Tao

@Maggots Yea, people still want games for it but the amount of people going into any one store to buy games for it is pretty low.

I mean, 10mil isn't something for anybody to turn their nose up at, but that's 10 mil spread across the globe, which isn't really enough people per area for game stores to really bother.

Maybe it's just to save shelf space on a company that most people don't care about.

Stores I've been in have had the Wii U/3DS stuff merged into one small section for a while now, simply because it's not worth giving separate shelf space to consoles that don't shift that many games. I mean, Wii U is pretty lucky that it even has shelf space at this point and that you don't have to special order the games.

So yea, this is signalling something, it's signalling that the Wii U isn't popular. Not exactly ground breaking news.

Yea but it's on a Microsoft console. This along with, erm...I dunno...Master Chief collection? But that's just another collection of old games...Erm, Sunset Overdrive had hype I guess, even if that hype died out instantly on release day...Dead Rising 3 or Ryse? Wait, they're on PC.

I'll stick to old physical versions and emulators, thank you very much. All this does is remind me how awful the Xbone is, with its two best exclusives being remasters.

Hope Nintendo gets hold of Bloody Roar. Way too long since that gem has had some love.

@KoiTenchi Everything is better with breasts and jiggle physics. Everything.

$240?

For that price he better come to life and massage my star rod.

...Is this something I should be excited for?

I mean, unless somebody from Facebook has designed parts of a great game I've played in the past or somebody like Kojima or Miyamoto now works for Facebook, I don't know why I should care that some nameless Facebook employee has the chance to have their level in the game.

Distance between the analog sticks is too big? What? Why does that make any difference?

Too heavy? Yea, if you're a fetus. I've never had a complaint about its weight. If it's really too heavy for you, get to the gym because you're pathetically weak.

Button placement? Maybe. I don't personally see how. I've never had an issue where I've pressed multiple or the wrong button on the gamepad...Though then again, I also don't lack basic hand/eye coordination.

The reasons are pretty lame to be quite honest. Just come out and say it, "You should use the pro controller because WE don't like the gamepad".

I think the bigger issue here is that they're advising I use a USB keyboard (presumebly) for communication. Splatoon BARELY gets away with lack of communication due to it being a family focused game. What's the excuse here for lack of voice chat? Why is it using such an outdated method? I don't expect to use a keyboard to communicate outside of MMO's.

Surprisingly, Yoshi's Woolly World, Rhythm Heaven, Puzzles & Dragons and Ace Attorney are a lot better than I was expecting. Style Savvy is the only 'eye roll' choice (maybe the other two are too? I justdunno what they are).

I'll be quite honest as well, whilst girls don't JUST play 'cutsie games' but a majority of the ones I know who play games DO play games like the ones in this girls club (well, maybe not Style Savvy). They're good games, I don't see the problem.
It would be like a 'no gurlz alowd' club where boys sat around playing Fallout and CoD. Not all boys like that but a majority do...Yet it wouldn't be sexist in that case (it would be sexist, it just wouldn't get called out).

@A01 I don't even understand why people are so bothered about completing the Smash collection.

Yea, people seem to only be buying the characters they really like from other Amiibo lines...But isn't that what these were intended for in the first place? I don't think Nintendo really planned on people buying every single Amiibo.

July 2016?

July?

Nintendo barely ever release anything in July. I highly doubt they would release the NX in July.

@AceTrainerBean I don't think that should be necessary. It's just a Mario platformer at the end of the day, levels shouldn't need an age rating since, well, there's initially nothing offensive about any of the base content.

I mean, if you want to run around a level with swear words and penises everywhere...Whatever. I don't understand the appeal though. I grew out of thinking that stuff was hilarious years ago.

It's not exactly stuff to do to waste time, it's stuff to do as you're playing regularly. You can't exactly throw yourself into fire over and over since you die and even if you go back and keep doing it after every death, it's not exactly fun.

Now if there was an equivalent to playing GTA and pretending you're an NPC, I would like to know but otherwise, these aren't exactly time wasters...Just stuff to do and try AS you play through normally, not instead of playing normally.

I don't see why they're butthurt about Nintendo not promoting their game.
1) They could have literally broke into my house and forced me to take it. I still wouldn't buy or play it because I don't care about 'Need for Speed' or any other more 'real' driving games. If I want to drive a car, I'll go outside and get in mine. If I want to race, I'll drive to a track and race.
2) It's not their game. I mean, there we go. Why do they expect Nintendo to promote something that's not theirs? Its EA's and Criterons problem if it didn't sell well.

