
Nintendo is still fully committed to amiibo, that much is obvious. New figures and cards continue to gradually emerge, some as expected with the biggest games (such as Splatoon 2 and Metroid: Samus Returns), and others a little unexpected like the cards that came out alongside Mario Sports Superstars. A number of the ranges seem to get little shelf space or interest, while some figures remain evergreen and somewhat in demand.
But still, it seems like the brand and indeed the concept has lost its shine, and as I look over my own collection I realise that purchases are now rather rare; the newest on my shelf is a Link from the series anniversary range, which was picked up out of sentiment. Most of the others are from the Smash Bros. era, and a Yarn Yoshi sits on my desk (well, I do write for a Nintendo website). Notably my Legend of Zelda collection (which is small) doesn't include the Link figures I want the most from the Breath of the Wild range, because they're rare and overpriced on the reseller market. It's slightly odd that demand isn't being met on all of these figures to capitalise on the game's success, but instead it's a case of patiently waiting for occasional (and often brief) restocks at the right price.
That's the thing - the amiibo range still has a market, one that Nintendo is evidently happy to fulfil to a degree, but it's a shrinking enthusiast market. Spot the difference, for example, between the following summaries from Nintendo's financial reports for Q1 2016/2017 and Q1 2017/2018.
Q1 2016/2017
For amiibo, the figure-type and the card-type sales remained at approximately 1.70 million units and 1.30 million units respectively mainly due to a lack of new titles that are compatible with amiibo.
Q1 2017/2018
As there were few new types of amiibo compared to the same period last year and few new titles offering amiibo functionality, amiibo sales were approximately 1.60 million units for figure-type and approximately 1.30 million units for card-type.
Nintendo often brings out the line that there were 'few new titles' to brush off declining numbers, so let's take the annual results for 2016 / 2017 and the equivalents for 2015 / 2016.
Full Year 2015 / 2016
In addition to the above, amiibo sales continued to maintain momentum and showed strong performance globally. The figure-type and the card-type sold approximately 24.70 million units and approximately 28.90 million units respectively.
Full year 2016/2017
Although the release of some new titles offering amiibo functionality restored some momentum, amiibo sales remained limited to 9.1 million units for figure-type and 9.3 million units for card-type.
The amiibo range sales more than halved in the space of a year, as 3DS clung onto momentum and the Wii U headed to discontinuation. March of the last full financial year did bring those aforementioned Breath of the Wild amiibo, but they were and still are quite tough to find at the recommended price. Nintendo, it seems, isn't overly concerned with maximising the market, but rather catering to the most eager collectors alone (and some scalpers, of course).

When the concept originally launched it was, of course, a phenomenal success; combined with Super Smash Bros. for Wii U it took off, and Nintendo had a torrid time meeting demand. New 'waves' were hot news and would fly off shelves. Part of this was the sheer novelty, of course, there's no denying that, but I think there's more to it - the functionality was actually rather cool.
When originally revealed by Satoru Iwata in 2014 it was pitched as a platform, with the idea of figures with various features that work across multiple titles. Before it was branded amiibo, its codename made clear its intentions.
We are calling the figurines by their development codename, NFP, which comes from “NFC Featured Platform” and “Nintendo Figurine Platform.”
What is especially unique about NFP is that it is not classed as an accessory product of a certain software title but as a platform itself.
And it has been designed to be compatible with multiple software titles for Nintendo platforms. In other words, the figurines, which consumers can buy and collect, are going to work with multiple software titles to be released in the future, and we are aiming to develop more software titles compatible with the figurines. Nintendo has a lot of well-known character IP that has originated in video games, and we have been regularly releasing titles from game franchises that make use of this character IP. This is why I believe a brand-new type of platform will be born when the character IP becomes compatible with NFP.
In Super Smash Bros. the simplicity of the NFC technology was used in a smart way - you 'trained' your figures in the game, they'd level up and would even join you in fights and give you gifts. We'd see communities organise 'amiibo fights' in which they'd pit figures against each other, meaning that they were collectibles with a bit of actual purpose. It was a perfect marriage between game concept and product - there were figures covering lots of Nintendo IP, and their functionality was simple but clever.
To be fair, Nintendo was good on its word for quite a while in terms of developing the range while also maintaining support across a lot of titles. Detailed infographics and dedicated websites would track which figures were supported in particular games, with those Smash Bros. characters proving busy. In many cases, though, only the read functionality was used; in other words you'd scan a figure and get a power-up or minor reward. They stopped being 'characters' and began to become optional 'physical DLC', a contradictory term that I've used for them a few times. Shovel Knight bucked the trend a bit in making the figure more active, but in many first-party cases they were a bit shoddy for a sustained period. Then there were eventually doomed attempts to shoehorn amiibo into modes and entire games without finding a real hook, with Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival being the nadir.
Nintendo has also tried to monetise them in cynical ways, perhaps best summed up by the Mario Sports Superstars blind packs of cards - they were cheaply produced with old artwork and were needed to unlock 'Superstar' versions of characters, though it wasn't the first time a mode was locked behind the range. Collecting all those cards seemed like an expensive and thankless task, something I suspect very few players even attempted. It was also an entire range for a modest game too, both in quality and number of sales. At times Nintendo's done this, saturating its own market unnecessarily.
It does feel like saturation, especially when new figures emerge with very uninspiring or downright annoying perks. The Splatoon range unlocks outfits in the latest title, though in its favour you can at least 'save' outfits to the amiibo to take with you as a loadout; it's better than nothing, but rather 'meh' I'd suggest. But then there's the upcoming Metroid amiibo, which is an unlock key (essentially) for the 'Fusion' difficulty mode that you get after beating the game; this is only accessible if you have the amiibo. Plenty complained that the Master Mode was tied into the expansion pass in Breath of the Wild, and Nintendo is continuing that approach with this squidgy figure, but the content will clearly have been developed ahead of time for release and just locked away.
We saw plenty of amiibo pop up during E3, and my hope is that the Super Mario Odyssey figures will do something interesting or clever, rather than just provide half a dozen extra lives; we don't know yet. We've seen that Nintendo still occasionally has nice ideas for amiibo, such as the use for Wolf Link in Breath of the Wild, in which he appears as a companion to help you in the game. That's a lovely touch, with the only downside being that the figure is hard to find at a good price.
We're in a loop at the moment where Nintendo keeps pumping out more and more amiibo (not all of them used well), and on occasions when they're really desirable stock is limited and scalpers strike. At the same time sales are static or potentially falling. Nintendo will no doubt hope that the Switch can help bring the sales numbers back up in this financial year, as interest in the system converts to intrigue in the figures; if there's enough stock, that is.
I still think amiibo can be a terrific thing for Nintendo, a range of products that genuinely adds to our gaming lives. Rather than exponential growth of the range with limited stock and functionality, however, I'd love to see a focus on quality. Less figures, more functionality. The NFC technology is limited, of course, but examples like Shovel Knight (which was entirely the work of Yacht Club Games), the Smash Bros. range and Wolf Link in Breath of the Wild show how they can be clever, enjoyable additions to our games. The question is whether Nintendo cares about bringing amiibo back to mainstream attention, however, or whether it wants to make relatively few units and shift them to collectors without too much stress.
The latter case would be a pity. The amiibo idea was born as a platform to enhance games, making the experience that bit more creative and fun. It can still do that and does on occasion, but the range needs to be more focused and less cynical if it's to thrive rather than stumble along.
