
10th June 2024 marks the 10th anniversary of the reveal of Nintendo's toys-to-life line of figures at E3 2014.
A stop-gap project for Nintendo to fill a void between the foundering Wii U and the company's next 'NX' hardware, it's hard to argue that the interactive potential of these little Near-Field Communication figures was ever realised, but looking at over our bookshelf, it's certainly been successful as a sideline gimmick. We've got a line of them in front of the Blu-rays, and that's only a fraction of the collection — most are in a bucket in the kids' room. Picking one up every so often, we've amassed dozens over the last decade.
As the quality of the figures has improved over the years (we've come a long way since pee-stick Link), it's always tempting to pick up a nice-looking one when you see it. Fewer of us these days would be prepared to pay scalpers' prices on eBay for the most sought-after examples (*sigh* we'll just have to resign ourselves to the fact that we're never going to get that delightful Japan-only Qbby amiibo), but if we see a cool figure for a fair price, it's hard to resist even now.
There have been various restocks of Smash Bros. and Zelda figures recently. We've seen replenishments on Nintendo's online stores, and reprints of cards in the Animal Crossing range, too. The arrival of Sora signalled the official end of Smash Bros. Ultimate's development and, with no other amiibo announcements at present, you'd be forgiven for thinking we'd reached the end of the line.
Have we, though? While an increased focus on Nintendo merchandising opportunities in recent years has seen plenty of other display-friendly character options come to market — LEGO, for example — the ubiquity, relative cheapness, and notional in-game interactivity made these figurines an attractive buy for Nintendo fans, especially compared to, say, a $300 Lego set.
Are people still buying amiibo in 2024? This writer picked up TOTK Zelda and Ganondorf at the end of last year, but time for a quick team survey. What was the last amiibo you bought?
"BOTW Guardian," says Ollie.
"Link’s Awakening Link," says Jim.
"I was gifted The Hero (DQXI) and Richter a few years ago. Haven't bought one since Shulk," says Alana.
Using Team NL as a barometer of dedicated Nintendo fans, it seems that interest has fallen off somewhat as new releases have slowed to a trickle. Would we like to see more amiibo announced? Yes, we would — we wrote as much last year and it seems there'd be interest from your lovely selves if the figures were cool enough. The success of the Super Mario RPG remake has us hoping for a direct sequel and another chance at a Geno amiibo, but there are hundreds of characters from Nintendo history that'd look great on a little round base. Throw in big third-party possibilities large and small (Shovel Knight is one of our favourite figures, and who could say no to a Silksong amiibo, eh?) and we'd love to see the support continue into Nintendo's next console generation.

Rumours that 'Switch 2' will be carrying the handheld-hybrid torch of its predecessor suggest that amiibo compatibility may carry over, too. Looking at the bigger picture, the manufacturing pipeline that's been estanblished, and how Nintendo has been reluctant to really exploit and integrate functionality in-game in interesting ways (likely due to the perception of locking content behind an add-on buy), there's really no need for the amiibo train to stop. They're fun little figures with some very light ties to the software which don't put undue strain on game dev resources. Adding amiibo functionality isn't nothing but throwing some paraglider fabric textures into Tears of the Kingdom is a cinch compared to implementing bespoke, unlockable mechanics or more complex content. Why stop now?
Ultimately, if Sora were the last amiibo to come off the line, 10 years is a good run, especially considering how other toys-to-life efforts came and went. Passion for them may have settled to a sensible simmer, but we've had fun with them over the past decade, they still look great on a shelf, and our kids continue to enjoy them. Long may the supply of slightly overpriced, seriously cool-looking little amigos continue.
Still think there's life in the ol' figures yet? What was the last amiibo you bought? Which one was your favourite? And what was the best in-game implementation of them? Let us know in the poll and comments below.