I've no money D:

The SMW Yoshi is all I really care about though. I was going to order him on Monday elsewhere when I get paid anyway but for £15 (£15 may as well be the RRP at this point), I would like to save £4 though He's all I'm missing from my big Yoshi collection!

I'm not bothered about the others but it's nice that other people get the chance for characters they were looking for!

Nintendo logic:

You can't make a silly volleyball/wrestling game...Now go and make a game about a little guy punching stereotypes.

I love how people act as though Reggie is the one developing and releasing these games...

He probably does know that we want a Samus focused Metroid game but yano what, that doesn't mean it's going to happen. He's the PR guy for NoA, a market that NoJ probably only tolerates in the first place because they need the income.

Gearbox?

I'm sorry but I can't take somebody from Gearbox seriously, a company known for screwing over fans of IPs just to fund their own little pet projects.

I live in the UK. Pretty much all of these will be quite easy to get a hold of.

sits smugly

@Hero-of-WiiU

A petition doesn't really strike me as disgusting...Petitions are thrown around so casually these days that they've practically lost all meaning. Petitions have turned into a sad, pathetic joke.

I don't think my expectations were specific and harsh. Literally, all they had to do to make me happen was say "Here's Samus". That's pretty much it. It could have been Prime 4, classic Metroid, Other M 2, it could have even still been Federation Force, as long as Samus is there I would have been happy.

"I want more Samus" being the only thing I ask of in a new Metroid is hardly harsh or specific. I mean, you wouldn't release a new Super Mario platformer and not have Mario be the lead character.

I'll be getting the DK figure because it's DK. Probably the Bowser as well...I'll pass on the game though.

If Activitision are making them though, at least there's a better chance I'll be able to orange Dino skins find them in stores.

I think that Nintendo thinks Mario Maker is a much better concept than it actually is.

Why the Dancing Dragon would there be Amiibo support for it anyway?

The thing is, a lot of players think they're undiscovered developers and that they know how to fix all the problems a game has.

This doesn't surprise me. I kinda guessed it was going to be this when some company announced porting a Wii U exclusive a while ago. There wasn't really much else they could have ported.

I'm not too bothered though. I never bothered with ZombiU. It came at a time where I was already thoroughly sick of zombie games clogging up the market. Coincidentally, the port is coming at a time where I'm thoroughly sick of Ubisoft.

@Tempistryke True, but the entertainment business isn't the 'video game NFC chip collectible figure' business. For the amount of time they've both been in business, who's been doing it longer is irrelevant at this point since the modern market is entirely different from the market even just a decade ago.

Disney hadn't done something like this before Disney Infinity was released. Skylanders was the only thing on the market at the time, so it was very much still new ground for them. It was still yet to be judged whether Skylanders was a one off success or a possible new avenue for video games.

By the time Nintendo came along it had two successful brands to take note of in very similar markets to Amiibo. They could learn from their success and avoid any of their initial mistakes. They could take what those things did and expand upon them, as well as mimic marketing techniques to make Amiibo turn into a success.

They didn't though. They learned nothing. Amiibo's initial launch sold a lot of figures but ultimately it was a disaster, with lack of stock everywhere which in a lot of cases still hasn't been resolved. Everybody saw the demand but Nintendo, with scalpers picking up as many figures as they can causing the shortages to become worse and figures to become hard to get hold of. Stores took advantage of the low stock and high demand by quickly raising the prices.

It's been over 6 months since release and they've STILL not learned from these mistakes. They've had two other franchises to learn from as well as over 6 months to learn from and to resolve the issues. 6 months later and they still don't know how to efficiently stock enough damn Dedede's so that everybody who wants a Dedede can have a Dedede without paying £50 to a scalper with 50 Dedede's because he has the free time to sit at a computer all day waiting for pre-orders to pop up whilst I'm at work, earning the money to buy the Dedede that I can't have. You see this, what I have in my hand? You know what it is? It's not a Dedede, that's for sure, because Nintendon't know how to manufacture enough of a product that's obviously in high demand.

The only reason Amiibo are popular as they are now is the shortages around them. I really don't think people would give as much of a damn otherwise. In fact, considering most of what I hear about amiibo is their shortages and speculation of rarity rather than their uses or how much somebody just loves having that one special Amiibo of their favorite character, I have no doubt that less people would care if every figure was easily available.

