Despite plenty of ongoing issues with stock shortages and sudden cancellations, we think it's fair to say that the amiibo range has been a fairly lucrative venture for Nintendo. Pre-orders for the latest wave sold out within an hour on the official UK store, and recent NPD Group findings show that this frantic interest among consumers shows no signs of slowing down.
Investigating the "toys-to-life" category as a whole, the market research company recently published findings on how major franchises such as amiibo, Skylanders, and Disney Infinity are clicking with the North American market, and some very positive trends were identified. Roughly 70% of all parents in the US were shown to be aware of these interactive toys, and 41% own figures from multiple franchises. Taking a broader view, this means that about 28% of households in the U.S own an example of at least one interactive toy franchise.
With a focus on amiibo in particular, age isn't always a factor when it comes to determining which household is more likely to purchase interactive toys. 21% of parents who own amiibo have stated that no child is actually playing at all, and only adults over the age of 18 are interested. We're sure plenty of Nintendo Life readers and amiibo-hunters can relate to this statistic, as attractive designs and tantalizing rarity make them tempting collector's items beyond their in-game usage.
In the past six months alone, NPD reported that parents had spent an average of approximately $131 on games and figures relating to interactive toys, and two-thirds confirmed that they were very likely to purchase another in the next six months. 77% considered it to be a sound investment, priming the market for further growth.
With the upcoming Lego Dimensions range serving as an example, we're sure to see new franchises try to grab a piece of the action, and so far the Wii U is the only console that can make use of them all. Certainly a unique selling point!
Will you be keeping an eye on how these franchises evolve and innovate to keep on top of the market? Are you only in it for the amiibo, or have some other figures caught your attention as well? Dust off your collection and let us know with a comment below!
[source gamesindustry.biz]
Comments 22
I've lost all interest in Amiibo's considering the hoops you need to jump through for some of them. It's just not worth the effort anymore.
Amiibo aren't really that useful in game so I'm not surprised kids aren't playing with them. It's not like Skylanders or Disney Infinity where the figures are an integral part of the experience. There's also the issue of scarcity and only adults are really capable of getting the rare ones. Kids won't be able to walk into TRU after school to get a Greninja. They'll be sold out.
Nintendo really should create an "Amiibo World" adventure game. Play into the craze.
@ricklongo Agreed. Or partner with one of the other franchises. Imagine Mario in Disney Infinity, or Lego Dimensions where scanning Mario gets you a Mario Lego.
@ricklongo I would really be shocked if they don't reveal it at E3. If they don't amiibo will be entirely pointless to me
@ricklongo I really doubt Nintendo would release a game like that (which I think it's a great idea) because over 75% of amiibos that's been released are really rare to find or are never seen again
@ricklongo I was just about to propose a similar idea. I am not too interested in Skylanders but a Nintendo game that uses the Amiibo that I already own sounds like a grand idea. Hopefully E3 will contain such an announcement.
@able_to_think So, do you think that Nintendo make a game so that you can not play it without Amiibo?
@NandN3ds They should absolutely make a game that's built around using them. I'd love to see Nintendo's take on a toys-to-life game. They'd need to fix their supply chains first though.
I folded and ordered the missing Meta Knight, Dedede and Shulk from Japan so my collection is so far complete, but barring Toad and the Splatoons I wonder if I'll carry on with what comes next? Not interested in buying Animal Crossing or Pokemon amiibo, so I question what can they do to convince me to keep buying?
They will probably have Nintendo Land DLC or Nintendo Land 2 where you can scan your amiibo into the actual game.
I kinda like the idea of a Nintendo-Land game based on Amiibo.
Ive thought since day 1 we would get Nintendo Land 2 w/ amiibo support, that game seems like a perfect match for amiibo, and Wii launch title Sports had a follow up sequel in Sports Resort, so "amiibo Land" seems a natural.
And then we started getting stock shortages and canceled orders and store exvlusives - treating amiibo more like collectors items rather than toys - so now Im not so sure.
Now there could be an "amiibo Land" line, like the Mario Party line, proving once more that Nintendo is full of it, b/c their big amiibo selling point was: amiibo are better than other NFC toys b/c they work in many games and the others only work in one - before the reality of single save points kicked in. So maybe we'll still get ghe game, but it wont work w/ all amiibo, only its intended line and maybe a few others, so it wont be the big "every amiibo" game we might like.