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I need them to manufacture a Yunobo amiibo. I have been asking for one since the days of BotW, and we have yet to get one. We have the Champions, now we need the Sages
I voted “don’t know” because the options give two viewpoints each: if we think we’ll see them in the future (I do) and “I love them” or “I’d buy a few”. I definitely think we’ll see more, but I won’t be buying them. I bought Link, Zelda and Samus from smash bros as a single purchase probably 9 years ago and they just weren’t my thing
The good boy Oatchi needs an amiibo!
Having covered the entire Smash Bros. roster — which itself covers most major Nintendo characters — it seems that the only path left for amiibo is to get progressively more obscure.
Outside of releasing yet another Mario or Link figurine, it’s hard to imagine them being able to milk more out of the flagship franchises.
I can’t help but feel that at this point, the hardcore audience is largely sated (having already spent a good chunk of cash amassing their favourite characters) and the casual audience simply isn’t obsessive enough to pick up characters like Tingle’s pet dog Barkle from Freshly-Picked Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland and Ripened Tingle's Balloon Trip of Love.
I don’t think the entire concept of amiibo is ‘dead’ per se, but the wind has certainly gone out of its sails (sales?) and it’s difficult to imagine what would restore it.
Perhaps a big, AAAAA amiibo-focused ‘supergame’ for the Switch 2 might revive its fortunes — like Amiibo Festival but also absolutely nothing like Amiibo Festival because that was awful.
…Basically the complete opposite of Amiibo Festival.
I’m not counting on it though.
Said this before, but I'm not a fan of having dlc locked behind difficult-to-find-at-RRP figures. There should be an option to buy the outfits in Zelda games for a small fee if you don't want the figures.
The worst excesses of the Wii U era (Mario Party 10 and Splatoon 1 where substantial amounts of content were locked behind amiibo spring to mind) are thankfully a thing of the past, which is good to see.
Bought the only Metroid amiibo I had missing with the UK store restock last month (the Samus Returns Samus one).
Hope they carry on with them. It’s just nice to have affordable figures that are nicely made, especially for series that otherwise wouldn’t get such things. There’s some games that have gone by recently though that you’d think would’ve been a shoe in for amiibo tie-ins, like Princess Peach Showtime…hope it’s not a sign that they are stopping with them. I wouldn’t even care if they kept making them without NFC functionality (mostly pointless anyway).
I absolutely LOVE amiibo and really hope we see more!! Especially red base Mario series ones...we never got a Bowser Jr, Toadette, shy Guy or Kamek
I like to play video games and have everything available to me. I really don’t like having to buy plastic figures to unlock certain things so it’s frustrating to me that these are a thing. Let me pay for a game and be able to get all the things. I’m even OK with the occasional IAP, but I’d rather just pay for a thing and have it be a complete thing.
@Maxz
Amiibos are basically collector figures at this point, producing and selling amiibos of obscure characters will do more than fine for the purpose they serve (i.e. generate easy short-term profit).
The toys-to-life game genre has been dead since 2017/18 - there is no chance Nintendo will make their own Skylanders, especially since Smash already acts the one big game that supports all the amiibos.
@JohnnyC The figures are way overpriced for what little use you get out of them anyways.
When Skywayrd Sword came out, Nintendo actually locked a QoL feature behind a 20-30€ figurine.
When the Switch 2 DOES come out, I doubt they would continue amiibo support for that system. Backwards compatibility, yes, but not amiibo. We might even end up getting Paid DLC and Microtransactions, like in Mega Man X DiVE, like Daily Chest Packs that call for a BOTW/TOTK Incarnation of the Postman.
@westman98 I don’t disagree, and I imagine that there are still enough collectors left for it to be profitable, but at this point I think the profits brought in by the amiibo line are a fraction of what they were.
Like I say, I don’t think amiibo are dead — Nintendo can keep releasing them alongside each new major release and make a few extra yen from the hardcore collectors who need a piece of official plastic to go with their video games. But whatever their future, I think it’s fair to say that their ‘peak’ has passed.