As for me, I'll keep an eye out for a Breath of the Wild Guardian at its recommended retail price...
Comments 181
Just too many to keep up with really. That and they cost waaay too much to get for ones everybody likes. I don't know why they made some exclusive to certain retailers.
Still, I don't regret the ones I own. Love my Mewtwo amiibo.
As a side note, when I first heard about their functionality in Smash, I started thinking about how cool it would be to have them act like an AI buddy in other games, like as a partner in sports games or in games like Mario Kart. Kinda like how the Drivatar was supposed to function in Forza Horizon 2.
I don't even care about the content locked behind them anymore. I got the recent Cloud Amiibo because I thought the whole situation was amusing to me.
Amiibo were a better idea than the WiiU. Which isn't saying much.
To add to that, Mario Sports Superstars Cards were intentionally designed to only work with that game and that game only, as was Shadow Mewtwo. What could have been a great way to collect cards of Mario characters and use them in multiple games got squandered. Badly.
I will still cling on to my dear Daisy amiibo. Here's what it unlocks when you beat an amiibo level in Hey Pikmin.
I am disappointed that Nintendo didn't prepare earlier games for new amiibo, as I had to try and patch the functionality in myself with Yoshi Wii U and Mario Maker.
Working on Mario Tennis next, that one is actually going to be quite challenging...
Missing a few second generation Splatoon ones and the second Super Mario range.
I love them. Working on a wall display for them all.
Nice article.
Amiibo does seem to have settled into a rut, seemed so much more creative at first.
Good luck on your Guardian search
I sometimes look at my amiibo collection and wonder whether I'm a collector or just insane.
They're like a collector's dream and nightmare combined. I still haven't managed to find any of the Zelda anniversary ones (at regular prices).
I don't even really care about the in-game functionality so much (though it can be a nice touch sometimes), I just like the figures.
I hope amiibo continues though as there are still iconic Nintendo characters that have yet to get one, and it would be a crying shame if they never did.
"(Fill in the blank Nintendo product/service) Has Stalled, Because Nintendo is Forgetting What Makes It Special"
FTFY
....you know it's true!
Ok people but what is it now? If Nintendo locks too much content behind amiibos people will complain that it's paid dlc and shouldn't be locked away on a figurine.
And if nintendo only puts cosmetics or little unlockables on them people will complain that they're not worth their money. Nintendo can't be in the right here.
@gatorboi352 I think this is true for amiibo though. So many one time amiibo are releasing nowadays. Do you think the Poochy amiibo will get a use outside Woolly World? What about that squishy Metroid? Shovel Knight?
Heck, my favourite amiibo, Princess Daisy, has no games that she can use her read/write functionality for, because all of them refuse. It's really sad when you think about it.
@ballistic90 I mostly agree. There were some cool unlocks for BotW obviously, but for the most part, I just like the figures for what they are ... figures.
Besides the Fire Emblem amiibo, I don't even own a handful of amiibos, all of which I picked up on a whim, when they were discounted to like 5€ or even less at times.
The Fire Emblem ones I buy and I'll keep buying, because I like the characters, I like the design and I kinda want to show continued support for the series whenever possible. I mean, I wouldn't buy these if they were, say Figmas, because I don't like the characters or the design THAT much, but at like 14€ or so a piece (some I actually got cheaper), it's reasonable to me.
I mean, I have Sideshow, Fariboles, DC and Gecco statues that cost a multitude of all those amiibo I currently own ... to put it differently, without amiibo, I wouldn't own an Fire Emblem figures.
So yeah, I do hope Nintendo will continue to support amiibo and further increase their quality (they've come a long way already) to cater to that 'niche' market, I consider myself part of. Definitely looking forward to Chrome and Tiki for example.
I gotta say though, the fact that you can't really buy Corrin (f/m) in Germany, and that there was not even a way to preorder them e.g. through Amazon ... well, that is disappointing. If the best option for figures like that is to import them from the States or Japan, because that is cheaper than the very limited regional supply, something obvious went totally wrong.
@gatorboi352 If what makes the Switch special is being able to actually buy it, you may be on to something.
@Ensemen To be fair, both arguments are valid to a certain degree, it's a tricky thing to handle. For me though, I'd buy them just for the figurine alone (in fact I keep buying more and more, as long as I can find them at retail price). The in-game functionality is just extra for me.
Yeah after I got Wario, Waluigi, and Boo I'm pretty much done with them. It doesn't help that I don't have a new 3DS to use them on either.
Nintendo forcing you to buy the same character again for a different unlock defeats the original purpose. And not telling you what they do before they go up for pre-order is just yet another scumbag tactic.
Except for the occasional amiibo that I really like, I'm finished buying them. This is mostly because of the recent return to store exclusives. Can't be bothered anymore.
Physical, LIMITED AND POTENTIALLY HARD TO FIND, dlc. Defend away though NDF.
I guess the difficulty is in having the Amiibo offer functionality that's worthwhile without undermining the game proper by gating off content that should have been there from the start. Splatoon was a terrible example of the worst of both worlds, locking out single player challenges that saw the overall out-of-box 1p experience drastically shortened, and only offering some mid tier on-disk dlc that you outgrew very quickly.
If things stay as they are they need to make cheaper amiibo cards of the existing statues available transparently. No blind bag poodledoodlydoo. The only thing the Animal Crossing amiibo got right was the portability of the cards.
I'd still love to see a game that actually uses all the amiibos in some kind of Nintendo universe.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Where you at? This topic was practically made for you!
I bought a kirby amiibo because I like the kirbs, that it gives minor unlocks is a neat little bonus. Problem there is if they were all marketed like that, nobody would pay more than $7.99 for them.
@memoryman3 Sheesh, I can't believe you do this gimmick over here too
I think the way they keep making different variations of the same character is a bit scummy, the player 1 & 2 versions for example are just awful (the recent Bayonetta & Cloud)
Whenever Nintendo reveals a new game these days, you know there's going to be a part at the end of the reveal where Bill Trinen shows off the latest amiibo while grinning like a coked up chipmunk. Not every game needs them....
Amiibo is stalling for same reason every other toys come to life game has stalled: The Toy to life concept is a fad that is finally slowing down.
I mean you know something is going wrong when Disney had to get rid of their toys to life toys and there is no Skylanders announced this year.
The only reason it's stalled in sales, from my perspective, is simply because Nintendo stopped producing them. I hardly ever come across more than a handful of them at stores anymore, and even then I really only see the same old unwanted Animal Crossing ones, and maybe a few Lucinas. Not only do you never find the more interesting ones like the BotW guardian, but you never even see the basic ones that SHOULD be on the shelf pretty much at all times, like Mario and Bowser et al.
To me it just seems like Nintendo can't deal with the stress of maintaining more than one popular product/line at a time.
Over saturation, stealth charge to unlocking full content and a constant supply constraint makes the whole thing too exhausting to be fun getting involved with. Also, (and I have said this before) Amiibo are not toys, they are figures. Only the huge yarn Yoshi resembles a toy. I wish Warhammer 40k would get involved with table top gaming that could interact with a game while you play. That would be toys to life. Amiibo, Skylanders and Disney Infinty are far too cynical. Lego is cool because,again, they are toys also.
Not to mention they keep the ones people actually want retailer exclusives, and that hurts too and only benefit scalping (at least in NOA)
@BAN Exactly. Up until July 21st, my local Target ONLY had some leftover Animal Crossing and Super Mario amiibo, while all the new Zelda amiibo that have been announced over the past year are frustratingly rare.
