Talking Point: The Argument For And Against amiibo-Cloning Tool Amiiqo

Amiibo cloning is a thing now?

I think this issue is being overblown. This does not compare to software piracy and poses almost no threat to Nintendo. Software piracy means developers don't get paid for their work. This device doesn't hurt Nintendo. People buy amiibo for the figures, not the tiny hidden sections of content in the games. Let it go.

If Nintendo made the Amiibos readily available, people wouldn't have to clone them.

Nice nod to Devil's Advocate, NL
I don't care to manipulate the Amiibo data whatsoever, so I can either live with getting an Amiibo or two (or three), or not chase it at all. Happy gaming to those in the the pursuit, both sides of the fence!

Amiibo cards should be a more prevalent thing now. Unless they come in blind packs, then... NO.

As someone who views Amiibo as overpriced DLC that comes with a crappy low quality figure my sympathy for Nintendo on Amiiqo is zero.

People actually use amiibo in games??? And enough to where they have to clone the data?? lmao

While I doubt this thing will affect Nintendo's bottomline, it's being used to pirate amiibo and needs to go.

@ManateeBlubber I think blind packs can work well with the Animal Crossing line-up, but for other amiibo card packs, like for Super Smash Bros., I'd rather know whether I'm getting the amiibo figures that unlock content in other games or not.

@OlicityBlows My opinion too

@NintendoLife
http://www.amiiqo.com/, the price is going to be $50 from now on and they are making a amiiqo that operates via USB so you don't need an NFC enabled phone, that model is going to be $30.

My biggest issue with amiibo is that there is no alternative way to obtain the items unlocked by them in certain games.

Since buying Ace Combat 3D+, I wanted to unlock all the schemes but certain ones needed amiibos, many of which I didn't own nor want. I was lucky I had a friend who collected then so I just took my N3DS over and scanned the lot.

If Nintendo had only offered a cheaper alternative or BN offered them as DLC, I would have followed suite. I'm also in the same scenario as Damien; I want the Captain Falcon outfit in MK8 but I don't want a Captain Falcon amiibo.

With the arrival of Shulk, I now own all the Amiibo I want and hopefully it is the last.

Amiibos are popular, but Nintendo should give us the choice so those of us who don't want them will not find game content denied to us. If this isn't done, then this Amiiqo may be our only alternative.

I've yet to jump onto the Amiibo bandwagon in a big way, I have a few figures that I like but have yet to purchase any for the sole purpose of unlocking specific game content. To that end, would it make sense for Nintendo to provide alternative access for content otherwise hidden behind Amiibo?

E.g. Figure X unlocks a level for Game Y, but the price and often difficulty in obtaining Figure X means that consumers are getting frustrated in not being able to play the full game. What if Nintendo instead sold this unlocked level, as DLC, for a smaller price than the figure?

That way people can still play the full game for a small extra cost, or have the choice to continue to hunt for the elusive figure for a little more? Would that reduce the need for a device like Amiiqo by giving consumers options rather than forcing them down a specific route? Or am I just not getting the craze?

My opinion on the Amiiqo is similar to emulators, they can be used to pirate, but on their own there's nothing wrong with them, if they're used in a legal way.

The article states that Amiibo data cannot be copied back to the original figure once it's used on the Amiiqo, but couldn't this be done through the game itself? Load the data from the Amiiqo into the game, the save it back to the Amiibo?

I don't think the figures are worth $12. They don't do anything, and they're just glorified plastic with a chip.

Doomed? No?

These things shouldn't exist, it's essentially pirating amiibo. If you're having so much problems finding amiibo why don't you import from Europe, where every amiibo except Villager and the Inklings are super common (I'm talking "finding a Pidgey in Route 1 of Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow" type common).

I'm all for it. With games like Fire Emblem Fates, Splatoon and Code Name S.T.E.A.M. having amiibo exclusive content and Nintendo not providing enough of these little bastards, using a cloner like that is pretty okay with me. I'm usually fully against piracy but what the hell do I do if I want a Lucina or Ike amiibo? Pay 60$ for each one sold by a scalper?

Try to get an out of print amiibo and you'll see how necessary this piece is. Nintendo made big mistakes about distribution and exclusivity for some US stores. That isn't right, it is disrespectful. I hope this thing succeed and make a solution for using the extremely rare figures such as Shulk.

@Jimtaro What if, in the first place, there was no "premium" DLC? I miss the time when expansion packs were a fair way to keep playing a game you love, because they were brand new games or improved the original by a large margin. Paying $10-15 for an amount of content which could have been included as unlockables (characters, stages etc) is ridiculous.

The sad part here is that Nintendo's response to the Amiiqo so far is just a promise to protect their intellectual property, rather than any acknowledgment of the reasons why folks would want to use the device - reasons that are all due to Nintendo's own making. I'd much rather see Nintendo promise to improve those problems and make sure people have reason and opportunity to buy Amiibo rather than pirate them.

I wrote more about this (including the specific problems I see and what Nintendo can do about it) here: http://www.pixelpoppers.com/2015/08/why-people-pirate-amiibo-and-what.html

I'll have to side with Thomas on this one since most of his reasons I agree with, especially the line "only buying those I simply must own" and "so I don't have them. Never mind, life goes on, I can live without it". Something I learned after wave 3 and fully realized when my go to store had Ness and Fox and I didn't buy either of them.

It can start out as something small with a "rational" excuse as amiibo (hard to find and scalpers) but it also shows the possibilities of moving to something bigger like Disney Infinity and Skylanders. "Why pay X amount of money to play/unlock something that's in the game, when I can use this and get it for free" will be the growing mentality.

Unfortunately, i might have to buy one of these. Amiibo in the wild is as rare as shiny Pokemon in my local area. Online doesn't help much either.

I have no interest in collecting little plastic figures that, while they may be cute, are simply more overpriced plastic trinkets. If there was a nice digital option, then I would happily consider buying from Nintendo so that I could access the already built in extra functionality of games. Until then, options like Amiiqo seem intriguing.

@rushiosan
Oh I quite agree! I remember when an expansion pack was at least half a games worth of new content, packaged with its own box and manual and often offering hours more content to an existing game. Alas microcontent seems to have boomed and we're having to suffer the price.

I want to commend Nintendo Life on finding someone on this planet that uses amiibo for their in-game functionality and not just as a plastic statue to make their gamer room cooler.