At the end of the day, this is either some very good marketing by Nintendo to make a product seem more special than it actually is or they just really screwed up. Either way, they've f*cked up as far as I'm concerned. Yes, their sales are high but they could be higher, and a lot of fans just aren't happy. Some have just said "f*ck it" and pretend they don't exist (such a fantastic marketing technique, eh?). Customer loyalty and satisfaction is way more profitable than a quick buck on a passing trend.

So at the end of the day, Disney do what Nintendon't.

Aside from Samus, they're actually not that bad for fakes. I kind of wish that Nintendo would take a tip and actually drop the idea of sticking NFC chips in Amiibo and including 'Disk Locked Content' in favor of having them be solely nice little figures.

On the other hand, why are they selling fake Mario's, Pikachu's and Link's? Are there not enough of these already? There's that many legit ones already hanging around that some stores are already selling them dirt cheap to get rid of the friggin' things.

If you're gonna do fakes, at least do some Rosalina's and Dedede's. I would knowingly buy one of those just because I can't get the original.

I love Amiibo as a concept. I love collecting figures of characters I love, it's a bonus that they unlock neat little extras and all visually look like part of a collection (rather than a bunch of random figures from 20+ different manufacturers like most other collectibles I own that don't look like a 'set').

I have a nice little collection of only characters I really love, with characters such as Sheik, Diddy and the upcoming ZS Samus (that's preordered) being ones I would usually find more difficult to obtain merch for at all. If they ever create a Midna figure, I can happily stop buying new things and live the rest of my life in the woods. I will have completed life.

Saying that, the Amiibo bonuses are such a mixed bag to whether or not I like them.

• Mario Kart 8 or Yoshi's Woolly World are examples that I like the idea of. Little bonus costumes that don't really do anything outside of looking neat. That's a suitable little bonus and nobody really misses out on anything. Don't want the figure? Don't buy it, you're not missing out on anything!
• Splatoon? No, just no. Splatoon may give you recycled versions of the single player maps with new rules BUT that's an extra hour of fun per Amiibo, plus some armor, plus a weapon, plus up to 4 extra minigames. You're missing a lot of content in an already short game by not buying the Amiibo and since it's also a competitive online game, those extra items may also make the difference to the actual gameplay.

Amiibo should be nice little collectible figures that give me a nice bonus that doesn't make me feel like I have to buy them if I don't want to. Splatoon totally f*cked that up. I pre-ordered the boy/girl anyway since I loved their design but I know that if I didn't want them, I would still feel like I needed to buy them because of what they actually unlock.

If any other company did this sort of stuff (which they do) people would cause a sh*t storm (which they do). If Nintendo do it (which they're doing), people are likely to heavily praise them like the second coming of Christ.

Then there's the shortages. I live in the UK, so they've not hit me as hard as other countries since our supplies are somewhat better and less of our figures are 'rare'.
On the other hand, with my modest collection of 9 Amiibo, I will probably never be able to find a reasonably priced Dedede or Meta Knight to finish the set of Kirby figures. As Kirby is possibly my favorite franchise of the bunch, this really annoys me as the only way I can get them is paying a stupid price to line the pockets of scalpers, which I refuse to do.
Villager? Not for £40. Rosalina? It's stupid to even consider having her.

Want a Mario? Everybody can have a Mario! Mario everywhere! Check your cupboard, there's probably one there you didn't even know you had! Look behind you, there he is! What, you're going to the toilet? There he is having a swim!
Nintendo, Mario might be your man but honestly, not everybody gives as much of a f*ck about him. Stop printing off Mario's as though they're a cure for cancer and stick some damn Dedede's on the production line, you set of idiots.

What bugs me more is Disney Infinity. Is it as popular as Amiibo? Probably, it does span across at least 8 different console platforms as opposed to Amiibo's barely 2 (3DS barely supports it, lets be honest).
Do you want a Stitch figure? Go to the store and pick one up! Want a Vanellope? Sure thing, pal! What about a Mickey Mouse or an Aladdin? Don't worry friend, you can have one of those plus a Spiderman and a Buzz Lightyear too!

It's pretty bad when even Disney is making better moves in the gaming world than Nintendo.

So many people complaining about Nintendo and the Wii U hardware...

...Not many people mentioning how the Xbone and PS4 versions are also struggling to keep a decent framerate.

If the Wii U had 'better hardware' nothing would be different here, it still wouldn't bloody work.