The whole restocking thing was their way of saying that’s it folks.
Also I don’t even think they are still coding it into games?
Princess peach didn’t and they could of?
@DripDropCop146 Agreed. Some of them are nice figures, but that one in particular shouldn't even have been dlc, it should have just been in the game.
@YoshiAngemon When the Big N starts doing microtransactions, the dystopian future of videogames shall finally be a reality.
I can’t be the only one feeling old it’s been ten years since they were announced, I still have my OG Link and Pikachu amiibo sitting on my shelf. While I want them to continue making Amiibo, it really hasn’t had much support as of late, with TotK being the last game I can think of that had decent support for them. Really at the end of the day part of the appeal of them for me was that they were more affordable than some other statues/replicas of famous characters which is one of the reasons it really sold it for me
They're neat I guess but not really my thing (although if they ever came out with Ephraim and Eirika Amiibos, which will never happen, but a man can dream, I would buy them instantly). I just am not really a fan of when they occasionally choose to lock content behind them. If they could even make the Amiibo-locked content alternatively available through overpriced DLC, I'd be fine with that.
Never understood all the fuss with the first Link amiibo,even ten years ago,never looked like pee to me(even when i saw it directly,i own one).
@dartmonkey
"Do you think we'll see new amiibo in the future?
Seems 3 different polls fell into a pool of radioactive material and came out of it as one.
These 3 things does not have to be related:
1. How strongly one think there will be new amiibo figures (or cards) on Switch 2 not
2. How much one likes amiibo or not
3. How many amiibo figures (or cards) one is going to buy or not
Considering Splatoon 2 got 3 sets of amiibo, I figure we'll get one more batch of Splatoon 3 amiibo (probably connected to Side Order) announced in the June Direct. After that, I think amiibo would depend on the future of Smash.
As an avid amiibo collector, I honestly hope the Switch is the last system to make use of amiibo. They're cool but they take up too much space, hahah... I still love having the collection though.
I want a Rex Amiibo, he's the only (mainline) XC protagonist without one
I think Nintendo will continue with amiboo as long as it earns them reasonable money.
And as for now I think it does indeed earn them reasonable money.
The latest sales data I have been able to find is from 2022 (and the source was Nintendolife!):
"By September 2016, Nintendo reported that 39 million amiibo figures had been sold, along with more than 30 million amiibo cards.[4] By September 2022, total sales reached 77 million toys.[5]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiibo
That is alot of amiibo.
Is everybody tired of it as of 2024? Probably not.
I hope we get more! Though, really, I want to see them produce more of the Pyra/Mythra and Sora amiibo. Pre-orders were sold out and I’ve never seen them in person.
I've said for years if Nintendo really wanted to use Amiibo they should make a Diablo style game in the Subspace Emissary plot.
You have a team of characters and the amiibo can hold their equipment and move choices.
Then, they have a feature like the pawn system from Dragon's Dogma where you can send someone your amiibo data and they could load it on their amiibo and use your character. Then you get rewards for helping.
It lets friends play together even if they can't actually play at the same time, people still need amiibo to buy and now there is a reason for multiple copies, plus both parties benefit from the process. Also I just think that kind of game would be fun.
@Lofoten Fair enough, I've edited the options down to a simple scale of probability with a 'don't know' in the middle.
I don’t really bother with amiibo, I’ve given the ones that I got in pack-ins with games to my kids.
Having said that, I was playing Smash Bros Melee with my son yesterday and it was funny to see how the trophies in that game resemble amiibo so much, despite predating them by about 12 years.
I hoping for a Woolly World port, I missed out on the giant Yarn Yoshi (I have the three small ones and Poochy), but that big boy is too cute.
I found some amiibo release statistics:
number of figures, cards and compatible games by year.
https://amiibo.life/releases
That it's been less figures, cards and compatible games the latest years does not have to mean they are phasing amiibo out, it could also be related to the fact that Nintendo is focusing on games for the Switch 2.