As far the amiiqo thing itself - it's no more piracy in my mind than scalping amiibo and reselling them on ebay at 15x the cost is.

Amiibos are a scandalous, cynical cash cow created to fleece money out of kids and unsuspecting parents by a company who really should know better. Your average Nintendo, posable action figure toys don't exactly fly off the shelves... So we'll make rigid, unposable models... TONS of them... Pretend it does something useful with a miniscule amount of DLC (which would retail on its own for bout $0.50) and... bingo.... The kids ll be hooked! Why can't it just be about the games like the old days??!!

@DarkKirby I half agree with you.

I wouldn't call the figures "crappy low quality". I, admittedly, am the owner of a few, and I can say that while they're not $80 Figmas, they're certainly not McDonald's toys either. While there have been a few misses, such as Marth, ( I've even heard that they fixed his face for the second print run) I feel they're good value for money, especially since many of these characters (Robin, Lucas, G&W) would never gotten an official figure otherwise, at least, outside of Japan.

Now, I have to agree with you about that locked DLC. While I'm neutral on the MK8 and Yarn Yoshi costumes, as both are entirely cosmetic, the former was added long after launch and the latter has enough costumes without them, the Splatoon stuff sickens me. It's one ENTIRE mode (the only way to use the Paint Roller and Sniper in single player I might add) nine stat affecting pieces of gear that have almost nothing to do with the figures and three weapons, all locked behind three figures
that should cost about $40 together (before "scalper's tax" is added, of course). Not to mention this an online multiplayer game, meaning that those with the Amiibo have a minor advantage over those who don't. Overall, blatant money grubbing by Nintendo, and I believe Mario Party 10 does something similar.

Super Mario Maker and Smash Bros has it done right. Have there be another way of obtaining the item or make it so the mechanic would be almost impossible to implement without the NFC. That's this Amiibo thing done right.

wow. this is how articles should be written, with 2 thought out opposing view points that let the reader make their own conclusions. but...

"Having said all of that, if I knew tomorrow that I could walk into my local video game store and buy a Splatoon amiibo for the recommended UK retail price of £10.99, I do it without hesitation"

Therein lies my biggest problem with amiibo and nintendo. A scalper community cannot exist unless a product is under-stocked, and there are far too many amiibo that fall prey to scalpers. While so far there hasn't been that many dlc items worth mentioning to rush out and buy an amiibo for (splatoon being the exception, like what the heck nintendo!!), as the years go by, that number of dlc tied to an amiibo will only increase. And perhaps the worst part of it is nintendo doesn't offer these unlockables as dlc on the eshop for those unable to purchase certain amiibo. Perhaps the nfc cards will remedy that, but I'll believe it when I see it.

Until then, I don't consider the amiiqo a must-have item and on the gray scale, closer to black than white... but if nothing changes 2 years into the NX then I will consider the amiiqo a necessary evil.

Until we get NFC cards, this gadget is desirable. However, I can see the Amiibo emulation being software-only very soon on your NFC-friendly mobile & at a more reasonable price.

@allav866 Blind packs don't work when it's $6 for a pack of 6 blind cards and there are 100 cards in the first series. You can spend around $200 getting them all and have tons of cards to throw away.

I just want to say that I would never get one of these.
I have one amiibo. It's kirby.
Even though I'm not collecting, I like looking at the plastic figures more than the functionality. And I can't beat the kirby in smash bros anymore. Sad face.

I think it is silly how difficult it has been to find amiibo, and even more insane how rare ones go to "exclusive" retailers that might not even be present in a community. I despise that content gets locked behind them such as Capt. Toad's additional mode or the Splatoon levels. Even more stupid is that content is locked behind specific Amiibo. And worse of all is that the games seem to taunt you with the fact that said content is there and you will never access it.

Ultimately I look at the Amiiqo device like a modern Game Shark or Action Replay. I used those to access locked content such as the NES games in Animal Crossing that Nintendo never bothered to release codes for. This is just unlocking content that Nintendo likewise made artificially difficult to access. To an extent I feel the same way about the other Toys to Life games, it's artifically holding content I paid for hostage until I pay an extortion fee to "unlock" it.

Nintendo won't meet demand, so yo-ho-ho a pirates life for me. If they don't want money that's their issue. You refuse to allow me to buy your product or make certain things retailer exclusive? I pirate your shite, mate.

Edit: For anyone who brings up "Well if you import them you can get them easily" The point is we SHOULDN'T HAVE TO. I'm not going to jump through hoops just to give my money to you, Nintendo. I shouldn't have to do your job for you.

If Nintendo supplied enough amiibo, this device probably wouldn't need to be created.
Anyway's Nintendo might want to get rid of the device because it could affect sales if people just give up on collecting amiibo. This is the easiest way to collect them all. I just import them from Japan at this point.
I do like these debate articles. Very cool concept. It might have been done before, but its cool!

I ordered an Amiiqo at the weekend from the only UK listed supplier who has a secure website. All the others either didn't use SSL or had faulty certificates.

My reason is so that I can use the Amiibo characters I've brought without taking them out of the box.
The way I see it is if you already own the Amiibo but don't want to open up the box or worry about carrying around a massive amount of figures. If Nintendo brought out Amiibo cards for all current and future Amiibos I wouldn't brought Amiiqo. But there is no sign of them and I want to use the Ammiibos I've already brought.

I would care about the issue more if I didn't view amiibo almost solely as cool figures to collect and display. But Thomas is right. Minor as it is, amiibo copying is still theft.

I don't think it will harm amiibo sales at all. I can't imagine many people buy the things for the functionality because it barely exists. They're cool as little figures, but Nintendo completely failed to make them as compelling as their rivals in terms of what they bring to gameplay.

@grumblebuzzz this is not a reason to steal! Piracy is not cool, no matter what level...

I'd only clone the Splatoon amiibo since they're the only ones with significant content ( I feel) stuck behind them. Most of them are just for cosmetic purposes and are not worth buying that little device for.

But when they start locking off more and more content behind them, which they will, then I'm all for Amiibo piracy if they can't be bothered to stock them sufficiently.

$80 to be an Amiibo clone seems a bit too steep, isn't it? I mean, you could get 5 Amiibo figures by that price, and if the cheaper Amiibo card is actually a thing (I'm not sure if I could count the HHD card), this price doesn't make any sense at all. Hard to find Amiibo is a good argument, so hopefully Nintendo could resolve this whole situation.

