amiibo (NFC)

[david.dakota]

ToysRUs in the States are discounting Amiibo 3 for $30 ($12.99 ea), perhaps we will see some offers immediately upon release in Europe. Might be worth holding back on those preorders?

 

ToysRus USA.

[Hero-of-Time]

I went to GAME yesterday and traded in a bunch of PS4/Vita stuff. They offered me £116 but I asked them to match CEX. This bumped it up to...

 

 

 

My Amiibo fund is ready. Come at me @Wii.

 

Although I did use some of it on eShop credit and a preorder. Yes, @Serebii I cracked and used £10.00 to preorder Pokemon Sapphire. Nostalgia won.

[Wii]

I went to GAME yesterday and traded in a bunch of PS4/Vita stuff. They offered me £116 but I asked them to match CEX. This bumped it up to...

 

 

 

My Amiibo fund is ready. Come at me @Wii.

 

Although I did use some of it on eShop credit and a preorder. Yes, @Serebii I cracked and used £10.00 to preorder Pokemon Sapphire. Nostalgia won.

 

I will refer to my good friend Bill again.

 

 

And Robert.

 

 

[Hero-of-Time]

I will refer to my good friend Bill again.

 

 

And Robert.

 

 

 

I'll hand over a cookie for using a BASEketball gif.

[hebilea]

I actually have a question regarding Amiibo. I am not sure if this question has been asked before, but do you know if you can connect Amiibo to more consoles?

 

As in for example, if I use my Mario Amiibo for a Mii costume in Mario Kart 8 and I get the costume, can my friend, who has his own console register it with my Mario Amiibo too? Or is it limited to only one?

[Pestneb]

The amiibo registration appears to just be you writing your name (Think toy story and Woody having "ANDY" written on his shoe) and writing a name for your amiibo. Whether it links to your NNID or not, I don't know, but it's an interesting question.

 

As I understand it, the amiibo doesn't permanently unlock it's suit, so with the Mario example, you need to use your Mario amiibo each time to unlock the Mario Mii costume. That would work on any console, but obv. the amiibo has to be present at the character selection screen.

 

I'm sure someone else has paid more attention and can give you a better answer soon!

[dazzybee]

I went to GAME yesterday and traded in a bunch of PS4/Vita stuff. They offered me £116 but I asked them to match CEX. This bumped it up to...

 

 

 

My Amiibo fund is ready. Come at me @Wii.

 

Although I did use some of it on eShop credit and a preorder. Yes, @Serebii I cracked and used £10.00 to preorder Pokemon Sapphire. Nostalgia won.

 

That's a crazy difference... Didn't know game did that. Presume you had to go to cex, print off a price receipt and take it in?

 

The amiibo registration appears to just be you writing your name (Think toy story and Woody having "ANDY" written on his shoe) and writing a name for your amiibo. Whether it links to your NNID or not, I don't know, but it's an interesting question.

 

As I understand it, the amiibo doesn't permanently unlock it's suit, so with the Mario example, you need to use your Mario amiibo each time to unlock the Mario Mii costume. That would work on any console, but obv. the amiibo has to be present at the character selection screen.

 

I'm sure someone else has paid more attention and can give you a better answer soon!

 

Not true. It permanently unlocks the mii suits. Amazing!

[Hero-of-Time]

That's a crazy difference... Didn't know game did that. Presume you had to go to cex, print off a price receipt and take it in.

 

The GAME staff check the prices on the CEX website but I always check the prices myself on my phone, put them in the basket as if I was going to sell them and then screen cap the total. That way they can't try and do something dodgy and give me a wrong amount.

[Wii]

Nintendo - amiibo - amiibo Power TV Commercial

 

 

Nintendo - amiibo - Little Guys TV Commercial

 

Edited November 18, 2014 by Wii

[Happenstance]

So what seems to be the general thoughts on this Amiibo stuff then? Its not something I follow myself so I dont know much but everytime I have heard various gaming press talk about them it seems to have been with a bit of confusion as to what they are for and also a feeling that Nintendo have maybe rushed into it a bit without a proper plan, forcing them into games instead of taking the Sylanders/Disney Infinity route of having a dedicated game.

