Nintendo Dismisses Rumours That The GameCube Controller Adapter Has Been Discontinued

Well let's hope this is true. There's so much confusion around the status of the amiibos. One day they confirm none have been discontinued, and then the next they confirm some won't be restocked at all after the first shipment is gone.

A pity they couldn't say the same about the amiibos.

It would be very puzzling indeed if they allowed this huge demand to just go untapped. I mean, you have people lining up waiting to throw money at Nintendo, for them to just say "no thanks" doesn't make sense.

I'm sure they'll restock as needed. As for amiibo, hopefully someone somewhere in the company will look at the financials, realize that Marth and Villager sold out in like 36 hours, and say "hmm, maybe there's a demand for these too."

YEEESSS!!!! Still waiting for one here!! Got a free £3 from Amazon because they cancelled my GC adapter due to "no more stock coming in", I was so worried!

Sometimes I wonder if Nintendo actually realises how popular these Gamecube adapters and Amiibo are. Surely it's not too difficult to produce more of these things, though I imagine they'll keep doing so in small numbers.

Not particularly pleased with how Nintendo are dealing with this issue. Too much misinformation.

Ugh. Just give us a date so we can pre-order them again Nintendo

Didn't Nintendo expect such a high demand for the adapter? If so, then why aren't they rapidly produce them?

What if nintendo is creating a GameCube controller and adapter that will work with every game? They'll let the current stock deplete and ship a new updated version for all these new game coming in 2015.

@DinoFett Something like that could be worked in through a patch. There's no need to overhaul the hardware and piss off Nintendo fans, especially those that paid over $20 to purchase their adapters.

I've yet to purchase the current controller. I also have plenty of the original GameCube controllers.

Nintendo has really screwed themselves over this holiday season. Between this and the Amiibo b.s., they've robbed themselves of hundred's of thousands of potential sales, alienated some, created frustration and disappointment surrounding product that once had positive buzz and if any of this is calculated to generate demand, it has back fired with only sad opportunists on ebay making money that could have gone into their pockets. I watched a family return a Wii U because they didn't want to play the hot toy shortage game. They thought it was ridiculous and manipulative to create demand for Amiibos artificially and they had a good point. This isn't a collectable, these actually impact the game. If you can't find one, you can't use that character in game.

ps. They walked away happy with a 360 and a Skylanders starter pack. Very happy. They also picked up a few great games for cheap.

And the Wii U sat on the returns cart.

After having my special edition SSB + adapter order cancelled by Amazon, I gave in and bought the solus edition and a PDP Fightpad (plugs into wiimotes) - I'd recommend sticking with the Wii U Pro Controller if like me you can't get an adapter because I've found it's actually an excellent option.

@Tsusasi I understand your complaint, but what you said about the amiibo isn't completely accurate. All characters in Super Smash Bros are playable whether or not you have the amiibo. In MarioKart 8 and Hyrule Warriors they simply give added costumes/items that are not necessary to the game. They really are collectable, with some minimal, albeit possibly fun impact on the game.

I heard a rumour Ubisoft had discontinued playable fun games. From now on they're only making broken cutscenes.

@Tsusasi In case you're not trolling and are just clueless, amiibo don't impact the game like that at all. They're a bonus and in Smash they don't unlock anything you couldn't get through normal play

Remember Atari and E.T........Nintendo is trying to avoid that. They didn't know how well either would do so they manufactured a small amount to test. Now we will begin phase 2 of manufacturing.....they already had too much warehouse supply with Wii U after launch so it seems they are trying to avoid that again and be more conservative

It doesn't help reassure people when Nintendo pull the listing for the Gamecube controller adapter from their own online store!

I'd happily put in a pre-order now if they had a listing for it.

Incidentally what's up with the pricing at GAME stores for the Smash GC controller? £39.99 for something you can order direct from Nintendo for £24.99? Totally taking the piss there.

Both amiibo for lesser known characters and the controller adapter are for a niche audience. People like us. I can see them not wanting to make too many and then be stuck with them. Maybe a second small run of GC goodness.and then that would be it.

Hopefully the can restock on Adapters before Christmas as I doubt I'll have money for it after Christmas since I'll be saving my money for MH4U.