I'd like a "nintendoland" game too, to use with my two amiibo that I've bothered to buy. On the other hand, I'm pretty deep into Disney Infinity and with 3.0 Star Wars coming out I can't imagine anything being more enticing for my toys to life time and dollars.
Unfortunately, amiibo have yet to add anything to games I have played because I don't like Smash and I can't get the ones that work in other games I play - STEAM, Kirby - not at a reasonable price anyway. It feels like a commercial trick that doesn't add anything to a game except cost. I still buy them though - got Olimar the other day even though I won't ever use it in a game, it will probably sit in a drawer and the only reason I went for it is because there might not be another opportunity and I do like Pikmin. It's only the rarity that makes these so desirable. It still feels at the moment that there will be something else, more potential, but even I can see it's con really. Amiibo TAP doesn't do it for me either. That just feels gimicky. If there is not a specialised game, then they really are just bits of plastic. I will wait to see if the speculative bubble is about to burst and then offload them except perhaps for a couple.
@rjejr
Ah, Nintendo Land 2. Sigh.
I think we are going to see some serious action on the stock issues. There's a report now about Meta Knight coming back at the same time as wave 4 and Splatoon Amiibo. It will always be hard to find some, I think, but it just needs to improve a great deal, not be perfect.
The success of Amiibo means that something that lets you play with them in a more universal way than Smash Bros. is almost inevitable. Like everything else with Amiibo, I think Nintendo thought they had more time for it to grow and were caught off guard.
Right?
I mean Nintendo can't be looking at numbers like shown in this report and ignoring the potential of an actual game with amiibo in the title. It could also be that Nintendo is waiting to tie it in directly to the new account system and loyalty program. You'll want to view your collection on the go and let it interact with mobile games, too, for instance.
I've got all the Smash amiibo so far, as well as Toad. I've been pretty successful in that I've only had to pay over the retail cost for less than ten of my 32 figures. I've got preorders on everything except Greninja at this point, who I know I'll be paying a pretty penny for, though I find that importing from Japan is generally pretty reasonable. Hopefully I can get the rest of them without issue...
@TheRedCap30 Yeah that's true you have a good point. I guess I forgot about the cards
@ricklongo I think Nintendo created amiibo with the purpose not to have an ''amiibo sandbox'' game. Since they can interact with multiple games, amiibo have never been a requirement for games either.
Amiibo please die already, well either that or bring lots of Lucina and Robin stock! I figured I'd tap my Ike and Marth amiibo into Codename STEAM as I have them only to find out that permanent empty slots are added for the amiibo you don't have when you tap one of them to the touch screen. That means you will never have a complete roster menu until you own all 4 rare amiibo!
@rjejr If they are planning a amiibo game they would probably have Wii U and 3DS system updates which has a storage feature for amiibo data. You want to play amiibo land but have level 50 FPs for Smash? Simple, go to the settings menu and store the Smash data on the Wii U and then they're available to use for amiibo land.
@ricklongo I think that's a great idea. I mean, I didn't at first, but now that I've had the time to think about it, it sounds pretty great.
Imagine a game where all Amiibo (and I don't just mean the Smash Bros line up. I'm talking about Smash bros, Mario bros, Yoshi and Splatoon line-ups) are able to be used. I imagine it'd be the Super Smash Bros Campaign that we weren't able to get in our latest instalments. Whatever Amibo you have would be the main character and other Amiibo could even change up the gameplay in some way. Maybe Smash bros Amiibo would make it more of a fighter/platformer while Splatoon Amiibo would of course make it more of a shooter of some sort.Heck, even changing things up a bit depending on the franchise the Amiibo is from. Like a Mario Amiibo give the game a Mario bros aesthetic while a Pikachu would give it a pokemon one?
I guess all of that is a bit out there and would be quite a bit much -even too complex- but there's nothing wrong with me throwing ideas out there.
This is still a fad that will crash within 5 years. Just like motion controlled games. Just like plastic instrument music games. Just like any other fad that has come and gone in this industry.
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