I just need a Min Min Amiibo in my life. Make it happen, Nintendo! As for the functionality, it won't bother me too much. Make it to just unlock, say... Min Min color schemes for all other characters will be a fun touch. Or they can make it unlock Min Min as the Grand Prix champion. Or do it like Smash Bros, so we can train our Min Min and beat those Twintelle Amiibo!
Come on Nintendo, gimme Min Min, please.
Okay, maybe I should stop with my Min Min obsession. Haha
I think the solution would have been to put rad, special content on amiibo. But then also sell that content for 10$ on the eShop.
That way people can't complain about content being gated, but also supplying a reason to purchase the amiibo.
Or make that dang Disney Infinity/Skylanders type game?!
Amiibo's were created because the Wii U was a disaster, the 3DS was underperforming, and Nintendo had not yet released a mobile game, so they needed some easy profit to make up for the hardships in their core business. Toys-to-life was the easiest answer.
Now that Nintendo's core business has recovered thanks to really good Switch hardware + software + accessories sales and sustained 3DS hardware sales, in addition to a good flow of additional revenue from mobile games like FE Echoes, Amiibo will probably be an afterthought for Nintendo as they continue to shift resources into developing more Switch and mobile software.
Maybe the release of Smash Bros on Switch will result in a decent boost in amiibo sales, but it's clear that the amiibo heyday is over.
I'll probably buy the badass Metroid 2 Samus amiibo, but that's it for me.
I will say the updated amiibo with different unlocks are muddying the waters. I love having multiple Link or Zelda amiibo because I'm a Priestess of Hylia, however they should all do the same thing and the new versions be cosmetic mostly. I felt like they were doing that when they started the Mario series but even that is starting to get out of hand.
@BAN this seems to be a problem with a lot of popular toys. Scalpers buy all the ones they feel will be rare and mark it up 200% on Amazon and Ebay. It is getting out of hand. I was trying to find my son a Usagi Yojimbo figure from TMNT and can never find him but only on Amazon and Ebay for 30+ dollars.
I'm annoyed that they lock so much stuff behing the figurines - I don't want more clutter in my house, so I just have 4 amiibo - 2 I bought, 2 I received as gifts.
They really should sell the content as DLC, at the very least.
If they sold amiibo as cards, I would be willing to collect them, since that doesn't take up so much space.
@Luna_110 As far as I'm aware, not that much is locked behind amiibo, but that's just my opinion. I've yet to play a game with amiibo functionality where I felt cheated for not having an amiibo for it.
I've noticed a lot of stores here in the UK have stopped selling amiibo all together. The reason been I believe is either some just didn't sell that well and were sold of cheaply and the ones that did sell well they could never get hold of anymore stock so just didn't bother, smyths toys been a prime example.
For me and my lad we love Amiibo and will continue to buy the ones we want if we can get them.
We wanted the Botw collection to unlock Epona link's Horse etc whilst I played the game but as we all know they were sold out,now I've finished the game I've managed to get hold of all of them but apart from them looking awesome have no real use. This for me is the most frustrating thing with Nintendo is they can't get enough stock on the popular ranges to meet demand.
Smash was still the best use of amiibo. Back in the Smash days, it was all about grabbing your favourite character and then personalising it through training.
Now, amiibo is mostly used just to unlock content in games. Some of it is cool, like special outfits. But some things they lock behind amiibo are frustrating, such as difficulty levels.
I'd like see the write function being used a lot more in amiibo, so using it in such a way that requires data to be stored on the amiibo instead of it just unlocking things.
"It's slightly odd that demand isn't being met on all of these figures to capitalise on the game's success, but instead it's a case of patiently waiting for occasional (and often brief) restocks at the right price."
Nintendo does this with everything they make. I just don't get it.
A good idea for Nintendo is for them to make a new Animal Crossing game with the same traditional gameplay as the past ones for the Nintendo switch that uses the AC amiibos in a useful way. It may help clear up the overstock they have in so many NA stores. This way they can have room for newer amiibos. Makes it better if it could carry over data from the amiibo festival for the brave, poor souls.
In some cases it's the game that sells the figures.
Once again Nintendo has nobody to blame but themselves. It is the result of their own gross incompetence as a manufacturer that people are shunning BotW amiibos and buying the entire pack of BotW amiibos in tiny NFC cards from China for $15. If Nintendo actually cared to make enough to satisfy demand PEOPLE WOULD BUY THEM FROM NINTENDO. Nobody wants to spend $80 for one amiibo just because Nintendo doesn't give a rip if scalpers take profits away from them for themselves. Nintendo reaps what it sows and I hope they continue to get hurt until they adapt.
I liked this one.
I really hope that they will return to what Smash showed can be done with them.
Then again... I'll buy each of them anyway... so who am I to say anything about it. Im a cash cow
Never really cared for them, don't own a single one. Good fun for those that want to collect them though... might pick a green yarn yoshi one day.
I have a good number of amiibos that I made fight in my own Smash Bros. tournaments. My first one, Peach, eventually became so powerful that neither I nor any of my friends could defeat her, so she became public enemy #1 in my collection. Then I got 8 of them and put them in a tournament, and something amazing happened. My Luigi started destroying fan favorites (to my friends) and quickly became the new top villain, to the point that previous bad guys in my collection, Peach and King Dedede, turned babyface and fought hard against the up-and-coming demon king Luigi as we all cheered on. In the end Luigi won out, but I never thought my own amiibos could turn from evil to good.
I was given many amiibos as presents by friends and loved ones because "You like Nintendo, have some figurines!" I had about 20 before I even got a Wii U game that used them: Super Smash and Hyrule Warriors. Then my wife saw all the BOTW amiibos on sale and snatched them up for me. Still don't quite approve of amiibos, but I won't say no to chests raining from the sky, lol.
I'm fine with whatever kind of unlocks are on offer (and much as I love SSB and BotW examples, they're pretty much a toys-to-life investment - one it wouldn't be entirely fair to chastise Nintendo for not pushing harder when other entities in the related market have been put out to pasture one after another). But I tend to invest only in characters I like, both my monthly income and the local availability (like with games and hardware, no one but maybe eBay or AliExpress scal- uh, resellers would bother shipping an amiibo to Belarus) set their own limits on top of that. And stock issues are certainly my key concern in assessing the whole "physical DLC" aspect. Whereof stem fancies and ideas I feel torn about - for instance, it's neat to imagine Nintendo using amiibo to unlock entire character-themed dungeons/levels per game, but if it happens and the stock isn't up to snuff? Hay, how can it even STAY up to snuff regardless of restocks? I reckon a digital store contenr has better potential longevity and accessibility (license expiry cases aside) than a range of figurines. But duplicating the content digitally might shave a layer of uniqueness off the figurine in question (granted, there are IPs like the upcoming Starlink that seem fine with this) while keeping it purely "physical DLC" might make certain additional content not just tricky to buy, but even eventual vaporware of sorts. Ouch indeed.
Selling collectible figures is fine, but I hate that they use them as extortion for people who don't want the figures but want access to the "on disk" DLC.
If they would sell the Amiibo "on disk" DLC separately per game at a discounted price (compared to the Amiibo) all that would be solved, but nope.
I have one single Amiibo, Lottie from Animal Crossing, but I'd LOVE to have more. Those Link anniversary ones are quite nice to look at. Sadly though, where I live the Amiibos are pretty scarce to downright impossible to find.
