amiibo (NFC)

[Sheikah]

It can store amiibo codes, no different to how an MP3 player can store legal or illegal music, or how a HDD can store legal or illegal software.

 

It kinda shows that if people are willing to buy this, Nintendo really ought to do something that caters to people who don't favour the collecting aspect and just want the unlockables.

[Ronnie]

Yes I'm sure Nintendo will care about the handful of people who will bother with this, versus the millions who've bought the actual figurines, and cater their business strategy towards it.

[Sheikah]

Yes I'm sure Nintendo will care about the handful of people who will bother with this, versus the millions who've bought the actual figurines, and cater their business strategy towards it.

Let's hope they don't care about it so they don't find a way to circumvent it.

 

If something like this was available for around £20 or less it actually becomes quite attractive. Even for collectors who might want to keep their devices in packaging or in a display case, can use this as a functional device for their gaming needs.

[Pestneb]

once the final smash figurine is released I'm hoping they'll release smash cards as a cheaper alternative.

[Glen-i]

I'm just wondering how the hell you'd pronounce that.

 

 

Needs an extra "u" after the Q...

 

Anyway, this smacks of piracy.

Absolutely, positively smacks of it.

 

Sure, you could use it to store your amiibo codes, but no-one is going to buy it for that purpose, let's face it.

[Sheikah]

I'm just wondering how the hell you'd pronounce that.

 

 

 

Needs an extra "u" after the Q...

 

Anyway, this smacks of piracy.

Absolutely, positively smacks of it.

 

Sure, you could use it to store your amiibo codes, but no-one is going to buy it for that purpose, let's face it.

The same thing could be said about MP3 players with their ability to play pirated music.

 

No doubt it will get used for piracy, but so long as they can argue the point that it can be used normally then I'm not sure what could be done about it. From the sounds of things, copying data from an NFC device isn't exactly difficult.

[Glen-i]

The same thing could be said about MP3 players with their ability to play pirated music.

 

No doubt it will get used for piracy, but so long as they can argue the point that it can be used normally then I'm not sure what could be done about it. From the sounds of things, copying data from an NFC device isn't exactly difficult.

 

No need to repeat yourself, I did read the post at the top.

And it still doesn't make it OK.

 

I mean, the name alone gives me the impression that whoever made that knows exactly what it's gonna be used for.

They'll claim otherwise, but they know. And that just rubs me up the wrong way...

[Cube]

Surely it must be completely illegal, right? I mean, that pretty much sounds like the definition of piracy right there...

 

The Skylanders ones were blocked due to patents rather than piracy reasons.

[Sheikah]

No need to repeat yourself, I did read the post at the top.

And it still doesn't make it OK.

 

I repeated it as you didn't seem to address the point.

 

Question - do you believe all MP3 players are bad? Or, as is also the case here, is it purely the intention of the user?

[Pestneb]

What is the legit purpose of this? I don't understand.

With MP3 players they allow you to take legitimate mp3's and play them portably.

With this device I genuinely don't see what benefit it would give me as a consumer (aside from accessing amiibo data illegitimately)

[Glen-i]

I repeated it as you didn't seem to address the point.

 

Question - do you believe all MP3 players are bad? Or, as is also the case here, is it purely the intention of the user?

 

Of course not all MP3 players are bad. But it's not quite the same thing really, is it?

 

The difference here is that I find it completely unbelievable that anyone who bought an amiibo is going to use this. Which leaves only those who don't want to buy amiibos but still want the content it gets you (Which really isn't anything major as far as I'm concerned)

 

In fact, let me test this theory. Could I ask everyone here who has an amiibo to state whether they would bother using this or not? Assuming money was no object?

 

Because I would be firmly in the "Why bother?" camp.

 

What is the legit purpose of this? I don't understand.

 

From what I can gather, you could store all of your amiibo data on one product.

That's about all I can think of.

[Sheikah]

Of course not all MP3 players are bad. But it's not quite the same thing really, is it?

