Amiibo figures may be toys, but unfortunately they aren't all fun and games. I figured that a few characters would become rare—Marth, for example, is not necessarily a favorite character among children and would only have limited use in non-Smash Bros. games. But things have really gotten out of hand, and it's got me feeling sick of Amiibo figures altogether.
Back in November, I preordered three Amiibo figures: Captain Falcon and Little Mac from Target, and Lucario from Toys R Us. I have now been screwed out of all three of them, because my orders were canceled early yesterday morning without any explanation or recourse. Lucario was a Toys R Us exclusive, and thus can't be found at a different store. But I'm livid about Captain Falcon and Little Mac. Target, if you weren't going to hold up your end of the bargain, why didn't you say so early enough for me to preorder from somebody else?
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| NO CAPTAIN FALCON FOR YOU. (Image taken from IGN.) |
A combination of low Amiibo stock and toy scalpers has started to cause problems for everyone, not just me. And I'm not the only one feeling massively turned off by the experience. The market for Amiibo figures is already excruciatingly tight, but rather than promise more product in the near future, Nintendo suggested that it has "discontinued" several Amiibo figures—and that they may never return. For all my anger at the retailers who have failed to live up to their pre-order promises, the real culprit in all of this is Nintendo.
Nintendo has had a bad year in terms of profits, and it's far behind XBox and PlayStation in terms of console sales. But things were really looking up. High quality games like Mario Kart 8, Bayonetta 2, and Super Smash Bros. Wii U have been generating both goodwill and console sales. Plus, new Zelda and Star Fox games are on the docket for next year.
Unfortunately, my goodwill towards Nintendo is pretty much in the gutter right now. In my home, we've consistently purchased and enjoyed Nintendo products even when every gaming news outlet was speculating about the company's impending doom. Rather than keep up the steady production of fun, quality games for families to play, Nintendo went for a cash grab and created products that are inaccessible to average people. Many of the Amiibos being sold right now will probably remain suspended in their original packaging for decades to come, hoarded by toy scalpers and avid collectors who would pay $25,000 for a legless Peach Amiibo.
Nintendo's greed is also going to create a separate problem: How are we supposed to fully enjoy Nintendo games that feature Amiibo support, if it's not possible to access the full range of Amiibos? Nintendo is maneuvering itself into a position where it needs to either reduce Amiibo interaction with games—which makes the figures pointless for people who actually want to play with them—or accept the fact that large numbers of Nintendo fans will be unable to enjoy Nintendo products in their entirety.
It's clear that Nintendo has already thought of this, to some extent. Miyamoto recently hinted that Amiibo cards might enter the market as an alternative to rare or discontinued Amiibo figures. But this solution isn't sounding so hot to me right now. Even if there are Amiibo cards, I'll know that Nintendo created a product and restricted its supply, knowing that it would be devoured by collectors and speculators. Regular players like me will always be second best.
1 comment:
I believe Nintendo did this so we would all scramble for the next Nintendo product and or service, because It may become rare and hard to get. I've seen this before in the 90's with comics. Example: A few comics from the 70's and 80's become "rare" and "valuable", therefore; many people would buy 8 or 9 copies of a comic, expecting to become wealthy selling them a few years later. Flash forward 14+ years later....they are worthless. Scalpers have imploded the comic industry and to this day, the industry has not fully recovered.
IMO, If Nintendo keeps on this path...we may end up playing as Mario in a PS4 or Xbox1 game, reminiscing on the days when the once mighty Nintendo who dominated the market, are now reduced to being a nostalgic after thought. Sound familiar Sega?
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