I am missing 5 Smash Bros. amiibo to complete my collection and I have the two Samus Returns amiibo on preorder. After I've got those 7, I'm pretty much retiring from collecting them. It's just been so much damn money lol.
I really dislike this amiibo thing. I hope it will blow away eventually... but hey fans keeping it alive though
This is hardly a recent thing. Amiibo is more about selling toy figures than the original idea of toy-to-life figures that work across multiple games. Most Amiibo only do anything special in 1 or 2 games, and offer pitiful bonuses in anything else. It's even more absurd when you realize that Nintendo made a game dedicated to amiibo, but also decided it would only be compatible with the then new Animal Crossing amiibo set.
The reason this has happened is simple, and hardly surprising. Nintendo publishes a lot of games. It would be a lot of work to create interesting and worthwhile content for all amiibo in every single Nintendo game. Instead, it is far cheaper for Nintendo to lock something in a game behind a few amiibo at most, and then move on to the next game and amiibo set.
@Luna_110 Clutter. Nailed it
Precisely why amiiqo, n2 elite also sells out. One of the best purchases ever.
I've been a Nintendo fan lifelong so for me it's more about collecting them as a figure and sitting them on a shelf , I have used some of them for their intended purpose regardless I hope Nintendo keeps making them love them and for me it's fun just trying to collect them all it is almost an impossible task LoL but a fun task none the less.
@jaymacx In this case I think it's a mix of scalper greed and Nintendo's ambivalence/indifference toward market equilibrium.
I don't own any because I don't really want a bunch of plastic figures. It seems kiddie to me and out of place in my home. I think I would be embarrased to display them. They would have to go in a box and I don't have room for more clutter. If you are a kid I think it's great but as was pointed out they arent even toys.
Amiibo are basically collector figurines that also happen to have another function, rather than your traditional NFC videogame figure.
If Nintendo had made an open world game that utilised them well, they'd have done much better out of it.
@Exy LoL I laughed so hard when I read your comment I think you found the best way to use amiibo.
I think the added weapons, Link costumes, and other cool goodies were well worth it in BoTW.
I enjoy them as they're relatively cheap and well made. I'm not sure what more you expect for $13.
SCamiibo have more than stalled, they're at Deaths door and I couldn't be happier. They're a rotten scourge on the gaming industry as are all toys to life. They're just another way to bleed yet more money from already paying customers. It's another form of DLC. It shouldn't be accepted or tolerated.
What about other countries amiibo? The Japanese ones are very cheap and very easy to find, for example the Link amiibo.
@Agent721 The thing is there's 18 compatible Zelda amiibo in BOTW(and don't forget the 4 Champions coming soon, making it 22). Let's just say they're €15 each when in reality some are much more than that and some aren't even available to buy. That's €270 for that paywalled content. Is the content worth €270? I don't think so. It's not just $13.
And what's more, there's no alternative for people who don't want the clutter of toys or can't find them or buy them at a reasonable price. Some of the content is really low, like locking the Twilight Bow, a weapon already in the game behind a SCamiibo. Or some like the Bokoblin unlock nothing useful in BOTW. Or for that matter, what good is the Bokoblin for any game?
https://miiverse.nintendo.net/posts/AYMHAAADAAADV44Mrpu8uA
It's alright for me as I have it all. But others are well annoyed.
Ubisoft, with their new game, Starlink: Battle for Atlas, at least are making all the content available without the toys, the toys are just an extra for those who like them. If Nintendo had done this, I probably wouldn't have been so bitter towards SCamiibo.
And Nintendo have been extremely lazy and pratts with them in other games. Take Mario Party 10 for example. You buy the game, only to find out that you need to buy an amiibo for each corresponding board of each character. This is content on the disc that you payed for but is locked behind amiibo. Disgraceful!
Or how about the laziness of the second wave of Splatoon SCamiibo? Nintendo were so stingy, they wouldn't even fork out for new moulds and instead all they did was change the colour of the 3 main characters. SMH.
I had to bow out of collecting them when they started charging $30-36 a pop at the regular retail here in Sweden.
You know something is wrong when it's cheaper to import from Japan, shipping and tax included.
"The amiibo idea was born as a platform to enhance games, making the experience that bit more creative and fun”.
Oh come on. It was born as a cynical way to eke more money out of customers. The less DLC toys there are and the less content locked behind them the better, especially as even if you consent to being gouged that way a lot of them are hard to find.
I hope that my Dr Mario Amiibo will unlock a doctor costume for Mario in the game. I have always wanted to play as Dr Mario but I'm not a big fan of puzzle games.
For sure they will not give extra lives since there will be no lives at all in the game
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I hope your Shovel Knight heard you and you're up all night mopping up his tears. For shame!
Since Smyths have stopped selling them, they've become near impossible to find if you're not sat next to the computer 24/7 for a preorder. I refuse to pay £30 for Bayonetta amiibo.
Plus Nintendo is running out of characters people know, and they've had trouble coming up with inventive ways of using them in games beyond costumes. I still think the only saviour for amiibo is a game like skylanders which makes our massive collections worthwhile and gives Ninty to bring out new poses of the rarer Smash ones.
@nunberry You know I have Shovel Knight, right? He's not allowed out of his cage though. He'd just wreck the garden, digging holes everywhere.
What makes no sense to me is that they lock content behind two identical amiibo of the same character. I thought that having one for each franchise would be enough for unlocking content... Guess not.
I actually love having my amiibo around the house I always take at least one with me traveling.
Never really got into Amiibo because the figures don't really do anything interesting. I got the Wolf Link Amiibo for BotW, but that's it, no other game I'm interested in utilizes them in a constructive manner.
@Priceless_Spork kinda agree with @TruenoGT. As an owner of almost every amiibo released so far (save for one final Smash and the few Zeldas), I feel I can say that the "on disk content" people who complain they're missing out on is arguably negligble.
Games that made them a requirement towards "crucial" content would bundle a figure already (MP10, Amiibo Festival, Yoshi WW, Twilight Princess HD, Chibi-Robo 3DS, etc). Most of the other stuff were simply either buffs or bonuses that you could beat the game without, or are cosmetic additions that does nothing for the completion percentage.
That said, I do agree with the lament that it'd be great if Nintendo offered an option to access content without amiibo, but as it stands, I feel like people are raising a lot of a fuss over something that dwarfs in comparison to the content already available in most games.
But more power to them as they're competing with the folks clamoring that they wish that amiibo did MORE exclusive stuff.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Don't you ever said Scamiibo again !
I still need some specific Amiibo cards for my Animal Crossing New Leaf Welcome Amiibo 3DS !
And also some specific Amiibos for Miitopia !
Let's face it, amiibo never did anything all that special. If anything they do more now than they ever did, even if most of the content is just the 'unlocks'
Nintendo should change their policy like this :
Instead of releasing figurine like Amiibo, better release them in card form, make it universal for Wii U / 3DS / Switch for saving data even the Amiibo are not compatible with specific games. Card form is Cheaper and easier to be stacked and carried.
Imo, its less about "minor unlocks" and more about general availability.
Ive met more people who are p*ssed off about the fact that pretty much every amiibo, no matter how mundane, is a collectors item pretty much before its even released.
It locks several people out of game content not only because they may not want to buy it, but also because they flat out can't.
And the limited stock does not allow for much fund-management either.
You either buy them all on pre-order, or you're screwed.
There is no "Oh, i'll get that one when i have a little more money to spend".