"We requested comment from Nintendo UK"

So the head of Nitnedo UK says that Nintnedo EU has not discontinued the adapter.

" GameCube Controller Adapter for Wii U has not been discontinued by Nintendo of Europe"

And that they will try to ensure more stock i smade avaible.

"ensure that additional stock can be made available"

So what this tells me is Nintnedo o fJapan - the only one that matters, has stopped making the Gmaecube adapter and NoE is trying to get more stock out of Japan. No where in all of this corporate doublespeak does it ever say they are MAKING more.

Thats how I read between the lines.

@SteveSnowmn Nintendo has already said that Amiibo will have greater functionality going forward. And their functionality at this point is enough to cause annoyance for anyone who likes a character that they can't get because of lack of foresight or backwards thinking on Nintendo's part. Being insulting and rude and clueless yourself doesn't make for a great conversation. I'm so sick of the holier-than-thou children on here. You don't have to look hard to see the aggravation this is causing and the negativity surrounding it. Whether or not you think that the current in-game usage is important, my point is still valid and stands.

Re-release it will a gamecube VC announcement!

@awesomeunclet I meant as companions/teammates in the game. And why shouldn't every fan of a particular character be able to unlock their favorites' items and costumes? Because Nintendo thinks it's a good ideal to channel the whole 'tickle me elmo' vibe? To use cheap and divisive 'rigged supply/create demand that can't be filled' marketing tactics? It sucks the fun out of it all. This is Nintendo. Supposedly the last stand for just sitting down and playing games. This year I have seen them lower themselves to include Mercedes marketing/advertising crap downloads, dlc (Mario Kart at least done right so far… I'll give them that) and micro transactions, and now using a ridiculous and low-rent method of pimping what would have been a widely successful product without the cheap supply shortage tactic.

This gamecube controller adapter situation is more of the same. Everyone could seen how in demand these were, and preorders were through the roof. I mentioned this in another post, and someone actually tried to convince me the Nintendo is clueless when it comes to preorders. That they have no idea and it's just a big old surprise for them when the game ships. This is of course an ignorant statement, but the fact remains that the demand was glowing like the sun on their radar… and they did nothing. And have waited forever to address the questions for both the Amiibo and adaptor shortages. In fact, we still BARELY have anything that could be called a straight answer about Amiibos.

It's just frustrating that they would pull this crap when they need this holiday to be a huge success. They are robbing themselves of profit by keeping product out of the hands of those who want it. And Nintendo has said that the Amiibos will have greater functionality in the future. Not mad at you and I get what you're saying, but it doesn't change my original point. Nintendo has made a big miscalculation if this is truly an ill-conceived marketing ploy. Like I said, I already saw them lose one family because of it.

@rjejr I'm not really sure where you got "Japan isn't making anymore" from that quote at all...

Argos told me on the phone that they are getting more in February next year and to buy one then

@WaLzgi - I got it from it not saying anywhere that they are making more. They never use the word "manufacture" which is all they had to say. 1 sentence - the Gamecube is continuing to be manufactured. Why the long winded mumbo jumbo when you can simply say "the adapter is still being manufactured."

S/He does say "Stock can be made available" but that's only saying "we are working hard". Why do you have to work hard at making stock available? Making doesn't require working hard. You only need to work hard to ensure something when there is a limited quantity.

If you can point me to anywhere in those 2 paragraphs where they simply say "we are making/manufacturing more" I'd like to read it.

One of Nintendo's biggest downfalls is it's communication with it's customers. Sometimes they need to just come out and say "yes, more are on the way", or "no....that's it".

This problem with the adapter reminds me of the Christmas when the N64 came out. You couldn't find extra controllers anywhere. I owned this awesome system that had 4 controllers slots but couldn't find one extra controller to purchase. I don't think I found an extra controller for months.

dang it come on Nintendo you shouldn't have these problems!

YASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

Hope Restored :]

Yesterday in the US I ordered an adapter from a new supply that came into GameStop online. The supply lasted for 2 hours...