Whatever it is, I don't think giving $80 to someone else while that money should go to Nintendo is ethical. Same argument for flash card, it's pricy, you could easily buy 3 retail games for the same money (then you can sell old game if you want to get a new game), yet some people choose to buy flash card to get hundred of games they'll never play for free.

"I think if someone makes a product they're entitled to receive payment for it from customers."

Oh please: let's not pretend Nintendo isn't selling all of these. Many of them are sold more than once, in fact. By your logic Nintendo should get a cut of scalper money, too. The equivalency you try to turn early on in that argument isn't there, as your "deserve" lines are pure strawman fallacy.

I was lucky enough to get the Splatoon 3-pack. And I lend them out all the time so people can unlock part of a game they already paid for. They'd pay for the figures, too. If they could get them.

This is a market reaction to producing a cash cow and then not making nearly enough to meet demand. The next step is everyone but collectors and scalpers giving up on them. Like Beanie Babies.

My opinion is Nintendo themselves should be marketing a device like this, for people more interested in getting access to the content rather than a never-ending supply of figures/collectibles they mostly don't care about, if they care about them at all. This is also more practical as a portable device than a figure or even a card, making it better suited to 3DS games that use amiibo.

They could easily have something like this communicate with an app on the Wii U, the 3DS, whatever works. Sell an infinite amount of "characters" for prices somewhat below the physical toys. That would basically solve content supply issues, since I doubt anyone would bother to stockpile pricey key chains that exist solely to communicate with the eShop.

But as it stands, Nintendo is not selling such a device, and this has every reason to exist until this is not true.

Nintendo could've made their own "amiiqo." Charging for digital purchases of Amiibo accessibility instead of having to stock shelves or now deal with this.

I would buy this in a hearbeat.

I would never have to open the amiibo case, so I can keep it in display.

Perhaps if nintendo does something similar, in which you can buy the data for the amiibo for a fair price.

Two things.

1. I would never get this because the value of Amiibo for me is far more in the figure than the minimal data it unlocks across the games.

2. This thing is clearly intended for nefarious use because it comes pre-loaded with NFC data that they don't have a right to distribute. You know when you see those emulators online that you can download without punishment? Well they typically don't also include roms with them, because that's illegal. If these guys didn't have it come pre-loaded they would have a better case for not being for illegal use. I mean we all know that's why MOST people would get it.

@brutalpanda No different from PokéMon trading card booster packs. Besides, it's not like you ever choose which characters move into your town in any of the Animal Crossing games. The only way to do that is to make arrangements with someone who has that character in his town to have it move to yours, which isn't unlike buying/trading cards online.
As far as getting each and every amiibo card goes, if amiibo collectors don't want to suffer what trading card collectors of any kind have to deal with, they should just stay away from the amiibo cards and focus on the figurines.

I'd be OK with someone else using Amiiqo for personal use because some of these figs can be ridiculously hard to find or overly expensive. For me though nothing but the real deal will do. As a collector the figure itself is important to me so having virtual Amiibo is a waste of time, not unlike digital only video games.

If supply for amiibo wasn't such a problem, I'd be completely against this. However, I can't find half of the amiibo I want, through no fault of my own. It's horrible. I'm almost considering this just so I can finally have access to the amiibo Nintendo is refusing to let me buy from them.

Its Nintendo's own fault.
Now, where can I buy one of these babies

Let's try: not any kind of evil.

I think this thing is sorta okay, since it might reduce the demand of real amiibo enough for scalpers to step back, and then actual Nintendo fans can buy the available stock.

I buy the amiibos that look good and I like, if they unlock something it is a nice bonus. So no, this device is not for me.

One of the reasons I dislike the comment sections of this website so much is because of how negative everyone is towards amiibo. The situation honestly isn't nearly as bad as you guys make it out to be, and I'm sick of hearing people complain about how much they dislike them.
If you don't care about them, or flat-out hate them, fine, but don't try to spoil them for the people that actually do.

@ateijelo actually i did buy splatoon 3 pack just because more content not because the actual figure.

@fed0ra7 We wouldn't be complaining if Nintendo actually supplied enough of these things. I shouldn't have to import them across the ocean just to get the figures I want. Nintendo is acting like these things are regularly available when they really aren't. When was the last time you saw a Captain Falcon, Marth, or Shulk? They restocked Shulk, and they were gone as quickly as they were restocked. I was lucky to even get Marth, Shulk, and Pit.

@allav866 i want both of them.
Because if u want to have one specific card u could buy just that, but if there is not anything specific that u want then the blind would be great.

I'd be interested if it can write to the actual Amiibo figures. I already have one of each released in my region and I'd only be interested in being able to back up my data or taking it along when I'm traveling..., of course, Nintendo could also just release the ability to back up data onto the Wii U/New 3DS XL and I'd be just as happy without one.

@DarkKirby They're not low quality figures.

@BlatantlyHeroic Have you tried scanning them on the gamepad when it says to do so.

Well owning the figures is part of the appeal. So if someone wnats to just unlock everything in their games then I guess they're going to be able to. But they won't have the actual figures. I imagine this won't put much of a dent on Nintendo's income. Their low stock is already doing that

I really think this is about getting something you haven't paid for for free - if you add up all the content amiibo lock, it amounts to a fair bit. Having said that, Nintendo could just release the content as dlc without the plastic figure that isn't always wanted and also develop a back-up app on their systems. They could even design a universal amiibo a bit like this device for the times when dlc just won't work. Ultimately, someone has spotted a "need" (or more precisely a desire) and devised a device to fulfill it. That it isn't exactly ethical isn't going to matter to those who buy it, sadly.

Nintendo do make ridiculous decisions sometimes. I'm thinking the almost complete absence of special miis in Europe and the totally unobtainable 999 999 streetpass hits accomplishment. It's not surprising that there are workarounds. This is partly a reaction to not being able to do things legitmately. And I mean seriously just not being able to do it. Still doesn't make it quite right though. Anyway, I won't be going for it since I don't have an (expensive!) NFC enabled phone and don't really care about amiibo anyway. I buy them, get the content and the sell on to get at least some of my money back.

No one is buying amiibo for their functionality. If you are, then you're 1 in 100.

