enables using loot. For Amiibo figurines there is something to say for in favor of the value the figurine adds. But for the Animal Crossing Amiibo cards is imho nothing to say in favor other than it's pure loot.
For me, payed loot in any form spoils gameplay. It's like having a copy of a game which is crippled by default so the publisher can make more money of it. But then again ACNH is perfectly playable without. But I rather see payed loot be a thing of the past. But corporate culture and easy money...
I've had Amiiqo since it first came out. Infact I actually have 3 of them.
I've always used it instead of unboxing my figures and cards.
It's great knowing I can have my complete Amiibo collection in my pocket and not need to worry about carrying a massive number of figures with Smash data on them.
Honestly I don't think I would ever bother with the cards or the disc. I do have the odd amibo figure lying around though.
The main reason I don't have any issues with the disc being used though, is that I honestly believe that price gougers should be stamped out. I'd rather see them lose out than have people spend money on them.
They're scum imo and in all sorts of ways have made this crisis worse.
I actually think that companies like Ninty should be very vocal in asking people to be patient and not buy at these exorbitant rates. The fact that they're pretty quiet about it is disappointing.
@mesome713 Once you've read about those I'd love for you to get back to me and continue the discussion.
@Octane I voted no for exactly this reason. We don't need yet another excuse for MTX. Nintendo has been (mostly) good about staying away from MTX, unless you choose to classify the Amiibo themselves as "physical DLC". We should be encouraging developers to move away from all external transactions, instead making something like this an earned, internal feature. Want to invite a specific villager without the Amiibo? Add a rotation of Villagers looking for homes in the Nook Miles catalogue for 10,000 miles each, say 6 different Villagers each day, chosen at random. You want a specific Villager, you only have to plan ahead to bank the miles and have the patience to wait for them to show up in the catalogue. Problem solved, with no MTX, using in-game assets.
@RavenFellBlade amiibo are anything but ''micro''-transactions. Mega-transactions
And they're limited as well.
TBH, there's an in-game solution for every micro-transaction in existence. And that's the most frustrating part of it all. ''Oh, the game is too grindy? Here's an EXP boost for $10''. No thank you. That's selling you a solution to a problem they've created themselves.
@Octane I never thought of it that way, they are indeed selling us a solution to a problem that they made.
@nintendoknife Uhhh, no. There is the Berne Convention.It includes156 countries, almost certainly yours and definitely America. Sorry, you weren't aware of international agreements?
@Batty5 I don't think you know anything about how conventions and laws work if you think the Berne Convention has any relevance to 'the law'. A convention is what a country('s government) tells other countries(' governments) it will do. A law is what it tells its citizens it will do. Then, if there is a law, whether said law is actually enforced is yet another matter. For example, in many European countries you're entirely free to download whatever copyrighted material you want (this is either relatively explicitly written in the law, or the law is stricter but not enforced), you just can't share it.
Instead of arguing against someone who literally won't back down, why not be annoyed at the people who say things like "I would pay extra real life money to skip a process" in fully priced video games.
@nintendoknife OK, sure. Lots of countries are just fine with piracy. You betcha.
@Octane Not all DLC is paid DLC, if Nintendo released it as free DLC for those who wanted to have that option I would find that to be rather nice.
Though at the same time, if they do that the AC amiibo's wouldn't be worth as much and turn into little more than a physical collectible.
Still, would be nice to have the option to choose at least some villagers if there is one that you really, really want.
@Batty5 If you have no idea what other countries' laws are like, you shouldn't talk about them as though you know, because you just make yourself look like a fool, and you continue to make your fellow countrymen look bad by spreading the "stoopid American" stereotype. Look up the phrase "Here are some of the main countries where it's illegal to pirate" (use quotation marks so it looks for the exact phrase) and click on the first result. You could have found this, as I did, just by looking up "list of countries where downloading is legal", i.e. the bare minimum effort. You'll also want to take a look at some of the comments, because the list isn't accurate and many of the countries that are in the 'illegal and you get fined' category belong in the 'illegal but not enforced' category.
I'd also like to think I know more of my own country's laws than some random commenter from across the planet who lives in an information bubble.
@nintendoknife Hey, I thought all countries that were part of the Berne convention actually enforced it. I didn't realize that some countries actually didn't. You got me there. I guess that makes me an ignorant American, because I didn't realize that some countries legalized theft.
You must feel great knowing that your country is fine with stealing. You clearly are proud you get to live in a country where it is legal to directly harm people by taking their property and using it without compensating them. I feel really culturally ignorant not realizing you lived in such a country. I guess that is my "stoopid american" stereotype thinking most countries had laws protecting an individual's property. You have opened my eyes.
I am sure you know your countries laws better than I know them. Congratulations.
@Batty5 You're putting a whole lot of words into my mouth. All I said was that you were wrong, and after being presented with facts you could have easily looked up yourself before posting multiple witty yet baseless comebacks, all you can do is insult me and say that I'm a horrible person and should probably die, when again all I ever said was that other countries' laws don't follow American law. Note that I didn't make a single statement on whether the way copyright law works outside of the USA is good or bad. You're once again acting out the American stereotype: getting furious after being presented with facts, also known as shooting the messenger.
@nintendoknife No, I am expressing my opinion. I just assumed, based on your statements that you supported it. If not, good on you, it means I misinterpreted you calling me an ignorant American as a defense of the actions instead of just a basic general insult. My bad.
$190USD for the N2ELITE NFC & USB SET. I'll pass.
Give us a re-run of the cards Nintendo, Please!
Lol, nintendolife promoting illegal stuff...
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