It is a little strange they did not make amiibos for Super Mario Wonder though. Elephant Mario anyone?
@Randomname19
I don't know why the Zelda reps didn't get new figures for Ultimate.
Link, Ganondorf, and Zelda each got major Smash Ultimate overhauls such that the figures we have are completely different versions of th characters.
(Yes, TP and OoT Ganondorf are the same guy, shut up).
Don't know if we'll see more amiibo going forward, but I'd love that because as much as I'm not a fan of locking content behind them - they're at their best when they just give you early access to stuff you can unlock without them like in Xenoblade 3 and at their worst when you can't play certain games without them (good thing that was left behind in the Wii U era) - they're so good as relatively inexpensive Nintendo (and also other videogames) figures!
Unfortunately, I don’t see many more amiibo being released in the upcoming years. Maybe a few with the Switch 2 launch titles and that’s about it. Unfortunately I was a bit late on the amiibo train, getting my first one a little over a year ago. I’ve only collected five (smash Yoshi, original inkling, big man, smash olimar and smash villager) but really want more from my favorite franchises (still waiting for a US Pikmin restock). Alas, I don’t see them lasting much longer even if I wish that wasn’t the case
Also, if we’re talking how to use them looking forward, look no further than Yoshi’s woolly world. Giving a full texture for a Yoshi for that character was perfect and the list of compatible ones was crazy (olimar Yoshi was perfection)
@dartmonkey
Maybe Nintendolife could reach out to Nintendo and ask if they can release updated sales data for amiiboo figures and cards?
Numbers by year or just total numbers.
Could be worth a try.
If they do not want to release these numbers it could possibly be a sign that sales are falling dramatically.. and that we might not see amiibo on Switch 2..
I think they are probably doing ok though, as they have continued releasing new amiibo even in 2023 and 2024.
And also rereleasing older amiibos.
But where did the Elephant Mario amiibo go?
Iwata amiibo, no artificial scarcity, make as many as needed to avoid scalpers and 100% of earnings goes to cancer research. The final amiibo.
I can see both just not doing new amiibos anymore and just rereleasing old amiibos to coincide with new game releases.
Or they will do more amiibos to promote games, the next Smash Bros lineup, new mario games, etc. and if they wanna get more sales, start with the Mario Kart series Amiibo. I feel like Mario Kart 10 will be a huge release with frequent updates that bring more tracks and characters during the switch 2 life. What better way to promote new characters than Mario Kart amiibos (since MK sells boat loads of games). Idk if they should be more like hotwheels with movable wheels but would be fun way to use them, or just karts on statues is fine.
And a good game to use all the amiibos?... Tomodachi Life 2. You can unlock costumes through normal gameplay but having the costumes for your mii be quickly unlocked with amiibos would be awesome. Heck mario maker 3 bringing back the old mm1 costumes.
But thats my 2 cents.
@Lofoten
The "Lack of the elephant in the room".
Nintendo is super weird about amiibo functionality.
With TotK almost every unique Zelda amiibo at the very least grants a special paraglider fabric mot available elsewhere, along with a drop table of gear relevant to said figure.
Then we had Skyward Sword HD, where ONLY SS Zelda does anything, even though SS Link has his own figure.
Contrast this with TPHD, where Link, Zelda, Ganondorf, and Wolf Link each do different things, and even LAHD where you need a whole collection of Zelda amiibo to unlock all of the Dungeon Builder tiles.
Now consider Metroid Dread: The pair of Dread amiibo grant one missile expansion and one energy tank. The rest of the set refills energy or missiles. This at least doesn't lock you out of content like Samus Returns (with an entire difficulty mode locked out), but why couldn't the amiibo have, say, unlocked some concept art early?
Or look at Kirby Planet Robobot. That game is compatible with nearly every amiibo that existed at the time, and each one grants Kirby a copy ability relevant to the character scanned. That's adorable, and not game-breaking.