Let's take all the Amiiqo devices and action replays and toss them into grumble volcano! (Or death mountain if that is what you prefer)

@fed0ra7 I'm mostly bothered by the comments that complains about the current stock issue like it was wave 1-3. It leave the impression for other readers not into amiibo that almost all of them are sold out in minutes and seconds with no restocks instead of hours and days with restocks like the ones now (excluding Robin, Lucina, and Splatoon 3 pack atm).

A good example is the exclusive Retro 3-pack pre-order at Gamestop still being available.

Please forgive me for not reading all of the comments. If I have echoed anyone's thoughts already, I did not mean to. It was just getting a little tiresome to read through everything.

Anyway, I also take issue with this device. As expressed in Damien's argument, I have heard from many people, both online and in-person, that these types of devices are good because they allow people to access content that they would pay for if they could (whether it's due to lack of localization, stock issues, or other reasons). This "rationalization" is pure and all, but not everyone will use these devices for the same "pure" reasons. Some are out there simply to pirate, which I believe is fundamentally wrong.

In essence, I dislike Amiiqo because it will be abused. Yeah, some could argue, "Why should we be banned from using Amiiqo because others use it inappropriately?" The same argument is used for more extreme issues like gun, drugs, and prostitution. For rather anemic issues like Amiiqo, I feel that we should just kind of buck up and move on. I hope I do not offend anyone with this last comment.

I remember this from a YouTube video.

At Nintendo.
Sir I think many people want these amiibo. I believe we should restock them.
I see. More copies of Nintendo Land!

I watched Devils Advocate once. 90mins of my life I'll never get back.

I really dislike the "amiiqo". The very thought of owning one disgusts me. I will look the other way and hope the creators get burned.

I think that turning all past, present, and future amiibo capabilities into plentiful cards is a great way to give everyone what they want: the figurine collectors can (sadly) continue the good fight against scalpers, and those who just want the data capabilities can have them without worrying about figurine(s).

I think I'll be the first bring up that the Ammiiqo would exist whether or not there was a good supply or not and it wouldn't exist if Amiibo weren't popular or bombed in sales.

Much like the R4 it's not some product to help out the market, its an opportunist licking its lips indirectly taking someone elses(Nintendo's) digital content for free and then selling it to the market.

In the videogame market I don't think there's much scummier than taking things that required work and exploiting the fact digital content can be copied with no work required. Perhaps those using this stuff while wanting to look good so trying to excuse piracy then complaining that the company(s) that actually had to pour money into it and the only reason that content exists is asking for more money.

I'm against people making DLC for games free against the wishes of the developer. With Amiibo, however, sometimes that content is locked to you, whether or not you're willing to pay for the figurine. That being said, once Nintendo gets their supply issues sorted out, or at least sell easy-to-find and cheaper Amiibo cards, I don't think there's an acceptable excuse to using these.

@ManateeBlubber Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer has blind packages
I just want Bruce...

I think it's an overblown issue, honestly. Of course I'm a consumer that buy amiibo to look at more than use, so I'd probably be the wrong person to ask.

It seems like quite the cumbersome device, being you don't know what data you're accessing at any given time without your phone. It also seems like a lot of work pirating/torrenting amiibo data for such a small benefit.

Like others said, Nintendo should really nip this in the bud by producing their own device. Or better yet as I've always had this idea in my head thought this should be a thing, (I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet), write an amiibo bank Android app and sell it for a couple bucks. Or better yet, let the app be free and charge a couple bucks each for digital amiibo. They could include the characters gaming bio and games they are compatible with. Each digital amiibo also has it's own bank, per compatible game - that way you don't run into read/write problems for games that need data written. For the concern that it would cut into physical amiibo sales, make the digital amiibo avaliable after a particular amiibo is out of print. Though I would imagine that a digital amiibo wouldn't cut into physical amiibo anymore than cards would.

Meh. I doubt this thing's going to be anything of a sales success. I think the vast majority of the people buying amiibo get them for the physical figure itself, mainly. Any interactivity with games is simply a nice bonus, considering their use in-game is really very limited, anyway.

Not sure anyone already pointed this out, but my problem with devices like amiiqo is the way they could potentially kill amiibo future.
Since amiibo datas now can be recovered without purchasing the figures then there is no way that Nintendo will make a bigger use of amiibo in games. Giving a true and big data value to those pretty figures would be just a piracy incentive now -.-;;;

Personally, I would change the name to Amii-bo'selecta

I don't know a single person in real life that has even heard of amiibo, and I know a ton of gamers.

@BakaKnight I'd imagine much of amiibos appeal are the actual figurines themselves.

Everyone can have their own opinion on this product, but one thing is for sure: the people at amiiqo will be hammered in court. They will wither up and blow away.

I dislike the Amiiqo since its mostly going to be used for obtaining the DLC content for free. It just feels wrong to use a way to avoid paying to unlock content.

However, Nintendo needs to make it much easier for people to pay for the content. There needs to be less stock issues (though it seems to be improving), and they need to start selling cheaper amiibo cards that have the same functionality as amiibo. Plus, all amiibo should be accessible to everyone. Let's see Gold and Silver Mario being sold in Europe, and let's hear confirmation of Modern 8 bit Mario being sold in America without having to buy another Wii U.

Also, some amiibo content should also be available as DLC, especially Splatoon. The extra levels and single player content seemed far too big to be only accessible with hard to get amiibo, and it's too pricey for people that only want to play all the Splatoon levels.

This product isn't going to prevent any sales of Amiibo. The reason why Amiibo has been such a success is because people want physical figures of Nintendo things, for whatever reason. What they offer from a content perspective is so miniscule that no one would by one just for a costume in Mario Kart.

If you ask me, Nintendo left this door wide open. It is their fault that amiibos are so difficult to obtain, but more importantly, the Wii U and 3DS do not have a save bank. How difficult could it be to set up a little app that saves your amiibo data?

Right or wrong, it doesn't matter, Nintendo should have seen this coming. Shame on them for having a third party (who can't even print stickers right) beat them to the punch.

I think it's pathetic that people not Nintendo have to make such a device because Nintendo themselves don't know how to make a proper data system for these toys.