From all the people i've talked to, that is usually reason #1 they are fed up with this nonsense.
Its physical Pre-Order DLC. If you don't get it ASAP, its gone.
It's baffling why Nintendo hasn't tackled this. Why is there no official supply-on-order online store. Why is there no general card option you can precisely buy like, say, store credit.
Heck, why isn't there a subscription model ?
There are people willing to shell out insane sums of money to buy a monthly magazine with a single part of a model plane.
Gimme that for amiibos.
Or for all i care, slap a 5er onto the monthly subscription fee for the online services and give me amiibo DLC.
Something of an alternative to tackle the abhorrent supply issues.
@Anti-Matter SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo! SCamiibo!
cant ffffffffffff find them to buy them. End story will never buy any again.
Nintendo our Amiibo sales are down. Well heres a tip muppets bloody make some. Everyone want BOTW Amiibo what do we get oh wait another wave that no one can bloody get hold of.
Bangs heid against wall
There's so many Amiibo I want but I know ill probably never get. Wolf Link has the coolest function out of all the amiibo.
I dont like owning something less than a full game. And that's how I see it. In this case I have to buy a stupid plastic doll. Excessive DLC is why I wont get Fire Emblem. But I really don't want to argue this. I've done it before. Forcing me to buy DLC/extra stuff after I paid for the game to have the complete experience IS like bending me over as far as I'm concerned.
I hadn't even thought of that, but it is pretty ridiculous that the Smash Samus has different unlocks than the M:SR Samus. Also ridiculous: the unlocks for M:SR are the kinds of things that are normally included WITHOUT requiring amiibo.
I don't own any and i'm not really interested on the in-game content they unlock.
But i admit i would like to get the Callie and Marie ones just for collection, they are pretty cute. Aside from that, meh.
For what they are, they need to be mass produced cheap pocket money sinks, not precious collectable treasures drawing the ebay entrepreneurs. Zelda sold how many million? Did they make that many Amiibo so everyone could unlock the content? Rubbish. If Amiibo were everywhere, and a couple of quid instead of 12, then everyone would be happy and who knows, might actually take them out of the box Cards are a cheaper alternative, but the gambling nature of random cards is less romantic than 'toys to life'. Many have said before, let people buy the cosmetic changes as dlc. Anyhoo, they add to the game so they at the very least need to be as prevalent as the accompanying game. Heck, throw in a piece of bubble gum and a trading card in the packet while we are at it.
Nintendo need to restore functionality to the amiibo. Games like Smash Bros., Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, and Splatoon 2, all give the amiibo a purpose, asides from just unlocking stuff. In the first two, they unlocked NPCs to play with/against, and in Splatoon 2, it allows you to save a loadout of clothes/weapon/controls, along with unlocking gear.
We need more examples like that.
My biggest complaint about Super Mario Maker. Locking costumes behind the extremely unfair, unforgiving, and rather tedious & laborious (skipping bad levels or getting stuck) Expert and Super Expert modes is horrible. For me, torturous, not fun. Takes too long as well.
At least allow them to unlock on Normal. Maybe higher difficulties could unlock multiple at once.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Ahhh, thanks. I knew you wouldn't disappoint me.
I have like 20ish amiibo and I like them for the figures not the function of it, although sometimes I do use them like in BOTW and I also trained all my amiibo in Smash (that I could). I don't understand why people buy all the amiibo but some, especially the LoZ series, make great decoration.
@Kalmaro I do my best.
@Paddle1 You could unlock them on Normal...
EDIT: Yes, I know there was a limit, before the game would force you to use the other difficulties (including Easy)...
The worst part is still, the shortages. You can't buy what's not there.
I don't want to buy DLC months later after I finished the game twice over.
Personally, I think sales have stagnated because virtually everyone who was interested now has the Amiibo they wanted. Hear me out for a sec - I'm not talking about true blue collectors. I'm referring to myself and a couple of others who would have been in it just for a single figure for themselves that they liked, or a gift for a friend/family member's birthday, or just an impulse buy one day. Once the Amiibo is in their hands, they're satisfied and nothing on the planet can persuade them to double dip, let alone triple dip.
Ness is one of my fave Nintendo characters - so I grabbed him.
Pikachu to represent my love of all things Pokemon.
Kirby for its delightful series and throwback to being my best character in Brawl.
Inkling Boys of both Splatoon 1 & 2 - Splatoon awesomeness.
And I intend on grabbing Bayonetta - because its Bayonetta and her games are awesome. C'mon.
Outside of this little list, I honestly can't find another reason to grab any more. Particularly since their functionality across many Nintendo games have fallen by the wayside. With Xenoblade Chronicles X, I guess I got a little bit carried away in hoping scanning an Amiibo into the game would spawn a Nintendo character as a temporary party member or something. So it would have been Mario trailing along behind your character as you ran across the fields, or Bowser following in your wake as you swam across a lake (hey, that rhymed!). But I get that each of them having their own movesets, characteristics and gear would be a bit much just for being from Amiibo. The added costs for making that game a reality would be so brutal...
Ah well, a guy can dream...
I've never gotten into Amiibo because it has ALWAYS been minor unlocks that definitely aren't worth the price tag.
Smash did amiibo right. Besides that, they're basically negligible-- all they do is unlock a couple tiny things. They're just not worth it. It really is a lose-lose situation.
Agree. I still buy them though, not all of them like the Splatoon2 ones or the Mario Series except Koopa, Gomba and Boo. Functionality has decline a lot and now all they do is unlock stuff when before that you could train with them, level up and stuff. Amiibo can be a successful platform if they put the effort on it but they really don't seem to care much.
@Ichiban
I politely disagree. I currently have 5 different Link amiibo(6 if you count Wolf Link and Midna amiibo) and would easily have 3 more if I had been able to pre order the MM, TP and SS amiibo before they ran out.
I have the Bowser amiibo and already pre ordered the Mario Odyssey Bowser amiibo. And I have both versions of Cloud. I guess what I'm getting at is that Nintendo easily have characters that can be reproduced but in varying ways that still makes them feel unique. But I may be in the minority, so what do I know?
If they made different Ganondorf amiibo I would buy those too.
They should stop locking DLC away through amiibo and just sell these things primarily as miniature statues. Most people just buy these as collectibles anyways. They could charge more and people could have cooler Nintendo decorations.
I wanna see amiibo warriors, where you need an amiibo to unlock the character in the game
@ThatNyteDaez This actually happened in Codename: STEAM. If you scanned one of the Fire Emblem amiibo, it unlocked that character in STEAM. It was by far the coolest function I'd seen for amiibo. Unfortunately I never found any of the FE amiibo until long after I stopped playing Steam, and - going back to your first point - I honestly don't much care for Roy or Ike as characters or figurines, so I never really looked too hard.
I got the Link and Zelda 30th anniversary amiibos just for collection purposes. Ended up disappointed on how useless they are in most games.
Eh I still buy the ones I want.
Still need
R.O.B.
Anniversary Classic Mario
Yarn Poochie
Fox
Bayonetta
Callie
Marie
And the pink animal crossing llama
Unlike my Skylanders, they're pretty much useless, but they sure are pretty and I don't regret the ones I have.
I really just want to see a free game built around amiibos. A massive nintendo fan service style game in the vein of animal crossing mixed with sim city with various unlocks and whatnot. There's massive potential for an amazing Disney Infinity style game (that's actually good and not super buggy) that combines all of nintendo's franchises into a compelling game.