[Hero-of-Time]

So what seems to be the general thoughts on this Amiibo stuff then? Its not something I follow myself so I dont know much but everytime I have heard various gaming press talk about them it seems to have been with a bit of confusion as to what they are for and also a feeling that Nintendo have maybe rushed into it a bit without a proper plan, forcing them into games instead of taking the Sylanders/Disney Infinity route of having a dedicated game.

 

It's main use is for Smash Bros. at the moment. By scanning it in it creates an AI fighter of the Amiibo and levels it up for you to use against friends or fight against it yourself.

 

Mario Kart uses them by unlocking outfits for your Mii racers. Scanning someone like Captain Falcon will give you his outfit to wear.

 

Hyrule Warriors uses them for unlocking weapons, rupees and other bits and bobs.

 

Strangely, it's the unlockables in Mario Kart and Hyrule Warriors that i'm most looking forward to. I'm really not bothered about the Smash implementation.

 

They may not have a game built around them but in terms of going up against Skylanders and Infinity they have a price advantage. Those are £15 a piece instores, while Amiibos are just over £10. Having characters such as Mario, Pikachu and Villager I imagine will help shift units for lesser known characters as kids will want the whole set.

 

Personally, i'm very excited for them but then i'm probably the youngest 32 year old you will meet.

[dazzybee]

So what seems to be the general thoughts on this Amiibo stuff then? Its not something I follow myself so I dont know much but everytime I have heard various gaming press talk about them it seems to have been with a bit of confusion as to what they are for and also a feeling that Nintendo have maybe rushed into it a bit without a proper plan, forcing them into games instead of taking the Sylanders/Disney Infinity route of having a dedicated game.

 

I actually think they have a clear plan, just a very different one. I think on a business perspective having one piece of software is probably stronger - to play this game, to use these figures, it's all in or all out. Once you're in there's a strong appeal to get more figures. But for gamers/consumers, I actually much MUCH prefer Nintendo's approach (though obviously you could do both).

 

Like Hero, I'm also more excited by Mario Kart and, more so, Hyrule Warriors implementation. Though after being utterly underwhelmed by Smash's usage, I'm actually looking forward to giving it a go.

 

And also like Hero, I'm the youngest 35 (oh boy) year old you're likely to meet. But just found out my girlfriend's pregnant so at least I have more of an excuse for all this stuff

[Hero-of-Time]

And also like Hero, I'm the youngest 35 (oh boy) year old you're likely to meet. But just found out my girlfriend's pregnant so at least I have more of an excuse for all this stuff

 

Congrats, dude. I assume it's yours.

[dazzybee]

Congrats, dude. I assume it's yours.

 

Ha, so do I, but you never know...

 

At least I'll have someone to play all of Nintendo's local multiplayer games with now...

[Ronnie]

I'd be very surprised if they didn't have a dedicated amiibo game ready to be unveiled next year.

[Wii]

I actually think they have a clear plan, just a very different one. I think on a business perspective having one piece of software is probably stronger - to play this game, to use these figures, it's all in or all out. Once you're in there's a strong appeal to get more figures. But for gamers/consumers, I actually much MUCH prefer Nintendo's approach (though obviously you could do both).

 

Like Hero, I'm also more excited by Mario Kart and, more so, Hyrule Warriors implementation. Though after being utterly underwhelmed by Smash's usage, I'm actually looking forward to giving it a go.

 

And also like Hero, I'm the youngest 35 (oh boy) year old you're likely to meet. But just found out my girlfriend's pregnant so at least I have more of an excuse for all this stuff

 

Congratulations man. A little dizzybii buzzing about the place. Your life as you know it is about to change radically. I'm of a similar age but don't know how I'd cope with such a change. I can barely look after myself nevermind another minimii.

[Serebii]

I'd be very surprised if they didn't have a dedicated amiibo game ready to be unveiled next year.

I was expecting the last Direct to reveal an eShop exclusive one that you can get when you scan an amiibo on the eShop. Free game, builds up when you scan your amiibo. Could use the level in Smash as a form of level in the game maybe. Perhaps some sort of NintendoLand style mini-game collectionwhere you play as your amiibo.

 

Who knows

[Londragon]

just found out my girlfriend's pregnant so at least I have more of an excuse for all this stuff

 

Congratulations Dazzybee, this was the best thing that happened to me, and my local multiplayer game experience. Lego games are now awesome. You'll have to wait a few years for them to develop a big enough hand for the Wii U controller though.