I for one couldn't care less. For one amiibo are figurines that you are not getting by using this device. Secondly it's not piracy, period. You are using a hack to unlock functions that are available in games that you already own. You are not pirating the software you are playing, you're simply using an NFC tag to use a function of the software you already paid for. I for one have most of current amiibo range (except for Lucario and Greninja, you happy scalpers?!) but this device wouldn't deter me in the slightest from buying any more amiibo. Who cares if someone unlocks a DK suit in MK8? Or plays against a NFC figure in Smash? I could see some collectors that don't open their collections buying this to get the functionality out of their amiibo that they don't want to unbox their collection to use. Still this device doesn't seem like it will take off, it's not going to increase in value like amiibo.

@Utena-mobile the weapons you unlock are exactly replicas of the weapons you get in the game, they just look different.

The armor you unlock do not give you any skills or bonuses that the clothing you can get in game give you. All the amiibo do is unlock single payer missions and some cosmetics. Not really worth getting bent out of shape over if you ask me..

It's not "pirating Amiibo". The Amiibo figures are notably different in appearance, which is the reason many (not all) people buy into the system.

Amiiqo requires you to own both a console and the relevant software to get any value. It replaces figures have incredibly little in-game value (Smash Bros excepted) and are instead being used as simple keys to unlock already on-disc content for most games that do support them.

Nintendo has done a very poor job of providing reasonable Amiibo stock levels or any alternatives for people who are interested and willing to pay for the real thing. They have also done a very poor job of providing basic functionality (back-up Amiibo save data, for example).

If Nintendo had done a better job on any front in providing and supporting Amiibo figures, I might be inclined to think Amiiqo is a bad idea. But Nintendo hasn't - despite improving the supply situation slowly. To the contrary, their inability to support the platform makes Amiiqo not just a smart idea, but very nearly a necessity if people want to get full value from games they have already purchased.

If people start selling knock-off figures that don't add significant and meaningful functionality the way Amiiqo does, I might change my tune... but at the moment they are providing a service that Nintendo either won't or isn't able to. More power to them.

Amiibo are the devil. Milked to death by Nintendo, used as a blanket to cover up the lack of game releases, (for the brainless humans who keep buying the crap)

I'd be more against this if Nintendo would release the cards worldwide, AND keep them in stock at all times at low prices.

hell i'd probably buy it if I still had a wii u, easier than trying to hunt down all the darn figures and paying $13 a pop for them

@daveh30 You can't do that with the amiibo figures. They have barriers and security measures put in place that prevent over-writing the data. If you used amiiqo on the Wii U, then used an amiibo figure to save it to, it won't work because the game has already modified the amiibo data on the system and it needs to write the amiibo data on the same NFC chip that it read from. The reason it's made like that is so that if you use multiples of the same amiibo (like two Mario amiibo), the game can correctly write the data to the correct amiibo since each NFC chip is unique on its own.

I am for the piracy while the stock issues are still high, and if Nintendo continues to not release and restock older amiibo.

However, if they remedy it, then people need to buy the darn things. But not until this stock problem works itself out.

For - you don't have to buy the Super Mario series of Amiibo alongside your Smash Bros figures.

Against - you are cheating Nintendo out of money. There's plenty of stock for the Mario Party figures, so there is no need to back up save data.

@Anon_Amous and then to blame Nintendo for their theft sounds like a 3 year old telling their parents it's their fault that the 3 hear old threw a to trim for not getting what they wanted.

@mjc0961 this is piracy like R4 is piracy. It doesn't have to be a like for like product to be piracy, just theft of data.

I've realized something about AC: amiibo festival, and I'm sure some people have noted this.
If Nintendo continues with the stock problem, AC:amiibo festival is doomed from the start. Yes its a free to download game, but its only free to start, not free to play. If they supply enough like they did with the Super Mario amiibo, then the game can have a couple downloads for people who actually use them for the games and not to blow off $12.00 and put it on the shelf. However if its another S&D situation, then goodbye people even downloading the game. I don't know if people will even download the game, but if they do and they can't get 4 amiibo's to even play the game, then oh well.

I'm totally fine with this device existing, though chances are I won't be picking this up. This is just a side effect of the free market, not enough supply to meet the demand so people find alternatives. That's how the world works. Nintendo made their bed, now they get to lay in it. Not to mention nothing about this device is illegal by itself.

I'm okay with amiiqo - because I don't think this will actually effect Nintendo's sales, considering there are amiibo collectors who have the money and will therefore continue buying amiibo's regardless.

Maybe this device can be more targeted at people who simply can't afford to collect amiibo's or don't have enough money to buy the ones they want.

I think this is an interesting concept but not so much for piracy; my understanding is that Amiibos only have enough memory to store the data for 1 game. I have no idea what happens if I wipe the data from a SSB Amiibo to use in Mario Party (does my system save it?). This looks like a cool way to save multiple Amiibo profiles - but this could have been solved at the source with more memory. Sounds silly in an age of cheap ram/storage, but remember that in 2007 Nintendo gave us a Wii remote with only 4K (yes, K!) of RAM.

@Grumblevolcano I shouldn't have to import and it seems like this is the only way to get through NOA's thick skull. I would never use this personally because the figure is half the reason I buy amiibo.

As it stands right now, Amiibo are nothing really more than nice collectibles. Its integration in pretty much all games (maybe outside of Smash Bros. Wii U/3DS) is to act as a "season pass" to DLC (mostly cosmetic changes and/or a few minor unlockables). Amiibo can only really expand beyond the realm of being "collectibles" when:
1) Nintendo releases various, high-profile titles that require the usage of Amiibo in order to function
2) Nintendo launches new hardware (NX and onward) with a significant focus on Amiibo during that platform(s) entire lifespan. The Wii U and 3DS got Amiibo really late in the game, especially for the 3DS.

As for Amiiqo, it essentially cuts out the middleman and is what Amiibo would have likely been with just the NFC chip and not the toy figure itself.

I would get one but than I ask myself the same question when considering the real thing. What the hell am I going to do with this crap? I don't have any games that fully utilize it. Amiibos and Amiiqo is a high price to pay either way to unlock some useless stuff.

I am against piracy, but since Nintendo chose to lock stuff behind a paywall and the only way to unlock it is via very expensive toys I can't blame them. Not everybody wants those expensive toys, but many people want to unlock anything. Most Amiibo related unlocks are unsubstantial, but there are also the Splatoon missions or the special weapon in Hyrule warriors.

Nice little writeup. I won't be getting this (and truth be told I don't even own an Android device) as I now have most of the Amiibo I wanted. I love them too much on the shelf in addition to gaming perks.