Star Allies and Forgotten Land just offer consumable resources. What's the point?
Heck, Warioware Gold's wario-drawn art was silly and hilarious. But the two Switch Warioware titles don't do that at all. Why not? It was a perfect little bonus that didn't ruin the experience for players without amiibo.
And don't get me started on how Mario Maker 2 doesn't have amiibo costumes. What the heck?
As much as I love amiibo (I have every figurine except for the Skylanders and competition exclusives), I just want them to actually do more instead of Nintendo continually milking them for the cynical cash-grabs that they are.
For example, the fact that the Detective Pikachu amiibo was neither restocked nor does anything in Returns is an insult (and this coming from an already expensive figurine that did nothing of value in the first game on 3DS).
Still no port of the free-to-download amiibo game for 3DS/Wii U. No alternate skins for Super Mario Maker 2. Only one new amiibo costume in Daisy for the last major Mario Kart 8 Deluxe update. No functionality at all in any of the Pokémon games (I'd much rather have "events" permanently available in the form of figurines, perhaps as an alternative for those who missed out the first time). So many possibilities, and yet we so often get nothing.
The beautiful Pikmin amiibo, which was recently restocked, does absolutely nothing specific on any Switch game (especially baffling as all four main entries in the series are now available on the platform).
Skins, bonuses, anything. A free-to-download Picross game with puzzles unlockable via amiibo, perhaps? Hell, I'd take a port of Animal Crossing amiibo Festival (which, comically enough, struggled to sell for as little as AU$5 given the relative failure of the Wii U), which might do a lot better with a user base of 120+ million.
At this point, even generic functionality is better than nothing. If Nintendo bothered to give customers a real reason to collect these things, they ought to be struggling to keep up with demand.
Well... I have only Golden Shovel Knight amiibo, and I've bought it mostly for Shovel Knight campaigns only. Yeah, I wanted that fairy, lol. And I just wanted to have some amiibo figures. Also, I wanted to buy Terry Bogard's amiibo for some time, 'cause I'm a fighting games fan and SNK fan, after all... But, I've spent my money on imported Asian food and books. And some time later, Terry's amiibo was sold out.
But, let's back to the main topic. Probably, Nintendo will continue to release amiibo in the future. I don't mind it, but, I don't want any "physical DLCs" anymore! Like fairies in Shovel Knight, for example. Also, why only Nintendo versions of the game have this bs? Why Kratos boss is FREE for PlayStation users?! Why Battletoads bosses are FREE for XBOX/PC users, huh?! Why only Nintendo versions features PAID and PHYSICAL bonus content?!
I prefer Amiibo card than Amiibo figurine as I can stack the cards altogether and it saving a lot of space.
Really hope to see more Amiibo.
Capcom could release a Street Fighter or a Resident Evil line. I don't care about Hollow Knight and the sorts.
I kinda hope they stop, I’ve got my fill - at well over 100, most of which just gather dust. Though I did use Alm and Celica yesterday in FE Echoes.
I hope that they continue to be used but at the same time since they no longer do exclusive things they are a bit of a waste. Would be nice if they went back to exclusive content. Without exclusive content I think I am done buying them as I have the full Zelda, Smash, FE, MH and partial Mario, Kirby and Animal crossing sets. I have given quite a bit of money to the cause so to speak. Granted I do have a number that are in constant rotation for usage. For me, Amiibo have always been about function over form.
Last amiibo I bought was Sora.
I LOVE amiibo and i hope they still make more.
Waiting for my Acht amiibo!
I’m waiting for my Ricky Winterborn amiibo.
I grabbed Marth all the way back in 2016 just to test the functionality on the recently procured 3DS but he's still the only amiibo I have to date (recently using it for MHRise lotteries now and then) - games themselves tempting away most of my allocated funds, there are only a specific few I'm willing to invest in, and finding them in retail is easier said than done. But I still like the concept itself, although I'd argue the "enclosed digital content" part is only appreciable as ONE of the procurement options for said content (e.g. in Xenoblade 3).
