• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Has amiibo gone too far? (Twilight Princess HD)

Nanashrew

Banned
Name one game where that's happened.

Until it does, this is nothing different than when Nintendo made a GB Color exclusive dungeon in Link's Awakening DX, only instead of needing a new console you use a figure that's included with every retail version of the game.

That's pretty much how I see it too. That and own one Zelda Amiibo, it's going to work in just about every game. You make one or two purchases for a franchise like Zelda, and you likely might not have to ever again.

Buy Ganondorf, never worry about Ganondorf again in any future Zelda.
 

caleb1915

Member
There hasn't been much of a shortage in months.

I have a complete collection of US Amiibos and I never paid more than retail for any of them. I was just patient and waited for the rereleases.

That's anecdotal, and doesn't really address the potential problems that having an actual DLC option for the amiibo content does.
 

Chindogg

Member
Literally the exact opposite. I think both are equally bad, and the player's willingness to be exploited isn't at issue. That's actually what I wrote. I don't even know how you misread.

Its almost impressively wrong.

Please, don't put words in my mouth if you can't be bothered to check their accuracy.



The fan exploitation angle really rubs me the wrong way. Skylanders doesn't have this element.

It's amazing how you manage to say that I completely misinterpreted what you said then in the same post prove exactly what I said.

Skylanders locks out parts of levels if you don't have the characters to access them. It's the most exploitative model for figures on the market, but you're giving it a pass.

That's anecdotal, and doesn't really address the potential problems that having an actual DLC option for the amiibo content does.

It's still the truth. Shortages were a thing initially because demand went nuts by resellers. But now Nintendo's done several rereleases to keep stocks back up.

The potential problem is just as bad as the game shortages being a potential problem. Or PSN's servers crashing are a potential problem. Or XBL's security being compromised as a potential problem. Or the publishers just dropping the DLC altogether after a game's passed it's legacy point.

DLC always has it's cons and at least with amiibos that DLC will exist forever since it's physical. It's not as if anything significant being locked behind them in the first place. It just seems like a lot of complaining when every other company does it only worse.
 

ZeroX03

Banned
Honestly the biggest problem the OP brings up is the availability, amiibos are notorious for their shortages, and Nintendo has done almost nothing to keep production up with their demand. Demand has only gotten higher, and shortages are still happening with every new Amiibo released. In the business world this is the perfect way to drive demand for a limited product that costs almost nothing for Nintendo to produce. This all ends with people who are buying up all these figures to sell at higher prices, and that's where $13 DLC becomes 20, 30, and 60 for people who just wanted 1 figure.

The fact that they are physical items tied to virtual goods means they are NOT DLC anymore, and it alienates the people who are fans of the game who can't get the physical representation of the content they want anymore.

I can't really comment that, other than that my understanding is the US has it pretty bad. Amiibo supplies have stabilized here and they're all readily available (at a discounted price over Xmas too).
 

Vena

Member
Honestly the biggest problem the OP brings up is the availability, amiibos are notorious for their shortages, and Nintendo has done almost nothing to keep production up with their demand. Demand has only gotten higher, and shortages are still happening with every new Amiibo released. In the business world this is the perfect way to drive demand for a limited product that costs almost nothing for Nintendo to produce. This all ends with people who are buying up all these figures to sell at higher prices, and that's where $13 DLC becomes 20, 30, and 60 for people who just wanted 1 figure.

The fact that they are physical items tied to virtual goods means they are NOT DLC anymore, and it alienates the people who are fans of the game who can't get the physical representation of the content they want anymore.

In what country is there a shortage of amiibo anymore? It certainly isn't the US unless you're from the past (circa 6 months ago).
 

Tevious

Member
So why not use it and then sell it to someone else? You don't have to keep the toy.

Because I don't want the toy. Not even for the brief time that I play the game. And as I said to someone else, I would also have to import the toy to begin with because I am living overseas (in S. Korea). I don't recall seeing amiibo at my local E-Mart and I'd be embarrassed as fuck standing in line for one if there was. He's over $36 on gmarket, the local ebay/amazon online store. Also, I'd rather throw the fucking thing in the trash than try to sell it to someone here over Craigslist, lol.

All of which is besides the point that the Ganondorf amiibo is a paid DLC "Hard Mode", which is fucking absurd! I shouldn't have to buy anything to get that feature with the game. Given how easy TP was to begin with, the game should be x2 damage by default and they should have introduced an "Easy Mode" without it.
 

caleb1915

Member
I can't really comment that, other than that my understanding is the US has it pretty bad. Amiibo supplies have stabilized here and they're all readily available (at a discounted price over Xmas too).