 

The difference here is that I find it completely unbelievable that anyone who bought an amiibo is going to use this. Which leaves only those who don't want to buy amiibos but still want the content it gets you (Which really isn't anything major as far as I'm concerned)

 

In fact, let me test this theory. Could I ask everyone here who has an amiibo to state whether they would bother using this or not? Assuming money was no object?

 

Because I would be firmly in the "Why bother?" camp.

 

 

 

From what I can gather, you could store all of your amiibo data on one product.

That's about all I can think of.

Whether people here fall into the category is isn't really the point; it still has uses and some people would use it properly. Especially when you think that a lot of people are obsessive collectors who spend a lot of money already.

 

If this can scan people's amiibos in their boxes then you can keep them sealed, for instance. There's also the convenience of having them all on one device, or having a display/collection that you can leave untouched and keep this at hand. There's also the travel/going to other people's houses aspect which means you could just take that instead. Have your amiibo collection in one place and this in another. There's certainly uses, and I can definitely see people using it properly. I can also see a lot more people probably using it improperly, but I'm finding it very difficult to feel bad about that. The way I see it, for some games you are basically paying more to unlock the content already on your disc.

 

For £50 I wouldn't touch it personally, but I could see clones of this propping up for pretty cheap.

[Glen-i]

Whether people here fall into the category is isn't really the point; it still has uses and some people would use it properly. Especially when you think that a lot of people are obsessive collectors who spend a lot of money already.

 

If this can scan people's amiibos in their boxes then you can keep them sealed, for instance. There's also the convenience of having them all on one device, or having a display/collection that you can leave untouched and keep this at hand. There's also the travel/going to other people's houses aspect which means you could just take that instead. Have your amiibo collection in one place and this in another. There's certainly uses, and I can definitely see people using it properly. I can also see a lot more people probably using it improperly, but I'm finding it very difficult to feel bad about that. The way I see it, for some games you are basically paying more to unlock the content already on your disc.

 

For £50 I wouldn't touch it personally, but I could see clones of this propping up for pretty cheap.

 

OK, point conceded. Those are some pretty good uses for them.

None that I would ever do, but I can see why others would.

 

EDIT: I still maintain that whoever made this knows exactly what the majority of people will use it for. I also think they are banking on that.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Glen-i

[FireMeowth]

If it was intended for proper use, then it would surely only need to be able to store the NFC information from the amiibo figurines you physically scan with it. There's no need for the extra feature that can only be used for piracy.

[somme]

If it was cheaper I'd rather have this than a single amiibo. I want the content but don't want the lame figurines.

[Sheikah]

If it was intended for proper use, then it would surely only need to be able to store the NFC information from the amiibo figurines you physically scan with it. There's no need for the extra feature that can only be used for piracy.

 

It's true that they didn't need to put in that feature (and there are arguably some uses for backing up, although tenuous), but you can still use it honestly. To compare, my Kindle can play unprotected books that weren't bought off the store. You could argue by the same merit that a Kindle must be made to play pirated books because of this extra feature it didn't need to have.

 

I don't doubt they're banking on people buying it to use it dishonestly too, but I'm not even sure whether using it that way is even illegal, to be honest.

 

If it was cheaper I'd rather have this than a single amiibo. I want the content but don't want the lame figurines.

 

That, I think, is the biggest thing to come out of this. A glance at the Eurogamer comments section shows how disgruntled people are, that content is often tied behind individual £10-15 figures; some even hard to get hold of.

 

As with any form of 'piracy' (if that even is what this is) - the best way to counter it is to offer a better service.

[Serebii]

Figures are no longer "hard to get hold of" if you live in Europe, though.

 

But yeah, Nintendo will likely try to stop this.

[Sheikah]

But there are also people who want that content but don't want to collect toys (or pay £10-15 a pop). I reckon if Nintendo offered the DLC for £1-2 then this sort of thing wouldn't be anywhere near as appealing to the sorts of people not just backing up their own collections.