I don't own any. The only ones that tempt me are the Dread ones. No space and kinda not that kind of gamer. I do think their cool and like I kinda implied, I get the appeal.
amiibo was one of the best ways they took advantage of the toys-to-life boom. im glad we're at the balance where theyre just quality figures with insignificant game bonuses, otherwise it'd just be dlc thats obnoxious to obtain
tho is this something i respect more from a distance, only having less than 10 amiibos overall but dozens of AC cards. would love to see more just for the appeal of supporting a series more beyond just the games
I own some amiibos. My mom knew this Bosnian woman who had cancer and she gave me a Target gift card shortly before she died.
I didn’t really know her, but my mom had taught her to speak english, and i believe she was trying to compensate my mother in some way, by giving me the card, as my mother wouldn’t accept gifts from her.
Anyways, i didn’t really know what to buy, so i bought a few amiibos. Pikachu (much more svelte than the 1999 Chu figure i have), Jigglypuff and Charizard were all they had.
Later, i would pick up the biggified Detective Pikachu amiibo and a couple Monster Hunter Stories amiibo off the internet. I sold the Rathalos(not a fan of Rath)rider but kept the Barioth.
I kinda wanted that Metroid amiibo, but never picked it up. The purchase of Simon has wafted through my thoughts now and then.
I don’t remember any games having great amiibo implementation. Smash was cool. One or more of the Resident Evils (maybe Revelations 2 and/or 6) let’s you scan amiibo daily for points to spend on skills. Kind of cheesy, but more useful then say, added dialogue between the protag and Chu in Detective Pikachu.
Anyways, i’m sure we’ll see an amiibo or two in the future. Maybe Nintendo has a new line with new tech for their new console. I hope they can come up with an even more ridiculous name than amiibo if they do.
(Add: i forgot i have the lil felt poochy amiibo too from the 3ds game and Mega Man)
Never had interest and probably never will. Just a gamer. Not a doll collector.
I always felt like Amiibos were a missed opportunity. I love the Smash interaction with them, but they could have been so much more. Skylanders and Disney Infinity had dedicated games for their figures, but Amiibo could have taken this to a new level. They could have built games around them. I appreciate that a lot of their games have some bonus stuff unlockable through franchise Amiibo, but they could have done a lot more.
I have the complete Smash collection. Please end the madness now.
Pointless plastic tat acting as physical DLC.
It can jog away on.
I've gathered up maybe 30 amiibo in fits and starts over the years, just as figurines of characters I'm fond of, to decorate the shelves.
I think I'm mostly done with amiibo shopping unless I get the chance to buy a Simon Belmont, Snake, Shovel Knight, Palutena, or that "praise the sun" guy from Dark Souls.
I remember making use of the NFC feature to get treasure chest drops in the Zelda games, Mii costumes in MK8, and saving character setups in Splatoon 2. I thought amiibo unlocks like that were inconsequential and fun. Back on the Wii U we had that Mini Mario & Friends Amiibo Challenge free game on the eshop which was an innocent, fun way to utilize the amiibo I had at the time.
It would be a little sad to see them retired, but we shall see...
My last amiibo I happily bought was Ike. I'm not an amiibo fanatic by any means, but I'm a huge Fire Emblem Engage fan and would gladly $hill for amiibo from that game.
I voted "probably" but I won't be buying. They're just not for me.
Reprint the squishy Metroid or jog on.
Actually could do with a gravity suit Samus too, purple suit best suit.
The only ones I own are a green yarn Yoshi (bought right before the jumbo version came out, typical) and Chibi Robo.
I love amiibo. I don't have to own them all, especially since I don't have the space. I still enjoy the ones I already have, and there are a few I would like to eventually get.