Heck, just give me an app that can back-up and re-apply amiibo data, and I'd be fine with that. Would be hella weird, though, if I got my Wario and Palutena mixed up, ohohohoho~.

@gatorboi352 The figure is the main appeal right now and my point is that it will remain the main appeal sadly ^_^;
I love them as figures, but I'm not the only one that was hoping to see Nintendo doing more interesting stuffs with amiibo in games, especially involving already released amiibo, increasing every figure data-value and charm game after game.
However that value is now pirated and if the piracy will prove popular enough then Nintendo could decide to play safe with amiibo and keep pointing mainly on the figure value while leaving to a minimun any in-game use.

Damien made a very good argument, but I still believe that the concept of amiiqo is unethical.

Nintendo needs to get these Amiibo cards in to production as soon as possible.

@TruenoGT said it.
"Just because something is difficult to get doesn't entitle one to get it for free IMO. If someone is so OCD that they need to have every box checked in a video game to the point where they need to cheat or steal, they've got bigger problems than not getting ahold of a rare Amiibo."

@Anon_Amous The original v1 model comes with 10 Amiibos installed which can be deleted. The V2 which is now being shipped come without any Amiibos installed.

I really don't understand where people are coming from when they say Amiibo is overpriced DLC. It is not DLC.

Amiibo compatibility in games has thus far not excluded any in game content. Skins and costumes are the what we get when scan an amiibo in. You might argue they unlock levels in Splatoon or Captain Toad but really these are levels we've already played so we're not seeing anything new.

None of the DLC in Mario Kart is locked to amiibo - you have to buy all the new tracks and characters - they cannot be unlocked with amiibo.

When Nintendo start locking entire worlds or levels on a £40/£50 game that means you cannot fully complete the game until you've bought an amiibo, then complain. We're not there yet and I don't believe we ever will be.

I've seen people here and in other press saying that this will lead to pirated Amiibos being sold, by which I mean fake figures. Not really the Amiiqo is $60 - $80 which is far more than the cost of an NFC tag which could be written to handle Amiibo data.

Amiiqo is a solution to a problem that Nintendo were not willing/wanting to deal with.
1) Amiibos have a limit of one piece of data per figure.
2) There is no way to back up the figure data if you want to write data from another game
3) Not been my experience due to early pre-orders but people complain about stock shortages. Remember Nintendo didn't restock the Squid Amiibo in the UK after the truck load for Game got stolen
4) They didn't really secure the Amiibo technology, which is why many people including Amiiqo have been able to rip data from the tags.

Problem is that they really are duplicating them as you could get all your amiibo on it then just sell the original figures with scalpers tax and suddenly you have the amiibo and made a profit all this will do is make the second hand amiibo market even more expensive.

Also @nintendolife i saw lots of splatoon amiibo on this site called shopto its not that well known so they have lots of amiibo that havent been bought its where i got my squid amiibo after the Game stock was stolen.

@Chochy1000 ShopTo is a great retailer which I've been using for years. They even send the Amiibo in boxes to stop the postman from trashing the packaging. Their prices also cheaper than Game and 99% of the things I've ordered have been delivered next day and I even get stuff a day or so before release.

@GuaBan yeah i was desperate a heen my game squid amiibo was stolen especially as even the downgraded game would be late and i found shopto saw they still had them and next day delivery and i got it launch day with the amiibo for less than game had it anyway and they're still stocking them!

@Chochy1000 Yeah they still have Spaltoon limited edition for a couple of days after launch. Until a number of people in the same position as yourself found them then they were all snapped up.

A great site and I always recommend them to people. Also they pick your standard sized games using robots.

I find it hard to sympathise with Nintendo when they are locking game content behind little models... so until this somehow actually leads (if it even will) to bootleg amiibos affecting actual customers I'm pretty indifferent about this amiiqo thing.

Hahaha!

You gotta hand it to Nintendo here. They have become the first video game company dumb enough to allow their all their DLC to be accessed and played using a small plastic disc.

They are truly visionaries!

@ROBLOGNICK

Hate to break it to you, but character skins, player/weapon/skill upgrades are all considered DLC by Nintendo, Sony and Xbox. On the other guys you pay $1.99 or so to access it, and on Nintendo you pay $12.99 (or whatever an amiibo costs) to use it.

DLC is whatever the company wants it to be. A new level, a new playable character, a new outfit, etc, as long as you pay extra $$$ to buy it.

Both guys made very good point for their camp. I do agree with Thomas 100% about piracy, and that far too many people out there have warped ideas on what they think they are entitled to.

Here's the thing though, Thomas is trying to compare apples and pears and so I think his argument is weak. The Amiiqo hasn't been born as a result of people getting something for nothing like downloading music or films, it's been born out of Nintendo's poor handling of Amiibo and scalpers taking advantage of the situation. Of course the whole scalper thing is another topic to debate. The Amiiqo is there because legitimate gamers can't get their hands on the original article, which is largely Nintendo's fault.

Does that make it right? Probably not, but it is understandable and I think acceptable, but only just.

@HollywoodHogan

They're only considered DLC if you have to download them to get them in the game. That's what DLC stands for. DownLoadable Content. Please show me where Nintendo state the amiibo skins in Yoshi's Woolly World, Mario Kart, Ace Combat etc are DLC?

Yes, DLC can be whatever a company wants it to be. The things that are unlocked using amiibo are not DLC as they're already in the game when you buy it. With the exception of games that were released before the amiibo were released such as with Mario Kart when they created a free update that put those features in the game.

im all for the clone figures! when nintendo is shoving them at people's faces telling you thats the only way to unlock the extra content on a fully paid game just wtf? of course others didn't like that so in a way i see nothing wrong with it you might even get better design figures made by regular people etc

I have about 12 amiibo and there are a few more I want to get, including the red and white JPN version of R.O.B and Chibi Robo. That said, I also may get this device, because the fact is, the figures I want for aesthetic value and the ones I want to unlock game content often differ. It feels like the same thing as borrowing them from someone, or buying them and reselling them after use.

I have to wonder, though: if we need this content to be satisfied, what does that say about us?

@ROBLOGNICK

There's been a lot of 'on disc' DLC from many developers, you can google it and see it's a real thing.

In your opinion a character unlocked using an amiibo you paid $13 for is not DLC, but to most consumers and developers it's exactly that.