Well that's reassuring. Lately a lot of vocal people assume the worst when it comes to anything Nintendo. Ex. amiibo is a dumb cash-in that looks ugly, cheap, serve little purpose, etc, it wouldn't sell (pre-release); then post-release it's Nintendo is dumb for making low quantities to be sold out and already discontinuing some of them. Negative in both sides.

In any case, I would rather wait a year to buy the adaptor at the normal MSRP than spend any money on what those resellers are charging and getting it sold for (over $100).

Even Nintendo is underestimating Nintendo's popularity.

@Tsusasi Was there really a family that did that? No matter how many times I read and think about it, it doesn't make any sense. They Return a Wii U because they don't want to buy in that "hot toy shortage game" with amiibos yet brought a Xbox 360 instead with a Skylander Starter Pack? I just can't believe that was the alternative with that reason, especially with Alt. colors, store exclusives and Limited Editions. Even keeping the Wii U and buying the Skylander Starter for the system would of made a bit more sense in convenience.

It is a shame that in they're so short stocked in probably the most important season of the year.

I know planning and production isn't easy, but what have they been doing since mid-summer when both amiibos and the adapter was announced? Or did they simply not expect demand to be so high?

@ultraraichu I'm not saying that this will be a huge trend, I'm saying that I saw and overheard this and I think it may have been fueled by a wish list, because they were annoyed that they couldn't find the product and the person at the counter explained the situation. After they heard what he had to say about driving up demand they said they no longer wanted the WIi U. The husband went out to their car and brought it in. They were frustrated, and I understand why. Not only had they spent a lot of time looking for this stuff, they were literally surround by Skylanders, with a LOT of people looking at them and buying them. When the mother asked about them while the father was outside, she was told by people that they had no problem finding them.
It was one instance I saw, but there were plenty of others annoyed and asking questions about the Amiibos. The best was exactly what I was thinking at the time; someone asked rhetorically 'Don't they want to make any money? Why wouldn't you make sure that you could sell as many as possible?'

Even when Nintendo gets popular again, they still can't do anything right and are DOOOOMMMMMEEEDDDD!!!!

@Tsusasi: I'm amazed how impatient people are, especially over stupid little figures.

@Tsusasi well I'll be lying if I said I don't know someone who makes odd (nice wording) decisions out of anger. Still wonder why they got the 360 version of Skylander and not the Wii (U) version to save trouble but like you said it can be wishlist fueled (and the staff is anti-Nintendo ). I would consider online stores as a option but I'll give the benefit of the doubt and say they are not tech savvy that way.

Hoilday seasons are always the worse time to buy gifts and it's gets worse the closer it gets to Christmas. It's a shame there is not enough for the later buyers.

@Tsusasi Yeah, that's not how the Amiibos work at all. They're not at all like the Skylanders or Disney Infinity figures. I can still play as Marth in Smash with or without the Amiibo.

@FragRed It is difficult to manufacture something like this. Nintendo outsources their hardware production to another company (just like everyone else in this industry). Unfortunately, this company (Foxconn) has A LOT of power since Nintendo isn't the only one they deal with. Some much bigger companies include Apple, Microsoft and Sony.

It means if Foxconn doesn't feel like shifting production quickly for a product, they don't have to. Even after all of the suicide reports coming out about the company, the MOST Apple could do about it was get them to set up safety nets, and they were arguably the most powerful hardware company out of the group (due to iPhones, iPads and iPods, etc).

It seems that not many people realize that Nintendo isn't the one pulling the strings when it comes to hardware and are often quite quick to blame Nintendo for the production problems.

Before anyone asks why not switch suppliers, Foxconn is by far the cheapest option for the high production capabilities they provide. Until something changes, most of these companies will be sticking with them.

@Tsusasi I guess we just see the situation differently. I don't think this was a cynical ploy by Nintendo to drive up demand. The only benefits the people selling these things on eBay. What Ernest_The_Crab just said is much closer to reality than anything. As far as I know, none of us on this thread know when Nintendo had the first batch of Amiibo or Gamecube adapters manufactured. I think it is well within the realm of reality to assume that they underestimated demand at the time of production. We all know the Wii U hasn't been a superseller so far, and they may well have been too conservative in their estimates. If that was the case, there's no telling how long it would take them to get a second batch manufactured, shipped, and on the shelves. My guess is that everyone at Nintendo is just as frustrated about this as the customers trying to get their hands on these things. As to the customers that changed their minds about the WiiU, from how you explained things, it sounds like the salesperson is to blame, speculating about cynical motives on Nintendo's part. I guess I just have a hard time believing that Nintendo screwed this up because they were trying to drive up demand. I see it as a miscalculation.