I'm not sure if Nintendo will continue amiibo in the Switch successor. Miis are currently being closeted, though still available on Nintendo's current hardware, and a feature from the Wii. Amiibos are from the Wii U, and it's debatable if Nintendo will proactively support them going forward, or treat them like Miis, where they are there, just sidelined.
I stopped caring...Smash was the only game that did something interesting with that them that wasn't just "adds content" or "gives you bonus items" or whatever.
Even in Smash they nd up just being..."meh"...
The function I care about the least is the game functionally. I really don't care about that.
In an era where half decent figures cost $150-200 or more, its nice to have affordable figures of good-decent quality
Like others have said, I'm here for the figures themselves and not so much for the functionality. When the hey am I gonna get an affordable figure of Samus, Zero Suit Samus, Dark Samus, Ridley, Palutena, Mega Man, Cloud or Banjo-Kazooie? And most important, when the hey am I gonna get any merchandise of biker Wario, Dr. Mario, Little Mac, Captain Falcon, Ness, Chibi-Robo! or the Miis?
If I wanted the functionality and the unlockables, I wouldn't even have gotten them. But I have to say, as someone who lives in Mexico in an area where they don't get as many amiibo, I can say that, with restocks and everything, I've seen most amiibo figures in stores here in my city and in other areas of Mexico at least once all these years.
Now, their price is another story, they started costing 250 Mexican pesos and gradually went up in price. By 2017 a single figure costed 500 pesos in stores, in 2021 the SS Zelda and Loftwing amiibo costed 900 pesos at launch, and in 2023 Kazuya and Sephiroth costed 700 pesos at launch. This is also why I haven't bought any of the restocks, they're very expensive and right now I have no money for them.
Duos and packs have been somewhere between 800-1200 pesos.
All in all, I wouldn't mind if the amiibo series continues. But if it doesn't, at least it gave my shelf some figures of my all-time favorite characters.
I need a plushie Nopon amiibo
My problem with Amiibo these days is that they are too stagnant about what they are. hence I have not bought any in 6 years.
Where's the plushies, where's the action figures? Where's the scale PVC statues that are an absolute work of art?
WHERE'S THE PLAMO KITS?!?!?
I would absolutely LOVE to build classic Nintendo robots like Ray 01 from Custom Robo Battle Revolution, or the SkellaDolls from Xenoblade X in Master Grade or Perfect Grade size!!!
I've gotten too many over the years and I do NOT miss waiting in a parking lot to get one, but amiibo is some of the best merchandise Nintendo have ever made. It’s nice to own official Nintendo figures of characters who almost never get figures. And these have always been high-quality. I mean, I kind of get the frustration with locking content behind something that’s sold separately, but that tendency of theirs has clearly waned away in recent years and we can mainly enjoy the figures for what they are.
I personally don’t see Nintendo ending amiibo on Switch 2. I hope not, because cards have been invaluable for unlocking characters in Animal Crossing!
@ShonenJump121 Well, you could always try out Pop-up Parade PVCs. The whole point of that line is to have statues that cost no more than $30-$50. They may not be elaborate works of art like a lot of the $300 ones are, but they get the job done in showing your appreciation in a character for a good quality, but affordable price.
@Samalik Its a bit of a two fold problem as well, since many characters don't even have other types of figures.
I'm hoping we get more Nintendo based ones.
This should end now
My amiibo look sweet on my shelf with my other Nintendo stuff. Sure, I used them a little in some games, but for me they are cool reminders of great games I’ve played.
I can't stand the fact Nintendo is charging $16.99 to unlock one feature in a video game. I'm sick of Amiibos and having to pay so much money to unlock a feature in a game.
@HammerGalladeBro @ShonenJump121 That's fine, but it's Nintendo who advertised Amiibo's as a gimmick rather simply collectibles.
15-30$ for a toy seems reasonable. 15-30$ for a toy just to unlock a single in game feature is where the problem lies.