@HollywoodHogan Yes, but not from Nintendo - this is the point.

Also, it's not a character unlock, it's a skin unlock.

I stopped supporting the ripoff virtual console when the HBC came out. Looks like i will stop supporting amiibo. In for one.

As people have said before, piracy is normally due to lack of availability.
Nintendo needs to fix its supply problems and people need to worry less about things like Amiiqo, just because someone else is filling a whole Nintendo created.

Anyway I'll continue to collect amiibo like i and every other customers always have cause its not just about the data. The piracy that everyone is so concerned about is going to be done by people who would have bought them anyway.

Amiiqo is not a bad idea, i welcome the fact i can backup and move stuff around because that's the way i would use it

@URAmk2 "I think that's a ripoff, so I'm not going to buy it." Fine. That's your right. But to say, "I think that's a ripoff, so I'm going to steal it" is taking it a bit far, don't you think?

I hope amiiqo could be useful for developing countries.

People actually use Amiibo for playing games? I thought they bought it as a toy collection or trophies. I still don't see the point of Amiibo in Nintendo games.

Btw, Amiiqo is a stupid name, they should named it something friendly like Amigo.

This is one of these things where there's absolutely no universal answer to the issue.
On one hand, amiiqo is pretty useful for being able to create backups of your amiibo data when you want to experiment a bit without having to delete what's currently on there, and also not feeling forced to buy a second amiibo to use another games' features. I respect that, and I support that cause since Nintendo won't allow us something that simple.
But on the other hand, exchanging, cloning, and manipulating amiibo data is just plain cheap. Yes, amiibo shortages are still present (as I found out a bit late due to my german ignorance), and many people are annoyed by Nintendo's ongoing inability to fix these issues. But at the same time, this completely crosses the line. So far, all amiibo features are purely optional, but bound to the ownership of that figure, so statements like "the figures suck, but I want the content" or "too expensive" are fine examples of hypocrisy. Sorry folks, but it's pretty obvious that you're not supposed to have that content without an amiibo, so using the lack of access as an excuse to get something you're never required to have to enjoy the game is just lousy.
That's pretty much like saying "I hate DLC, but I want it", and then turning on your PC to download it for free. No purchase, no content.
And then there's the theory that games could've used amiibo in the future to copy "guest profiles" to use on a friends' console to use in multiplayer ways, which would get reduced to everyone just downloading the best profile from the internet and then using that, effectively eliminating the point behind that functionality. Of course no game has that, but amiiqo, if proving popular enough, might also shy developers away from entering the amiibo business, or coming up with new ideas to use them.

Like it or not, the price of accessing amiibo-exclusive features is simply to own the corresponding amiibo figure. And you really need to rethink your priorities if you think your own impatience justifies theft, because that's not how it works. Yeah, Nintendo brought this upon themselves with their lack of planning, but that doesn't make cloning amiibos okay in any sort of fashion.

@Nintendian Because "b" is reversed to "q".

@Dr_Corndog
Meh. At least im being real & not faking outrage just because its nintendo. They'll be ok.

All I have to say to Nintendo about Amiiqo is this:

You brought this on yourself.

The creation of this device was inevitable when dlc is locked behind unobtainable figures

I honestly don't see this being much of a problem for Nintendo for a few reasons...

1) Nintendo is selling out of their stock for figures that aren't Mario/Peach/Donkey Kong. For the most part, they're making every bit of money that is possible from the amount of amiibo they produce at the price they are selling.
2) The main appeal of amiibo are the sweet figures! Most people (including myself) like the long lasting appeal of seeing an Inkling or Princess Rosalina on their desk - not just their usage in a handful of games.
3) The product costs more than multiple amiibo (roughly 4 and a half plus shipping). This is a big turn off to most people.
4) Nobody is being fooled into thinking it is an official Nintendo product
5) You can't buy it in person or from an online retailer that is widely known and mostly trusted.

I can see how some people would argue it's piracy and how some people would argue it isn't. I just don't see it being a big enough of a deal for Nintendo's lawyers to deal with.

Here's the deal. Amiiqo is not any evil. It's perfectly just and good. I am proud it exists, and I will buy the USB model once it's released.

See, Nintendo has locked content that is on the disc behind overpriced hard-to-find plastic figurines. They've locked an entire mode in Splatoon behind the Amiibo paywall. This is extortion, plain and simple. Want to play the entire game you payed for? Buy the right Amiibo.

Needless to say, this is not good. If any company other than Nintendo had done this, we'd condemn them. I do not want to support this, so I will not buy Amiibo. I do not collect figurines, so I won't buy Amiibo.

At the same time, I rightfully want to access this content I purchased with my own money, without buying a cheap overpriced toy. Amiiqo is perfect, because it allows me to do so, without paying Nintendo for such a disgusting practice.

This isn't theft. I'm not cheating or stealing. The entire basis of stealing being wrong is that if I steal something from somebody, they do not have it any longer. With this Amiibo cloning, I'm not stealing anything from anyone. Nobody's toys are going to vanish. Nobody will be poorer, really, because I wouldn't have bought Amiibo in the first place, even if Amiiqo didn't exist.

I do not understand how these fanboys try to claim this is bad. I'm doing my part in controlling corporate behavior and greedy, sleazy tendencies with my wallet, while still being able to access the content I rightfully should for only the price of the game.

It's not stealing, it's sharing. But I suppose sharing is illegal now.

If Amiibo's weren't exclusive and so rare to find, this wouldn't be a issue.

I'm surprised this hasn't been shut down yet, since it comes preloaded with some amiibo figurines' data. That's what will open them up to legal trouble from Nintendo. It's like how emulators and devices used to backup games are legal, but distributing rom dumps isn't. If they were smart, they'd just sell the device blank, and let the savvy find amiibo data on the web.

If Nintendo let me just download amiibo locked content as dlc, I'd have more sympathy for them. Not everyone wants crappy figurines cluttering their house.

Piracy is illegal in any form it takes. Anyone who is whining about stock need only to wait a bit. Amiibo are being restocked pretty well and that's how I got the ones I missed.

People want the cake and they want to eat it too, and in this case also want it for free. The world doesn't work that way. Even large corporations need to get money from their goods or it hurts the industry as a whole. Devices like this are toxic as they are now. There is no reasonable excuse in the world as to why devices like this should be supported. I hope they get shut down sooner rather than later.

