So some of you might have heard my little mini-rant on Amiibo's on this week's episode of OLR that went a little something like this:



Thankfully I had to cut myself short for time because of the interview we had this week.

I'm curious how you guys are feeling about Amiibo now that we are a couple months in. Judging from twitter it seems some folks like me have kinda given up on it, but others still seem super into it.

It seems one common theme I'm hearing from those that still chase down every Target, Gamestop, heck even KMart in town have one thing in common - they want Amiibo for the figures, and not so much the game functionality. Which I suppose really makes sense. How many robot characters does one really need in Super Smash Bros? And while I suppose I could see the fringe "Well this is my favorite character to play in Smash so I have to have xxx", it doesn't seem to be a motivator to collect them all like Pokemon.

Now even I admit I love the figures, and as someone who tries very hard to love Nintendo even when they do weird things, if supplies were a little more abundant, I'd be VERY tempted to be converting a spice rack into an Amiibo display shelf for my own little collection.

As it is though, I am extremely turned off by chasing down every store in town to find the figure I want, or ensuring that I'm logged into amazon.com at JUST the right moment to get the preorder I want. I've hit this phase where it's like, well if Nintendo is going to make this so hard to get then meh, forget it I don't need it that bad.

So where's your heads at, gang? I'd love to hear from those putting up the good fight who might see the chase as a positive where I view it as a negative?

_________________

I have to agree - the extremely limited availability of certain amiibo is a real turn off. Its also frustrating to order the products online, as orders have been cancelled or postponed indefinitely. But for me, most of the hunt happens in person, and I've been pretty lucky so far in scoring some from various retailers like Toys R Us, which is right by my house. I'm not looking for a complete collection, which sets me apart from others perhaps. I'm ok with not getting all those really limited characters, as long as they're not ones that I really want (like Bowser or Legend of Zelda characters). My latest pickup last night was literally a stroke of pure luck. I can see how that kind of roll of the dice can be frustrating for fans. I entirely echo that sentiment.

I'm mostly collecting the amiibo because they're collectibles and I like the figures. I'm also hoping for some increased functionality from Nintendo down the line, too. Right now, there's really not much. The extra Mii costumes in Mario Kart 8 are cute, but beyond that, I haven't really used them. I picked up some rewards from Hyrule Warriors, but I'm not interested at all in utilizing them for Smash. I'm more intrigued about what they may be used for in Mario Party 10. I do hope we get more use out of them down the road.

I don't have any amiibo but I will probably get the bundle that includes the new Mario amiibo for Mario Party 10 because having one Mario Party specific amiibo is required to unlock that amiibo game mode, which is dumb, but I'm a sucker for Mario party and want all modes unlocked.

Otherwise, the whole amiibo thing is stupid and Nintendo is stupid for making them hard to find for people that really do want them all. And by stupid I mean genius because they are making tons of money and will remain stupid rich forever!

_________________

I like the amiibo but the low availability changed my initial plan to get them all. I'm not going to start a collection when even mr. Iwata is telling me that having the whole collection is going to be hard. I got the ones that I considered to be classics and now I'm done with amiibo. I wasn't surprised with the initial sold out panic moment but I am surprised with Nintendo's lack of interest for reestocking them. I'm not buying the whole "shelve space is a challenge" story since I was born in Europe and many of my European buddies don't have as many issues to find them than my American friends. Sorry but the idea that shelve space is an issue in USA but not in Japan sounds like a bad joke. Even if that excuse is true you have an online store Nintendo, use it.

Speaking of how scarce some Amiibo can be... Did ya'll hear about this?
http://www.joystiq.com/2015/01/26/smash ... own-amiib/

I found it to be oddly... comforting? When the creator of the game is having as much trouble getting the toys as the rest of us, heh. Makes me wonder if Nintendo wouldn't consider a 2nd reprint or at least some type of print on demand. (Have people pre-order with non-refundable payment in full then manufacture the number of pre-orders)

_________________

Well so far I just have the Link Amiibo, and been mainly using him in Smash Bros... I am interested in tracking down a Toad Amiibo once he comes out, though... (I'm predicting he'll get an Amiibo racing suit included with the 2nd DLC for Mario Kart 8)

I do hope that Nintendo and/or the other companies will put the Amiibo to good use! (I get the feeling the Megaman one is gonna be the most useless of all outside of Smash )

I don't know if I'd want to go to the trouble of collecting the entire SSB line, but I do hope for a R.O.B. and/or Duck Hunt Dog Amiibo, at least.

_________________
OLRmy since 6/23/2002!
OLR Wikia | OLRChive (now with Vanilla skie episodes!) | OLR: Best Hits Volume 1 (highlights from our first 30 episodes) out now! | OLR: Best Hits Vol. 2

I won't deny that Nintendo has a problem when it comes to supply but I don't that has decremented my want (or need) for amiibo.

There are more common amiibos and there are rarer ones (even some cataloged as Unicorn Status), but if you know your import sites, you can still get the ones you want easily. Granted, I know not everyone wants or can pay for imports, but if you can that's a really good option to do so without paying way more than you need to.

But the point here is, do you need amiibos? Probably not. They're useful of course but they can only go so far unless you play more often or go way deep into customization. The question should be, do you really want them and how far are you willing to go for them?

My current collection of amiibo is 7 and growing. I don't plan in collecting them all, but I'll get the ones I want the most and some of rare one I can find with ease. In the end, it's probably not worth stressing about amiibos (unless you're a collector maybe) and just enjoy them for what they are.

_________________
"I LOVE THAT SONG" - Now on the VOG Network!
Current ILTS article - Working by Evan LE NY from Spacechem