They really should get these back in stock before Christmas...

@SwaveSays Um… I know how they work. But there are features that people want from each figure and there will be more and better interactions in the future with other games.

Btw…

Customize your amiibo™ figure as the ultimate sidekick, and level it up to CRUSH your opponents.
Train your amiibo to supercharge its stats and expand its abilities.
Customize your amiibo by adjusting its attack, defense and speed stats.
Fight your amiibo against a friend's to make them tougher and see who the best trainer is.
Team up with your amiibo, or battle against friends in multiplayer amiibo action.

That sounds pretty exclusive to the Amiibo functionality. Things you can't do without one.

@awesomeunclet It's not unprecedented; Nintendo has bought their own press before and shot themselves in the foot. If this was planned, this is an old-school tactic, and one that is not suitable for this market or in the age of internet shopping. Once upon a time you could pull this crap and and have late season shipments that would sell out immediately and still make bank or grab some of the after-holiday gift money. Now those profits are being eaten up by resellers grabbing them all up and posting them on ebay or other sites within hours for ridiculous prices. Sales that Nintendo could have had. By the time they get those shipments in stores, they'll have pissed off some people, lost the interest of others and lost sales to resellers. And if they aren't going to make more, why bother including any in-game functionality at all? Why exclude so many of your fans and potential customers? Take my daughter for instance. She has played a little Brawl, but fighting games haven't been her thing. But when she heard about Amiibos and training and fighting with them and feeding them to power up, she was excited.

She wanted The Villager. Yeeeeah… about that. She thinks it's stupid to pay extra, and she doesn't want the game OR Amiibos any longer. She's not mad, she has just lost interest because the thing that made her want to try the game is not available for retail cost, and she's smart enough to get what resellers are doing (she thinks they are 'greedy jerks'). She's a good kid. She actually wants Disney Infinity now (Toy Box ftw)… Groot and Rocket are her faves. She probably would have picked up Peach, Kirby, Pikachu, Yoshi and Link after Christmas too. Not anymore.

I live in Finland and I asked a local game retailer today about the adapter. He said that, according to the Finnish importer, we should be getting more in January.

@Tsusasi That is too bad about your daughter. We nearly ran into the same problem. My daughter wanted Kirby, and last week that one was out of stock here in Germany. It came back in stock over the weekend, though, and we were able to get one. Perhaps there was also a problem with how distribution was allocated. This is just anecdotal evidence, but here in Germany every amiibo is in stock on amazon.de, and in my local MediaMarkt. Every time I've gone in there, the shelves were nearly emptied, but they'd put out a new box full of amiibos on the floor, with all of the characters represented. If you feel like you are being cheated out of your money by Nintendo, it surprises me that you are so excited about Disney Infinity. We have that one as well (version 1.0), and it's a great game for my daughter, but that's a game where simply buying the disc gets you absolutely nothing. You must buy accessories to access anything. If Nintendo required you to buy an amiibo for every character you wanted to play, the game that you can get for 50-60 Euros would cost over 800 Euros. I don't think anyone would argue that the amount of content you get in SSB is not worth the current price, and the added amiibo functionality is really minimal. I think they've struck a much better balance, and feel like I'm getting a much better value for money out of SSB than Disney Infinity, which is a great game, but an incredible money sucker if you actually want to play everything. Anyway, I'm not saying that your argument about Nintendo being greedy/incompetent is unthinkable, but I do think if that was the case, they could have gone the Infinity route, which I think everyone would have seen as a cynical money grab. Why do we hold Nintendo to such a higher standard than Disney?

Thankfully, seriously, I ordered adapter and two controllers on 15th Nov from French Amazon. When they still had those and the price was ok

Has Ninty been afraid that the controllers and adapter won't see or what¨s the problem? If they make one, they must have thought of that there's a market for those.
Same goes with Amiibo.