It's other countries as well, and my whole point is Nintendo should offer an online option through their store. Maybe make it cheaper than buying an actual figure so people who do purchase them will feel like they're a more premium item.

Win/Win for the consumer and Nintendo. Except for people who don't like DLC in general, but it's too little too late for that fight now.
 
it's a shitty practice made worse by the fact that they keep amiibo supply low. it's day one dlc and microtransactions. Nintendo fans support the cash grab though since Nintendo made a console nobody really wanted (and nobody really bought) and needs the money. I say this as someone who is currently playing and loving xenoblade x. I wish Nintendo would get back to form.
 

caleb1915

Member
In what country is there a shortage of amiibo anymore? It certainly isn't the US unless you're from the past (circa 6 months ago).

It is in the US, and just because you haven't experienced it doesn't mean it's not a problem in different regions in America. Canada also has problems with amiibo availabilty on release that I've read in the past month or two. Which I think still makes the argument that shortages for ingame virtual content valid. Read my post above for a simple solution.
 
I'm in the camp that this is a pretty crappy use of an Amiibo. Sure, Ganondorf can be used for other games but there's no guarantee it would be content that would interest me.
That'd be like locking Lunatic Mode in Fire Emblem behind an amiibo unlock. Sure, it's annoying, but the only people it's going to affect are the die hard fans and masochists who probably already had the amiibo to begin with! :lol

Ehh. A lot of enemies do next to no damage to you in Twilight Princess, I doubt 4x damage will actually put it on the level of insane crazy difficulty only a few can beat especially once you get to late game where you have quite a few hearts.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
What I love the most is the narrative that if it wasnt for amiibos, the content wouldnt be here in the first place. Lol.

50 dollars hd remaster of ONE game with on disk DLC. And you have people to defend that.

Of course amiibos have gone too far. And its not over yet as people keep defend that.

Finally someone with sense actually chimes in.


Amiibo's are seriously for collectors. There's only a select few games that actually fully use the amiibo's. Like mario maker.

The fact that people on this thread can't make the comparison to what disney infinity/ skylanders bring with their characters to actual game content is staggering.

With new disney infinity characters, your actually adding the character to a dedicated game written for it. And sometimes you also are adding new levels to the game, that was built on the foundation of having all these different characters be added to the base game as they are released.

Amiibo's are seriously Nintendo going back to their roots as a toy company and exploiting the hardcore audience. They still have not given a good reason for non-collectors to own these. Where is the Nintendo Infinity type game that actually fully utilizes these?

Only people buying, and defending these are the core Nintendo fan's, and once the roster starts to thin and start running out of characters to excite buyer's these will sink.

I seriously forsee in a year amiibo sales dropping. Unless they release some dedicated software for NX that specifically is designed around Amiibo's.
 

duckroll

Member
There's no such thing as too far when it comes to commercialization. As long as consumers still buy it, corporations have the power to do anything. Minority voices complaining are nothing to them.


For all the talk some companies give about being responsible and consumer friendly, once they recognize this truth, they don't give a fuck.
 

Papercuts

fired zero bullets in the orphanage.
It's fine, not that big of a deal. You're getting the complete game in HD, that's what you're paying for. If you pay extra, you get extra content. News at 11.

Yes, I also paid for a complete game in MK8 and Smash.

I now have additional DLC such as tracks and characters, and I paid the asking price for what I wanted. That worked fine.

But I do want the 2x damage modifier in TP on top of hero mode, because TP is super easy. The only method of doing this is by purchasing a figure I DO NOT WANT. There is no purchasable alternative on their online store. This is the issue people that don't like Amiibo locked content have.
 

caleb1915

Member
It's still the truth. Shortages were a thing initially because demand went nuts by resellers. But now Nintendo's done several rereleases to keep stocks back up.

The potential problem is just as bad as the game shortages being a potential problem. Or PSN's servers crashing are a potential problem. Or XBL's security being compromised as a potential problem. Or the publishers just dropping the DLC altogether after a game's passed it's legacy point.

DLC always has it's cons and at least with amiibos that DLC will exist forever since it's physical. It's not as if anything significant being locked behind them in the first place. It just seems like a lot of complaining when every other company does it only worse.

Saying it's the truth does not make it so. You said yourself you had to wait for the physical re-release of the figures you wanted to even purchase them; re-releases aren't what I'm talking about anyways. Servers crashing for a day or two, and security compromises won't be prevented by physical figures. Yes DLC has it's problems, but high speed internet is more available than the stores these figures are sold in and that's not the issue I was discussing in the first place .
 

Chindogg

Member
Finally someone with sense actually chimes in.


Amiibo's are seriously for collectors. There's only a select few games that actually fully use the amiibo's. Like mario maker.