[Serebii]

But there are also people who want that content but don't want to collect toys (or pay £10-15 a pop). I reckon if Nintendo offered the DLC for £1-2 then this sort of thing wouldn't be anywhere near as appealing to the sorts of people not just backing up their own collections.

The content is not substantial, though. It's always a cute little extra that typically only makes sense for having the figure. Like how the hell would the Smash stuff work as "DLC"? It wouldn't. How would the Mario Party stuff work as "DLC"? It wouldn't.

 

Or they could continue doing it like Super Mario Maker where you don't need the amiibo to get the content, the amiibo just makes it quicker.

 

This seems once again to be people complaining who don't understand what amiibo actually are for, making their statement and then standing by it despite it not having facts behind it. The only thing I could agree with are the Mario Kart costumes, but everything else it just wouldn't fit.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Serebii

[Sheikah]

IIRC the content in Splatoon and Mario Party was reasonably meaningful. It doesn't really need to be substantial to justify a £1-2 price tag, anyway.

[Daft]

Amiibos are essentially micro-transactions tied to a non-optional value-add.

 

Let's be honest, if they sold the content for a couple pounds without the figurines then everyone would be screaming bloody murder. Does anyone disagree with that?

[Glen-i]

Amiibos are essentially micro-transactions tied to a non-optional value-add.

 

Let's be honest, if they sold the content for a couple pounds without the figurines then everyone would be screaming bloody murder. Does anyone disagree with that?

 

Yes, you're completely right.

It's a serious case of "lose-lose situation"

[Serebii]

Amiibos are essentially micro-transactions tied to a non-optional value-add.

 

Let's be honest, if they sold the content for a couple pounds without the figurines then everyone would be screaming bloody murder. Does anyone disagree with that?

Difference is that one amiibo works across multiple titles.

 

Let's take the Mario amiibo

 

You have:

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS - Read/Write - Figure Player (Not feasible as downloadable content)

Mario Party 10 - Read/Write - amiibo Party character (Not feasible as downloadable content) + Special daily item (Not feasible as downloadable content)

Hyrule Warriors - Read - Random weapon, item or rupees each day (Not feasible as downloadable content)

Mario Kart 8 - Read - amiibo Costume (Could be DLC in theory)

Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - 1-up a day (Not feasible as downloadable content)

amiibo Touch & Play - Read - Gives access to a special trial of a game (Not feasible as downloadable content)

Yoshi's Woolly World - Read - amiibo Costume (Could be DLC in theory)

Super Mario Maker - Read - amiibo Costume (Not feasible as DLC considering you can get it without the amiibo)

One Piece: Super Grand Battle! X - Read - amiibo Costume (Could be DLC in theory)

Ace Combat Assault Horizon Legacy + - Read - Special amiibo Planes (Could be DLC in theory)

Style Savvy 3 - Read - amiibo Costume (Could be DLC in theory) + Special daily item (Not feasible as downloadable content)

Chibi Robo Zip Lash - Read - Special Chibi Robo Figurine Pose (Not entirely feasible as DLC but could be)

Hyrule Warriors Legends - Read - Random weapon, item or rupees each day (Not feasible as downloadable content)

 

So for one £10.99 amiibo, you have 13 games compatible with it, with more to come, and most of which are not feasible as DLC.

Edited August 18, 2015 by Serebii

[Ronnie]

I love how the value of main series amiibo just keeps growing with each new release. It was a fantastic and very generous business model allowing cross-game functionality. Spend 10 quid one day and then a few years later have extra functionality in two dozen games, as well as a nifty little figurine. Awesome stuff IMO.

 

(posted in chibi robo thread but makes more sense here)

[Cube]

So for one £10.99 amiibo, you have 13 games compatible with it, with more to come, and most of which are not feasible as DLC.

 

Exactly.

 

So you have the feasible stuff as cheap DLC. Amiibo owners will unlock the stuff for free in multiple games, as well as having all the unique features.

 

Win-Win for everyone.