C'mon Ninty! People are throwing money your way and you screw up your chances not having stuff to sell!

I have to say... I've checked 7 of local markets that sell gaming stuff and only one has had Amiibos - and that one didin¨t have Villager. I just have to order online.... (seems to be in stock)

The whole amiibo thing has been fishy ever since they announced retailer exclusives.

@Tsusasi
She likes both Rocket AND Groot? A kid after my own heart.

The trick was to get there early @ the release date and buy it with the game. At least that's what I did and it worked out for me

If Amiibo was any indication, 24 hours later we will get confirmation that there will not be any more stock. Just wait and see...

Nintendo thought only a few die hard GC controller loving Smash veterans would want it, they were overwhelmed by the demand. I am not going to be surprised when Nintendo announce a full production run, making it compatible with Wii mode and adding the controller to their dev kits as well as maybe adding it to some of their other previous big games like MK8.
If I cared for it 8 would have pre-ordered it like I did with Amiibos.

It wouldn't be a smart move to not make more. A lot of people (me included) want one and are unable to get one without paying $50 on eBay.

That's good to know.

We all know the GCN adapter being discontinued was a rumour spread by ebayers and second hand stores to bump up prices and create hysteria.

The people who paid more than retail price for these cheaply made adapters are foolish brainless drones who believe everything they read.

@Ernest_The_Crab Lol. It is Nintendo's fault. They seem to misjudge everything.

I don't think it's as much of a problem with supply as it is scumbag, 3rd party online game stores and resellers hoarding them and charging exorbitant amounts just because they have tapped out supplies at every local and online retailer to do just that.

Nintendo IS to blame for this. Throughout my life I have been a huge fan of them (grew up on SNES), but I inevitably became jaded during the Wii era and mostly stopped purchasing their products (switching to Sony). They have always had these shortages that leads me to believe they are either incompetent (routinely underestimating anticipated sales and not responding fast enough to demand) or purposefully creating scarcity as a business model. Just citing a few instances, I remember when N64 came out and controllers were impossible to find, then GC and memory cards, then Wii consoles (I stayed up all night and drove to a Gamestop at 4am, standing third in line in sub-freezing temperatures as the Gamestop informed me they'd have some in stock, when they opened they told me, and the other dozen or so people that had been waiting hours, that they didn't get any in), then Wiimotes, and also just about any launch of a popular game. Now this BS,

I decided to indulge with my Xmas money and purchase a Wii U because I played Smash Bros over my friend's and he told me about the $20 adapter (which he had but failed to tell me about the shortage). I just went into Gamestop today to buy Smash, the adapter, and some Amiibos. When I asked for the adapter the employee laughed and said, "Those have been out of stock since the first day we got them, and we don't know when we're getting them." Also they were out of 3 of the 4 Amiibos I wanted. Bought the game anyways and tried playing on a Pro controller - couldn't get used to the different button configuartion, not overly fond of the controller in general, and don't want to pay $150 for three more of those overpriced controllers anyways. So, for now, no Smash for me, my 4 Wavebirds will continue to collect dust, and I'm instantly regretting returning to Nintendo. I don't think I'll be buying much for the Wii U either after this. Instantly regretted my decision to return to Nintendo. (Also, how many damn controllers does Nintendo need to make? It's getting ridiculous when there are about 10 different official controllers/attachments for the two Wii consoles, though I guess I am the sucker seeing as how I have many of them).

@MadAdam81 I find it hard to believe that they'd think only a few 'diehard' players would want this. Else they probably wouldn't have made them in the first place. Smash players have been using GC controllers for two generations of SSB now, and why would Nintendo think we'd want to invest large chunks of money into 4 Wii U pro controllers (unless their plan was to try and get us to do just that) to play this game? I just wish ALL Wii/Wii U games could use the GC controller, I am not a diehard gamer by any means, but I refused to buy any Wii game that forced us to use the Wiimote, and I cannot play the new SSB without a GC controller.

I don't see the point of the discontinuing and the not enough stock it should be fairly quick to get the adapters out and even faster for the amibos they would be stupid to stop making them due to the potential insanely high profit due to popularity

Yo it's back