[dazzybee]

Congratulations man. A little dizzybii buzzing about the place. Your life as you know it is about to change radically. I'm of a similar age but don't know how I'd cope with such a change. I can barely look after myself nevermind another minimii.

 

Ha, cheers. I feel the same, but I'm sure I'll deal with it

 

I was expecting the last Direct to reveal an eShop exclusive one that you can get when you scan an amiibo on the eShop. Free game, builds up when you scan your amiibo. Could use the level in Smash as a form of level in the game maybe. Perhaps some sort of NintendoLand style mini-game collectionwhere you play as your amiibo.

 

Who knows

 

This would be great, and a good way to get people to buy amiibo. Attaching Virtual Console games to amiibo? Though this is maybe too generous.

 

I've always said a Nintendoland 2. Free, maybe a some free attractions and the amiibo unlock more attractions.

[david.dakota]

I'm not convinced there's any more of a plan than "let's sell these". Every game feature (so far) is incredibly disposable, the simplest ideas. Auto fighting in Smash, Mii Costumes in Mario Kart, Unlockables in Hyrule.... It's hardly a grand vision for Amiibo, it all seems so incredibly weak.

 

Had Nintendo built some deep Amiibo integration into a handful of titles, created a broader overarching software platform AND included all the nonsense we've currently got, I think they'd have created a much more interesting line of figures.

 

I genuinely see very little reason to buy Amiibo - apart from us fanboys picking up some Nintendo figures. If these figures were from any other range of IP, noone would give a hoot and we'd claim it to be cynical profiteering.

[Cube]

It's a catch-22 situation, though. If Amiibo did have significant uses, people will be annoyed and see them as poor "DLC".

[Wii]

They're not cheap here in Ireland. They're in Smyths at €15 a pop. i just know Gamestop will charge more, they always do. There's no pre orders in Gamestop or Argos, well not online at least. They're not as good quality of production either compared to Skylanders and Infinity. Also, some are cheaper and some are more expensive depending it seems on complicity, whereas Nintendo amiibo are €15 regardless if it's Kirby, simple design or Starfox, more intricate. It doesn't look like they've much of a plan so far. They're just shoehorned into various games. Creating a dedicated game would be more useful but provide a bigger risk.

[Ronnie]

I'm not convinced there's any more of a plan than "let's sell these". Every game feature (so far) is incredibly disposable, the simplest ideas.

 

Because they've been last minute inclusions into games that were already finished or about to be. Of course they were rushed to market to take advantage of the xmas period but maybe you could wait until they're actually released before slating Nintendo's plan for them? Who knows their business strategy could be sell a load of these and build an install base, then release a killer game next summer/xmas and take advantage of that big user base. I think it's very naive to think they don't have that dedicated game in the pipeline. Probably another gem from EAD Tokyo.

[Hero-of-Time]

Also, some are cheaper and some are more expensive depending it seems on complicity, whereas Nintendo amiibo are €15 regardless if it's Kirby, simple design or Starfox, more intricate.

 

While I can't speak for Skylanders, this certainly wasn't the case for the first Infinity figures ( dunno if they changed this with 2.0 ). I think I paid pretty much the same for all of mine, apart from Jack Skellington as he was a little more pricey due to the low production run of him at the time.

[dazzybee]

I'm not convinced there's any more of a plan than "let's sell these". Every game feature (so far) is incredibly disposable, the simplest ideas. Auto fighting in Smash, Mii Costumes in Mario Kart, Unlockables in Hyrule.... It's hardly a grand vision for Amiibo, it all seems so incredibly weak.

 

Had Nintendo built some deep Amiibo integration into a handful of titles, created a broader overarching software platform AND included all the nonsense we've currently got, I think they'd have created a much more interesting line of figures.

 

I genuinely see very little reason to buy Amiibo - apart from us fanboys picking up some Nintendo figures. If these figures were from any other range of IP, noone would give a hoot and we'd claim it to be cynical profiteering.

 

But if they did what you said that would be more cynical profiteering. Look at Skyanders and Disney, you BUY the full price game, then need to BUY more figures just to play the thing. You need to buy an extra character just to play multiplayer, now THAT is cynical. This is purely optional, as far from cynical as you can get.

 

Fact is, if they released figures for £10 as merchandise, people wouldn't say a word. This is that, but they offer extra functionality and little extras in games. From mini tamogatchis to unlock new stuff. There's really nothing to complain about!