I have all the current amiibo, save BoxBoy and Skyward Sword Link, and the three Splatoon 2 figures, and those are currently all on-order to deliver (taking a bit longer than, say, the Monster Hunter amiibo which I also had to order).
It's my one big collection. Totally worthwhile.
...What decline? Minor unlocks and collectible DLC is all that amiibo has ever been. It's never had any real importance like the connector accessories of Nintendo's past, such as the GB-N64 Transfer Pak, GCN-GBA Connection, DS-Wii Downloads & Uploads, etc. It's always been just a fad to attempt to capitalize on a trend. It was never going to hold any lasting importance in the long term. It's all about the short term, just like every other collectible craze. It will go down the same path as Disney Infinity into oblivion soon enough. Physically locked DLC figurines are horribly anti-consumer.
@V0LuG
Part of the idea there is to give folks who weren't able to get the amiibo of Link during the Smash run another chance to get Epona and the Twilight outfit, etc.
@buildz I meant all of them. You just get random costumes on Easy and Normal and the rest are locked behind Expert. I've managed to complete Expert 3 times and Super Expert 0 times. I'm never getting them all. Not to mention the corresponding amiibo are likely nowhere to be found even if I did want to do it that way. They're completely inaccessible to me.
Why did Nintendo flood the market with AC Amiibo, but won't meet demand for any Zelda related Amiibo? Their strategy makes no sense.
I also maintain that Amiibo need a central hub game on Switch to drive demand and interest. A Nintendo-U RPG would be amazing
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
You make a very valid point and you're right. That is too much. I sometimes forget that not everyone can spend that sort of dough. Never thought how it all adds up.
My apologies as well for my earlier comment in another story, which was rude and uncalled for.
Cheers to you.
@buildz @CrazedCavalier Why not just have all that content which is locked behind the amiibo be built-in features for their respective games? e.g. Smash 4, what's the point of locking each character's leveling NPC behind a specific physical object, when it could all just be data that can be transferred between systems using one generic transfer tool? Like Nintendo systems in the past did?
Im finally done with the Smash line. I collect Fire Emblem Amiibo otherwise - after all, it's not like FE has a whole lot of options when it comes to collectibles for the franchise. Others I'll pick up if I see a decent sale. I gave up on finding most Zelda ones :/
@wiggleronacid What you said. It's fine to make quality crafted figurines with no gimmicks involved. Just don't lock content away in them, and don't try to make them into a craze.
There are just too many, plain and simple. It was cool when there was one Link, not eleven. Now collecting all of them feels like an expensive, unachievable chore rather than something fun and doable when it was just the Smash line and a few others like Splatoon Wave 1 and the Mario set.
I am utterly baffled by everything Nintendo do. I can't begin to think what they talk about at board meetings. There is a lot of anger towards them on a wide level and they just ignore it.
The nes mini, the sne's mini, the vc for the last few years, amiibos released and sold out for the duration of breath of the wild's release. The price of switch accessories; NFC cards of amiibos selling hand over fist on eBay- which they could make- Mario run's content/pricing and being online only... it goes on and on.
I have never known a company make so many decisions like this but they keep doing it.
Like I say- it utterly baffles me.
@Anguspuss totally agree with you- as a company they are now driving me to the edge of insanity. We'll send you an email for a preorder. Go to preorder- all gone within ten mins. How can a pre-order be gone? Surely the whole point with a pre order system is to make sure that you make one for everyone who ore orders. Not make ten and let them battle over them on eBay. Buying small pieces of plastic shouldn't be this hard.
@Mando44646 do they actually have a strategy?
@marandahir I was referring to things like the two Samus amiibos, which look almost identical and give different bonuses. I can understand the BoTW case because after all they are all Link's outfist, just from the different games.
@iNintendo fan service 😂 What like the snes mini as a thank you/apology for the nes mini and then it's the same situation as last time but actually worse. Nintendo know nothing about their fans at all.
If it means I might be able to actually buy them at retail price, I'm fine with sales dropping.
I think where amiibo fail is that they don't have a "home" game based around them. The closest we've seen is Smash, which worked pretty well. Other toys-to-life franchises always have a game that the figures are specifically for, but amiibo do not. There's no one big "amiibo" game that's built around using the figures. It's very fragmented.
Of course, in theory, that's good. It means your figures are going to work across multiple games, rather than only be used for a single experience. But in practice, it creates a catch-22 that Nintendo can't escape. Tie too much content to amiibo and those who don't have the figures will be upset. Don't tie enough content to them and now folks will complain that the toys are pointless.
Skylanders, Disney and LEGO all found their audiences by tying the toys directly into the experience of a specific game. Granted, the argument for why the toys were necessary at all is a bit flimsy, but you know exactly what you're getting into if you decide to buy in.
Without a main experience built around them, I think amiibo will continue to flounder.
:/ I took a step back today when I realized the total price for the amiibo I want to buy+pre-order reached 90 USD lol
I still want to get more games before getting amiibo but darn I know all the amiibo I want will be gone in 3 days.
edit: you know what, I double checked it. It actually exceeded 160 USD..... y-a-y
For me, the unlocks are just a bonus. I buy them because I think they look awesome and I love displaying them.
It is fun to use their functionality, but if you're buying them just for that, then I feel a bit sorry for you.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Don't ever change bro.
Well everyone wants different things from amiibo and I think Nintendo had to make a decision about what exactly amiibo will do. They are definitely toys to me, no matter how I look at it. They hold more value than just a normal figurine though because they actually do something, no matter how mundane that is. If they do too much, people complain and become unhappy. If they don't do enough, people will feel like they aren't that useful. Comparing how amiibo has worked between Splatoon 1 and 2, it's kind of obvious which direction they think is better for their amiibo to keep all the fans happy. What made amiibo special was the idea that they were useful, not that they particularly were useful. When you get over the novelty of them, of course sales will drop.
The moment they sorted the stock issues with the Smash line, the panic to collect or scalp them pretty much dropped. People felt less needy to get them as they were in stock everywhere while scalpers could no longer profit off of them. I only have a good deal of the Animal Crossing figures because Amazon were practically given them away last summer.
Granted, the Zelda sets are currently being scalped but I think people know Nintendo will restock those eventually (More BOTW amiibo have been restocked lately, only a matter of time before those anniversary ones are as well.), not to mention people are making amiibo cards anyway so have less need to hunt for that Link amiibo just for Epona and maybe other unlocks.
I'll still collect them, but I'm not buying a whole set/wave at once like the Smash series. Now that I have the Smash series in full, I can slowly make my way through the other sets 1 amiibo at a time. The high in demand ones? I'll wait and order 1 at a time thank you....
Loving my 18 card collection for BotW that I picked up for under $30. I can happily scan away and store them in an area smaller than the base of an amiibo figure. Moral gray area of course, but i'm not losing any sleep over it. Make your products easier to find at retail price, and I'll quit looking for better alternatives, Nintendo.
@Ensemen
Yeah, that's a good point. It kinda stinks that people don't know what they want with amiibo content and will complain either way. As for me, I have a decent amiibo collection that will continue to grow. I love the little things.
I really liked amiibo when they started they way they did in Smash. Having a personal little AI sparring partner that would learn as you played it was an awesome "hey this groovy little figurine looks cool AND this extra effect" kind of product.
