PixlBit

 

Hey Pixlbit, how are you? Today has been exactly 1 year since Nintendo's Toys to Life figures, amiibo, were released in the market. It's been 1 year so I thought I'd share my thoughts on these things. This wont be a review on them, just my thoughts and such, so here we go.

 

amiibo figures were first shown at E3 2014, showing what they can do. I think a while back on that same year, Activision said that when they were working on their Skylanders idea, they pitched it to Nintendo so they could make figures of characters from their IP's. Nintendo turned the offer down, as I'm guessing here that they thought it wouldn't take off. Which is odd since Nintendo used to be a toy company. That and Nintendo is known for taking risks, but this was probably something entirely different. This was a toyline, meaning this has to appeal to its target demographic, kids, or the whole thing will flop, and money will be lost. Obviously. Well Skylanders was a hit and I guess Nintendo looked into it, but it was Satoru Iwata who prototyped the idea of amiibo. 

An amiibo works like your traditional TtL (Toys to Life) figure, but rather than working on only one game like Skylanders or Disney Infinity, an amiibo figure works across multiple games. Sounds good right? Well here is one of my problems with amiibo. You can use them across amiibo compatible games, but what you get from them is costumes for your Mii in Mario Kart 8, or something of the like. So far, the best use I've seen is for Smash Bros. 4 Wii U/3DS, since you can literally fight and train your figure, and in Codename S.T.E.A.M. since you can use any of the characters from the Fire Emblem amiibo figures in the game. The problem here is that content is locked in the game, and the only way to get that content is by buying the figures. It's viewed as plastic dlc, which they are right. I would love to see a game like in Skylanders or whatever and you can play as any of the characters and explore those worlds. But that's just me.

 

And now here is my other problem with amiibo as well as the main problem everyone has with them which is availability. This has been the main issue from the start, I think Nintendo assumed that only Wii U and (at a later date) 3DS owners were the only people who were going to buy them. Unfortunately that wasn't the case as non-Wii U owners were buying them too and Nintendo underestimated the stock. Figures also have certain rarity to them too in each wave unfortunately, like Marth, Villager, and Wii Fit Trainer, figures from the first wave became hard to find. Nintendo said it themselves that characters will get replaced by cards, this also probably prompted scalpers to do what they do best and ruin it for everyone. Plus combine that with amiibo that are exclusive to certain retail chains like Target, Toys R Us, Best Buy, Gamestop, and Amazon. It just makes it harder for people to buy these things, or even see them at a store. Nintendo has actually stepped up and is restocking a few rare amiibo, but that is meaningless as long as scalpers get to them, bringing us back to square 1. This has prompted people to camp outside stores hours before a store opens on the day a new wave releases in hops of getting these things. It's ridiculous

 

I guess people love the novelty of owning statuettes of their favorite Nintendo characters, since they indeed are real life versions of character trophies from Smash Bros. I do too and I'm afraid I'm addicted to buying these things, after I promised myself I would only buy only 1 or 2...

 

Here's my final thoughts on amiibo: The idea is neat, I'll give that, plus these are characters I like, besides that these characters are well known, so that's a plus. You can also use them in different games. If the novelty of owning toys/trophies of your favorite Nintendo characters and unlocking content in different games appeal to you, then by all means go ahead. If you just want some nice display pieces for your shelf, then you can do that too, since that's what I do besides using them. Otherwise don't (see image above), it's a waste of money if you take out what they actually do. It's not that it's bad, I love the idea, but wish they did more in the game. Not only that but they are making Nintendo a ton of money, they are even selling more and making Nintendo more money that games and hardware, I'm not kidding. So I'll leave that here so you can think about it.

So that's my thought on amiibo, 1 Year Later. This is a new series I plan on doing, which I'll give my thoughts on games and related things, years later after release, or years after I played them. Hope you look forward to more of these. What are your thoughts on amiibo? Thanks for reading and later.