Amiibo take the concept of locking content behind a pay wall to a new level. Poorly priced DLC is one problem, but with Nintendo, additional content is now being tied to physical items with limited quantities. The first few games to make use of this system did so without impeding the main gameplay experience. Smash Bros. simply offered a CPU that could be customized and trained, while Mario Kart 8 provided cosmetic changes that made racers don a suit of the tapped Amiibo.
The same can't be said about Wii U games in 2015. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse unlocked new power-ups and abilities with compatible Amiibo. Splatoon's Amiibo allow players to tackle segments of the single player in missions under certain conditions (e.g. using a sniper only or low ink). This problem is exacerbated by the fact that these games don't have much content to begin with. In a sense, Amiibo have become the equivalent of on-disc DLC, a means for players to pay extra for what should be included from the start.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has really found a market with these figurines. Soon, there will be Amiibo cards to boot. I wonder if Nintendo is considering the possibility of simply releasing Amiibo content as paid DLC. It's a double edged sword. On one side, it seems only natural that they would get more buyers if the contest was more readily available. Nintendo has nothing to gain from scalpers. If anything, the shortage of Amiibo only frustrates gamers. But on the other hand, perhaps this lack of supply is intentional to build the hype, despite what Nintendo claims. By making Amiibo content easily accessible, the Amiibo are demoted to simple figurines and people may be more likely to delay on a purchase, knowing there is no limited physical quantity holding them back.
Even though Amiibo have been a runaway success for Nintendo, they're disgruntling from a gamer's perspective. That said, maybe not everyone feels the same way I do.
How should Nintendo move forward with Amiibo? Should they continue playing their cards the same way as they have up to now or is some change needed? Is DLC a sound approach to releasing this content?
The same can't be said about Wii U games in 2015. Kirby and the Rainbow Curse unlocked new power-ups and abilities with compatible Amiibo. Splatoon's Amiibo allow players to tackle segments of the single player in missions under certain conditions (e.g. using a sniper only or low ink). This problem is exacerbated by the fact that these games don't have much content to begin with. In a sense, Amiibo have become the equivalent of on-disc DLC, a means for players to pay extra for what should be included from the start.
Unfortunately, Nintendo has really found a market with these figurines. Soon, there will be Amiibo cards to boot. I wonder if Nintendo is considering the possibility of simply releasing Amiibo content as paid DLC. It's a double edged sword. On one side, it seems only natural that they would get more buyers if the contest was more readily available. Nintendo has nothing to gain from scalpers. If anything, the shortage of Amiibo only frustrates gamers. But on the other hand, perhaps this lack of supply is intentional to build the hype, despite what Nintendo claims. By making Amiibo content easily accessible, the Amiibo are demoted to simple figurines and people may be more likely to delay on a purchase, knowing there is no limited physical quantity holding them back.
Even though Amiibo have been a runaway success for Nintendo, they're disgruntling from a gamer's perspective. That said, maybe not everyone feels the same way I do.
How should Nintendo move forward with Amiibo? Should they continue playing their cards the same way as they have up to now or is some change needed? Is DLC a sound approach to releasing this content?