Now amiibo have gone to "okay so I need to buy this amiibo and these other two if I want to get such and such item unlocked" It feels too much like a preorder bonus, only worse. Plus, they continue to have stock issues with certain ones and are still continuing retailer exclusives as well. It just feels too dishonest and anti consumer for me to personally continue investing them.
@NicolausCamp This is precisely my outlook. I shudder to think how much I've spent on my amiibo collection--but the same is true of my video game collection, my anime collection, my manga collection, my fantasy and science fiction novel collection (especially those I had to basically get rid of for pest control purposes a few years ago 😢), and my AV system, which currently has four consoles actively connected. Figurine collection is simply a natural nerd hobby that I gladly partake in, and I choose amiibo because I honestly like Nintendo's cast of characters more than other casts of characters, like Marvel's or Star Wars'; functionality is simply a bonus.
As for the functionality, given the nature of fandom Nintendo is in a damned-if-they-do etc. position; no functionality and people complain they are useless trinkets, too much and people complain too much content is locked away. The problem is there is no middle ground; there is no amount of content that will satisfy most people. By the time there is enough content to satisfy the people who want functionality the people who don't wish to collect have long been complaining that too much content is locked away; the middle ground is where everyone is complaining, whether too much or too little. Just read this comment thread. Or go to Eurogamer.net, where they misleadingly reported about what was amiibo-exclusive in Samus Returns and suggested that some of what is unlocked upon completing the game can only be unlocked by the four Metroid amiibo. The comments are full of the sort of righteous indignation that only comes from thinking you've found proof that what you want to believe is true, rather than either knowing the truth of the situation or seeking it out.
The irony (or an irony; I'm sure there are many) is that if Nintendo charged standard DLC prices for what amiibo unlock, it would very quickly approach what they charge for amiibo. People would still complain, of course; but the figurines themselves aren't quite the SCam some people would have you believe. (NB: that isn't witty, has never been, and does not get one iota wittier when it's repeated.)
I think the main problem with Amiibo is that they're kind of... too late. Like, they would have been cooler before online and so much easy portability. Say, for example, a Pokéball Amiibo that you can save your team to and then take it with you and use it to battle friends. Sounds awesome right?! Well, it would be, except nowadays we have portable systems and online. If you have a 3DS, why use the Amiibo if you can just keep your 3DS in your pocket? If you have a Switch, well, same issue. The only case where I can see this coming in handy is with something like the Wii U, where you can't easily take it with you places. Thing is the Wii U is dead now...
Saving a Mario Maker level to an Amiibo or using an Animal Crossing Amiibo as a suitcase, for example, are two more ideas rendered obsolete with the portability of current Nintendo systems. Mario Maker levels can be shared via local wireless/online, and Animal Crossing can also be played together via local wireless/online.
DLC should be accessible to everyone not just when/if a store has some figurines. But that's business now, too bad.
@Kalmaro You have to look around if you want to start collecting now for a decent price. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Amiibo-bundle-All-NOA-version-none-imported/322618240736
I never got any. Was thinking about it during playing smash but decided not to. And I still don't regret not getting any. They barely do anything worthwhile in games and I don't want a lot of collectibles around.
Yeah, or just nobody cares anymore. They are cool and look nice, but i have enough stuff already, they dont do enough to warrant the purchase and then i dont want to take them out the packaging.
My amiibos are painted by little gremlins. The detailing is sloppy and not percise. Why waist your money with them buy a game instead.
A great article. I'm new to Amiibo and don't have any yet. I love the idea of them, but at £15 a go I don't see the major benefit to me right now. The figures are cool, but I don't want to spend hundreds on figures and not get anything in return.
The idea of them was great, but if you can't keep up with demand, and most games don't support them, its going to fail and that is a shame. All i wanted was the Cloud Amiibos, but no, when the preorder came up they sold out in 2 hours.
@memoryman3
Surprised they didn't update Mario Party 10 to support the other amiibos like Daisy.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
Don't you have to get one of the DLC packs to unlock Hard Mode on Breath of the Wild? Sounds like Nintendo are "scamming" us without the help from the amiibos.
Never got into the amiibo craze. Own just one amiibo that came with the super mario maker wii u console. Still in its box.
I have 3 amiibos mostly for Super Mario Maker. I'd like to see amiibo with 8-bit game built-in: dr mario, zelda, metroid... missed oppoturnity here.
I've still got my Kirby Amiibo in their boxes they just look really good in the packaging. I've been using my Splatoon Amiibo again this week and Link.
The Animal Crossing/Sanrio cards were awesome . Those really got me back into AC again after a bit of a hiatus.
@jaymacx
I feel your Usagi related pain. That whole series is usually sold out. Even getting a hold of each turtle wouldn't be easy at retail. 😥
@BinaryFragger "Nintendo gets away with it" yeah no..
just look at this comment section for a start
I just buy the handful I like the looks of, and don't think too much about what they do in game. It's served me well so far. I don't spend too much on Amiibos but have a collection I'm happy with. The two latest Metroid ones are the best that've come out for a while. It does seem the content locked behind Amiibos in the 3DS Metroid game is the most sever yet though. You have to complete the game AND have the Amiibo to access some of it! That's a bit extreme.
I would still like a couple of the BOTW Amiibo (Bokoblin and Guardian), but I've not seen them at the RRP since they came out.
@RedMageLanakyn i got same set. great compact & came in great plastic holder
@Fandabidozi unfortunately i gave in and bought the Usagi off of Amazon. As for the Turtles (Samurai), I was able to get everyone at Walmart. I still cannot find Muckman and Tiger claw (w/ Robe) at retail.
People complain about Amiibo availability but at least you can preorder them unlike most toys. Lego dimensions has so much stock it probably turns people away because it doesn't seem popular.
Maybe Nintendo can make a great game that focuses just on Amiibo like other toys to life franchises.
Smash Bros. amiibo were super popular.
Now it's the Zelda amiibo that are super popular.
There might be an overall decline, but not with the Zelda amiibo. These are strong sellers everywhere I look, even with bumped up prices.
I really wanted the toon link amibo but in the UK the asking price was between £50 -£70 which is not reasonable. In the end I bought it from a company in Japan for £20.00 incl post and packaging. it took 2 weeks to arrive.
A good deal all around.
@RadioShadow cc @SLIGEACH_EIRE
I like the Botw DLC. It's a lot of content, and I actually hope there's more coming up next year. But I dont want to be collecting toys just to be able to enjoy fully my games. That's the big difference.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE I have to agree. I've played BOTW and there are some cool items that I would like that I can't have unless A) I buy a ton of Amiibo's and B) I can even find them at a reasonable price in the first place.
Locking shipped content behind pay walls is bad but what is even worse is making them limited edition (again) so that you either have to persistantly pre-order everything or get scalped.
I don't have a problem with people wanting collectibles but having real game content locked in them that is then pretty much unavailable is ridiculous. A season pass is one thing (not that I'm a fan) but at least it is a one off cost.
I hope this whole thing does really start to die out as it has for Disney.
Toys to life are in decline generally. If Nintendo met demand and provided some cool, whacky incentives to pick them up, we'd be in a different position today. The problem lies in Nintendo's current stubbornness to loosen it's purse strings a little and invest in stock. They are hyper tight just now.
meanwhile
I'm looking forward to Mario Odyssey's Amiibos.
And when they start making more switchs. (still waiting here)
I really don't see Amiibo as a paywall for the small amount of content they unlock. The content is best considered a bonus, the main selling point for me is the attractive characters - so I just buy the ones I like. I would buy Link Archer, but most LoZ Amiibos are out of stock in the UK and the scalpers are out in force.