The fact that people on this thread can't make the comparison to what disney infinity/ skylanders bring with their characters to actual game content is staggering.

With new disney infinity characters, your actually adding the character to a dedicated game written for it. And sometimes you also are adding new levels to the game, that was built on the foundation of having all these different characters be added to the base game as they are released.

Amiibo's are seriously Nintendo going back to their roots as a toy company and exploiting the hardcore audience. They still have not given a good reason for non-collectors to own these. Where is the Nintendo Infinity type game that actually fully utilizes these?

Only people buying, and defending these are the core Nintendo fan's, and once the roster starts to thin and start running out of characters to excite buyer's these will sink.

I seriously forsee in a year amiibo sales dropping. Unless they release some dedicated software for NX that specifically is designed around Amiibo's.

Wait wait wait wait.


Disney Infinity characters are locking new levels and characters to the game, some being classic wanted characters, but Nintendo's the one exploiting their hardcore audience?

You don't get to talk about how Skylanders/Infinity locks all this content to one game behind toys, then bitch when Nintendo adds some insignificant side content across multiple games behind toys. That's just dumb.

Saying it's the truth does not make it so. You said yourself you had to wait for the physical re-release of the figures you wanted to even purchase them; re-releases aren't what I'm talking about anyways. Servers crashing for a day or two, and security compromises won't be prevented by physical figures. Yes DLC has it's problems, but high speed internet is more available than the stores these figures are sold in and that's not the issue I was discussing in the first place .

Can you still access the original Knights of The Old Republic DLC on OG Xbox?

Imagine the fire if Activision did this.

Nintendo only gets a pass because they're Nintendo.

Wait there's never threads bitching about Skylanders and there are constantly threads bitching about Amiibo how strange.

Pretty much.

I'd be ok with people complaining about amiibos as DLC. It doesn't bother me but I get it. What makes me chuckle are the people actively Saying Skylanders/Disney Infinity are ok but Amiibos are exploiting the fanbase.

Both of those games are designed to exploit the fanbase. The hypocrisy is hilarious.
 

Acerac

Banned
Imagine the fire if Ubisoft did this.

Imagine the fire if Activision did this.

Nintendo only gets a pass because they're Nintendo.

Wait there's never threads bitching about Skylanders and there are constantly threads bitching about Amiibo how strange.
 

jnWake

Member
It doesn't outrage me but I don't like implementation of amiibo like Wolf Link (or the Splatoon ones). To me, the appeal of amiibo is to get small things in many games, like the costumes in Yoshi's Wooly World, Mario Kart 8 and Super Mario Maker or the guest characters in Codename STEAM. In those cases, I don't mind if the content is locked behind the amiibo since it's probably content that wouldn't exist without the amiibo either way. However, cases like the Twilight Princess HD dungeon and Splatoon feel like they could exist without the amiibo so they feel more "scammy".
 

caleb1915

Member
Wait wait wait wait.


Disney Infinity characters are locking new levels and characters to the game, some being classic wanted characters, but Nintendo's the one exploiting their hardcore audience?

You don't get to talk about how Skylanders/Infinity locks all this content to one game behind toys, then bitch when Nintendo adds some insignificant side content across multiple games behind toys. That's just dumb.

It's not dumb, and he can bring it up if he wants to. You don't get to tell him he can't, because Skylanders/Infinity are tied to one specific title, and not multiple ones across an entire consoles lifespan you know as a consumer what you're getting exactly as what was being pitched to you. We don't know what they're going to lock behind Amiibos in the future, and it's inevitably going to get worse. They're business out to make money.
 

duckroll

Member
I don't agree with the premise that the 2x damage mode being tied to an amiibo is the real problem. The fact that it is not a free option at all after someone thought it would be a cool quick toggle in the game, is the problem. This isn't some extensive feature that you need to do a ton of testing for. It's just a modifier setting. Locking it away as a paid feature in any way is greed.

And I'm speaking as someone who happily buys DLC and even spends on f2p mobile stuff. I think developers making content deserve to get paid. But I think when you come up with a cool cheap to implement feature for fans and the first thought is to find a way to charge for it, priorities are fucked.
 

Soul_Pie

Member
I think the combination of it being a full price remaster of an old game (and not one of the most impressive ones at that) mixed with features locked behind plastic toys that makes it a bit yuck.

It's also not a direction I particularly like as I'm moving more towards digital stuff these days across all mediums to cut down on the amount of the physical stuff I own. Stuff like amiibos is the total opposite to where I'm going.