@thatguyEZ everything about this device is illegal by itself. . . Not only that just owning one is illegal by itself. That's how piracy works.

@Bowser908 you are the most misguided person I have ever heard. Look out a window. EVERYONE has behavior like this. Amiibo unlocks have never once been mandatory to the game nor are they locking behind paywalls. That's never how they were meant to be viewed. They are lifetime rewards for people who buy the figurines. If you don't want the content don't get the figures and vice versa but attitudes like yours are toxic to any industry. There is no way to justify piracy in any form. Stealing is still stealing no matter what kindergarten logic you apply to it. Just pay for a damn amiibo if you want them.

@Bowser908 you are the most misguided person I have ever heard. Look out a window. EVERYONE has behavior like this. Amiibo unlocks have never once been mandatory to the game nor are they locking behind paywalls. That's never how they were meant to be viewed. They are lifetime rewards for people who buy the figurines. If you don't want the content don't get the figures and vice versa but attitudes like yours are toxic to any industry. There is no way to justify piracy in any form. Stealing is still stealing no matter what kindergarten logic you apply to it. Just pay for a damn amiibo if you want them.

@Token_Girl The version 2 of Amiiqo (Same device but newer firmware out of the box) doesn't come with any Amiibo figure data stored on it.

@FireFrog4 While not mandatory the only ways to have a second Yoshi in Woolly World to help is either a) have someone else play with you b) pay for a woolly Yoshi Amiibo. And the only way to get the extra gear/maps in Splatoon, buy the Amiibos.

Now if Nintnedo offered these bits maybe as DLC for 99p instead of figure price then I'm sure some people would be happy.

For me I now have an Amiiqo and am happy to use it. But I have only got the Amiibo figures Super Smsah, Super Mario, Yoshi's Woolly World and Splatoon as I own all these but don't want to take them out of the boxes. Also The Amiiqo is a lot smaller than a large collection of Amiibos and there for easier to carry around. Because I want to use Amiibos on the go on either my UK New 3DS or my Japanese 3DS LL with the NFC reader unit.

The second Yoshi feature is more of a novelty than a necessity. I could imagine the complaint if they locked the entire Co-op mode away, but not this. I appreciate that you do own amiibo and understand wanting to leave them boxed but unfortunately one person using this for the right reasons doesn't justify the hundreds using it for piracy. The tool as a whole offers way more harm than it offers good.

@FireFrog4 That's like saying emulators are illegal in themselves.

@FireFrog4 different colour shoes are not a necessity but things like that is being sold as DLC on games and people are paying for it. People may want to use that feature, article of clothing and not wanting to pay the $14 or higher if scalpers are involved. It just seems clear to me that it wouldn't be hard for Nintendo to offer a Amiibo costume pack for games that use them. But then also if they had a cheaper option for getting the Amiibo NFC data, Amiibo cards at $2.00 each or even a $10.00 for a series then people would get them. From a legal point the Amiiqo is only "guilty" of releasing the first edition of Amiiqo with 10 characters installed. To make and sell these is not illegal as long as they don't have copyright material on them. ie buy it blank and then put your own Amiibos on it, Where you get them from is up to you.

@thatguyEZ Problem is that a lot of people look at something which can be used for "illegal" activates and say "That's illegal, burn it with fire." But these people would have to destroy their phones/computers if they transferred music from a CD to it as that is now technically illegal in the UK. In some areas of law around the world it would be illegal to download a show on the iPlayer to play offline on your mobile device using the same software as you've copied the it from it's original distributed source.

Besides I really don't think Nintendo have too much to worry about. Most people have Amiibos just for the collection and are not really bothered about using them in game. Also the Amiiqo is not being advertised on TV, the main press and even here a dedicated Nintendo site has only had a couple of articles. They are going to sell a reasonably small number of units compared to Amiibos in general. Lets be honest people who use Amiiqo without owning any Amiibos to use the digital content would try to get access to the content however they could.

The real issue will be when people get 1000 NFC tags for $20 and start making 3D printed copies and selling them off on eBay. Do we need to destroy all 3D printers, NFC devices & eBay for the same reason why people are criticising Amiiqo? Oh wait https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2015/06/fake_amiibo_figures_spotted_in_the_wild

@GauBan haha that's like saying wii u's aren't meant to play wii u games just because it can. It's testicles logic. you act like this device wasn't made specifically with illegal intentions in mind. That's how it's presented to the public. Just stop trying to justify it to make yourself feel better. This thing and everyone who buys one is no better than petty thieves. It's the same crime in a different skin.

@FireFrog4 No not the Wii U as you play the game on the media the data was originally provided on. PS4 and Xbox One is another matter. But this all depends on how a judge reads wording of the law.

As for my ownership of an Amiiqo.I am very happy to have access to my Amiibos without opening the boxes and can take all of them anywhere. I'll have it in my collection along with my homebrewed Wii, Wii U, Universal Adapters for SNES and N64, multiple Action Replays, Game Genies,Freeloaders, region free loader disks and FlashBoy+.

@GauBan I've heard enough. People like you make me sick. I hippie your house burns down with all your pirated games in it. Please don't ever call yourself a Nintendo fan in public.

@FireFrog4 LOL, A true Nintendo Fan would know that none of those things were pirate devices, bar possibly the FlashBoy+ which is widely accepted by the VB community and where you need to go to get one. Even Daz here owns one and was using it at the gaming night the other month to run Hyper Fighting.

As for pirated games I don't own any. But I do have a large collection of games and consoles from different regions, another thing which can be seen as illegal.

Yes I am a Nintendo fan and this is why I own the items I have.

The one major thing that has been mentioned by both sides but ignored by both is the rationalization through unfair prices. Why is that splatoon figure so expensive??? Not because it's msrp at a retailer, but because it's only available through scalpers. So since they paid Nintendo for it, Nintendo won't see a penny of that inflated price; or another cent at all from that point. So if amiiqo keeps you from having to pay scalper prices, then how is this hurting Nintendo??? They already got paid for the figure regardless of whether you buy it from a scalper.
And as is the case with roms, digital backups are only illegal if you don't own the original. Granted not everyone will emulate amiibos they own but don't want to open, so there is a lethal and an illegal use. Most every consumer product has that double edged sword; created for good but when used improperly can be used for bad.