I'd buy more if the ones I want were available at all and at a price that is affordable. I want Breath of the Wild amiibo and can only find them for 40+€ for example
I have a few amiibo. I have a few Legend of Zelda ones, the only line I'm trying to complete. I also have both Cloud and Bayonetta versions because I like the characters. And then I got the orange Inkling girl for Splatoon and the pink Inkling girl for Splatoon 2. That's it. I'm not after all the unlockable stuff in every game. I will probably get the 3 pack for Super Mario Odyssey because I like the wedding variants and the upcoming Samus one. Other than that, I don't care right now.
Never bought one. Never will.
@FantasiaWHT Respect.
After a strong start as collector I'd only buy Fire Emblem Amiibos now.
@FantasiaWHT
"Never bought one. Never will."
This.
Amiibo usage is bad either way.
If too much is locked to Amiibo, most people will hate it.
If its too little locked to Amiibo. Most Amiibo purchasers will also complain.
Amiibo's is only overpriced paid hardware DLC.
I own 20-30 amiibo's myself, but got most on sale.
I like the idea, but... I got an Isabelle figure but I don't really think it's that great. Her feet are buried 3 inches into the stand, her pose makes her look like she's about to fall over forwards and her muzzle is the wrong colour.
@Anguspuss Nice! I didn't get a plastic case, but I found an extra SD card holder that holds them nicely
I just ordered the my first Amiibo, link archer ready for Skyrim and Breath of the Wild Guardian from the UK Nintendo store, I just checked and the Guardian are no longer in stock but where 2 days ago, Guess I got lucky, although I am not sure why I bought the Guardian, I'm not a collector. It just looked good and thought I would have link face it off on a shelf. Hope they are display quality
@DiscoDriver44
It wasn't a fad. Fads don't last a full decade and still going.
The issue has been oversaturation. Disney stopped making figures because there were 4 major players in the market, 3 of whom were releasing incredibly large lines of toys and repeating those lines every single year.
And that's why it's slowed down for Nintendo. They went hung ho after Smash, with 20 Animal Crossing amiibo that didn't even have a solid game to work with. That's when people started losing interest.
That said, amiibo are still selling millions and millions every year. May not be as strong as it was but they're still a hotly demanded item, and with a recent string of very nice amiibo- Splatoon 2, Bayonetta, Corrin, Cloud, Samus and Metroid, Chrom and Tiki, I think interest is increasing again. Certain is for me.
@letsplay I don't mean to be rude, but you really should consider changing your avatar. The tsunami shown isn't something to be sensationalized or laughed at. So many people lost everything, to include life.
I love the way they function in Smash Bros and how Wolf Link links TP and BOTW, but locking basic content behind them sucks. It'd be less of a problem if the distribution was better - I've had to search far and wide to complete my Zelda collection.
I was disappointed when I scanned my Lucina amiibo into "Fire Emblem Fates" only to get essentially a skinned Streetpass hit (which was poorly implemented itself in the game). Why couldn't I have had Lucina added to my army like you could with so many of the past heroes in "Awakening"?!
I'm still hoping for a Nintendo Infinity, Nintendo Dimensions or Ninlanders game that uses the amiibos like those games do.
"As for me, I'll keep an eye out for a Breath of the Wild Guardian at its recommended retail price..."
After months of looking for this one, my wife and I came across one today when we casually strolled into an EB Games. She jumped up and screamed and steadfastly 'guarded' it while we waited for an employee to come by and unlock it from the shelf. Haven't felt that happiness with an amiibo for awhile, so this was a treat today.
The figures are nice (especially the Splatoon line) but I do wish they'd just done standard DLC instead of locking content behind rare collectable figures. I only buy the ones that have content I want or are characters I particularly like.
Guys, I have the best idea for something cool Nintendo can do with amiibo! So you know how in the OG Smash Bros., all the fighters are toys brought to life? Well Nintendo should release smash 64 for free on the switch, but you need amiibos to unlock the fighters! Maybe...? I think it would be cool.
I feel like these will be up and down in long cycles of years. Some years might have a bunch of games that don't really require them - other years there's hot titles that specifically fit 'em. Like when the next Smash comes out, or another Zelda.
@OrigamiSquirtle Or maybe a 64 stage and its playable character?
@Dang69 Yeah, even better.
Never been worth the money.
I mainly just collected ones I cared for. I've used for Mario Maker and Zelda Switch and only found somewhat good use with Zelda. There are still some I wish they would make, but only for collecting purposes. Like an 8-bit King Koopa and few others.
I would collect amiibos if i could get them in one place, cheaper in bundles and maybe some limitations on how many new one come per year.
No surprise, the whole toys to life concept is waning. Personally I don't have a single Amiibo (even if some do look pretty cool). They are faaaaar to expensive, there are faaaaaar to many, I don't have the space for them and I hate that they lock content behind Amiibo (for example, the extra Picross 3D round 2 puzzles). I probably never get Amiibo, unless I find some very cool ones that are dead-cheap (maybe).
I think they went a bit over the top with it, and left themselves with two major issues.
1. Too many games only have unique functionality with one or two games... too many games are coming out with their own amiibo that have unique functionality, and leaving existing amiibo with generic functionality... they should make better use of existing amiibo, rather than continuously adding more.
2. Certain characters have too many amiibo variations, and their functionality is too inconsistent... they work exactly the same in some games, meaning you only ever need to have one amiibo of that character for that game... while in other games they each have their own unique functionality, meaning you have to have all of them in order to get the full functionality out of them... it's just overcomplicating the decision to purchase them.
For AC, I wish you could use the amiibo to transfer gifts or items to other players towns. Or in other games how about powerups with cool down times.
@V0LuG And yet these are from different games. Samus' model in Smash Bros is based upon her Varia Suit appearance in Other M.
Samus' model in Samus Returns is based off of the box-art from Metroid II: Return of Samus – which originated the bulky Varia Suit design and is more orange than it is in Other M and Smash.
@marandahir I understand the appeal, and I've been very close to buying it. But I can't help but feel a bit cheated out by Nintendo because it is essentially the same character in a diferent pose.
What Nintendo sorely needs are more games that use the read/write function in engaging and compelling ways. Fire Emblem Echoes was a step in the right direction, but ultimately fails because only the Alm and Celica amiibo are worth any use later in the game specifically because of their exclusive read/write function.
Mario and & Luigi: Paper Jam's support doesn't get talked about much, but it has charmingly simple read/write support that made it feel like your amiibo was another member of your party.
I really wish we had more amiibo support like Smash that essentially lets you play multiplayer with your amiibo. How cool would it be to have your Mario series amiibo play Scarescraper mode in Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon with you, or have your Legend of Zelda series amiibo function as partners in Triforce Heroes, Splatoon 2 and a load of other Nintendo games with multiplayer?
Read functions can be compelling too. I loved Twilight Princess' amiibo support for Link, Zelda, and Ganondorf. Samus Returns is getting a lot of (probably deserved) hate for its amiibo support, but their non-content gating support is pretty cool. Especially the Metroid tracker. I'd like to see more things like that. I hate having to refer to guides to find collectables and what not. How about tapping an amiibo to reveal collectibles on maps in more games?
Guardian BOTW amiibo is in stock at Target. Normal price $19.99. You can choose "pick up in store" to save on shipping if you have a participating Target nearby! This thread is fairly old but the struggle with amiibo availability is still real.
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