No one would care if these were just figurines, but it's Nintendo who advertised the idea Amiibo's are not just simply toys.
@WaffleRaptor01 You can't win with amiibo anyway.
You do something meaningful and you get a Skyward Sword situation with that Loftwing Amiibo. They'll get slammed for locking features behind a paywall.
You have them be smaller rewards, then people will think what's the point of the amiibo if all its giving me are these useless rewards like currency or items I can farm easily?
Their game functionality is an afterthought these days.
"And we want more". Do we though? When was the last time we saw something REALLY cool done with Amiibo? Wolf Link in BotW? You're very much the minority, author. I see used Amiibo at used game stores all the time, and I see literally no one online talking about them. They're neat, I have mine and I like them, and they're nice collectibles. But I'm not planing on getting more. They take up lots of space, and their in-game use is either gatekeeping content or trivially pointless, neither being great options. There's nothing wrong with wanting to collect them, but we really don't need them to continue.
@ShonenJump121 Exactly. There's no good way for them to be used tbh.
Nintendo needs to get off their lazy butts and release more Mythra/Pyra and Sora!
@WaffleRaptor01 Depends on the person. Amiibo came out during the toys to life craze so for many the functionality was first. I certainly wouldn’t have over 100 of them if they were just figures. Cheaper to buy a nice statue or two. My F4F Varia suit Samus just came in, I will display that rather than the amiibo. Now that amiibo functionality has dwindled I have no incentive to buy new ones.
Another anniversary that makes me feel old again...😅😭
On-topic, I'm no amiibo person (strongly dislike having content locked behind toys-to-life stuff too) but I do expect Nintendo to chug out a couple more figures for the near future.
Amiibo are way too expensive these days and I'll never buy another one ever again unless it's some character from some game that I like. Damn you, Nintendo, please stop tricking me out of my money.
I actually have very much enjoyed buying random packs of Animal Crossing's amiibo cards! I think at the very least amiibos could continue as a TCG format with NFC readers.
But like others have said, part of the charm of an amiibo was the promise of in-game functionality. Honestly, a lot of potential for various software features were left on the table by Nintendo.
Instead of just relegating an amiibo villager to a chair in the Roost, or stuck inside the tent, the amiibo villager could have walked around your whole island like a regular villager! In fact, let's just throw "realism" out the door and say Nintendo could have let you invite non-AC amiibo characters to your island! Just give their proportions and appearance the chibi Animal Crossing treatment, and who cares about anything else! Invite Zelda to your island, or Yoshi! Or a cute chibi Pokemon amiibo, who talks like it's suddenly Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.
Conversely, TOTK had the perfect mechanic for amiibo functionality. That spirit companion mechanic is the perfect in-universe excuse to call in whatever spirit companion of any amiibo character you like! Yoshi could run around with you, and act like a horse if you jump on it! Or scan any of the BOTW amiibo characters to warp them in as spirit companions, letting Revali run around Hyrule with you, or even Sheik! How cool would that be? Even friggin' Charizard could fly around with you like a spirit companion, and breathe fire on enemies! If Nintendo fans realized they could scan almost any amiibo character into TOTK as a spirit companion, then I can't help but imagine a lot more people would scramble to pick up one or two extra amiibo just to try it out for themselves!
Ultimately, the lack of software functionality was a failure on Nintendo's part. No, it didn't have to reach Skylanders level of in-game usage, but it certainly could have come a lot closer! People can't help but love the idea that all these disparate Nintendo first-party games could all be connected by this umbrella amiibo universe.
I mean for Pete's sake, the latest Mario movies are going to try to create this sense of an overarching Nintendo Cinematic Universe, so why not let amiibo be the glue to creating a similar feeling within all their first-party software? That's one of the reasons why the Marvel Cinematic Universe was such a hot commodity, because people can't help but love that feeling that everything is connected.
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