Nintendo has always got a bit of a free pass with this kind of stuff though. The pokemon games and the different "versions" were the progenitor of this underhanded approach to content delivery. Mixed with the single save per game, (which was bullshit when you were a kid with siblings) the link cable, and you have something resembling an Activision executive's wet dream.
 

caleb1915

Member
Can you still access the original Knights of The Old Republic DLC on OG Xbox?

Once again, that's not the point I'm making at all. I'm suggesting amiibo/DLC options that will provide the content. Not getting rid of amiibos. What happens when they stop production on certain figures? No more content for that figure, if you got it within the lifespan of the console then you were lucky. Just like if you downloaded the DLC for KOTOR on the Xbox 13 years ago and still have it on the HDD.

Edit: And duckroll makes another good point that I didn't think of, the content in question is a testament of where they're going to go in the future and it's greed.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
You can see how it's kinda problematic if you think that the content exists regardless of the presence of the toys.

But on the flipside, if you see the content only existing as a method to add more value to the toys, then it's not nearly as unreasonable.

Of course, in software development, this kinda stuff is hazy and difficult to quantify, and that haziness effects the optics of the situation for customers in potentially negative ways.

I think best bet for companies that pursue this pathway is to sell the DLC for cheaper... and then package that DLC in with the Amiibos.

At least that way, the perception of value is actually made more quantifiable, and you can leverage the psychology of price comparison to provide a stronger sense of value to the plastic toys.
 

caleb1915

Member
I think best bet for companies that pursue this pathway is to sell the DLC for cheaper... and then package that DLC in with the Amiibos.

At least that way, the perception of value is actually made more quantifiable, and you can leverage the psychology of price comparison to provide a stronger sense of value to the plastic toys.


It's other countries as well, and my whole point is Nintendo should offer an online option through their store. Maybe make it cheaper than buying an actual figure so people who do purchase them will feel like they're a more premium item.

Win/Win for the consumer and Nintendo. Except for people who don't like DLC in general, but it's too little too late for that fight now.


*high fives*
 

donny2112

Member
Ehh. A lot of enemies do next to no damage to you in Twilight Princess, I doubt 4x damage will actually put it on the level of insane crazy difficulty only a few can beat especially once you get to late game where you have quite a few hearts.

2SnGZ0.gif


And that's in regular mode. Hero Mode, and Link would've died at full health from that one hit. Yes, it's for die hard fans that are masochists.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
2SnGZ0.gif


And that's in regular mode. Hero Mode, and Link would've died from that one hit. Yes, it's for masochists.

No one's going to die from that guy though. He's slow and all his moves are telegraphed. To get hit by that moblin you'd have to sit there and do nothing.

EDIT: They even line themselves up with the attack. That's more the issue with TP is that everything is heavily telegraphed.
 

Shiggy

Member
The N2 Elite is a great product by the way, OP. Cheap and your home is not stuck with plastic toys.

Of course you cannot download Amiibo profiles online as that might infringe on copyrights. Even if you potentially could ;)
 

Papacheeks

Banned
Wait wait wait wait.


Disney Infinity characters are locking new levels and characters to the game, some being classic wanted characters, but Nintendo's the one exploiting their hardcore audience?

You don't get to talk about how Skylanders/Infinity locks all this content to one game behind toys, then bitch when Nintendo adds some insignificant side content across multiple games behind toys. That's just dumb.


Can you still access the original Knights of The Old Republic DLC on OG Xbox?

You mean new versions of the game like from 2.-3.0 which are different games that have different characters/levels for each one?

2.0-Marvel figures
3.0 is star wars. How is that the same as buying AMiibo's that don;t even have dedicated games for you to justify the purchase?

HERE!
All your 1.0 and 2.0 characters with stats work with 3.0. What in the fuck are you talking about?

So what there are different versions? Is it shitty I guess especially if your a star wars fan. But your not answering my question. WHERE IS THE DEDICATED GAME THAT USES AMIIBO'S?
The answer is there fucking isn't one, and all the dlc they have added to these, are bullshit. SMash bros was a joke for amiibo's.

Please show me where Amiibo's get added to a dedicated game? Skylanders and infinity work, and other than some issues with 3.0 for different star wars campaigns it's been fair. They even back in 2.0 would secretly pack in levels in the form of discs you put on your portal just for the hell of it. Amiibo's seriously were made to be the pokemeon cards for Nintendo.
To be nothing more than collectors items and how they are handling Twilight princess with the pack in amiibo kind of proves that.
 

duckroll

Member
A Nintendo party board game that uses the gamepad and supports all amiibos in actual gameplay could be bigger than Smash if well implemented. A new Wii Sports essentially. I think that boat has sailed though...
 

PetrCobra

Member
They haven't even gone all that far yet. They're still just testing the waters I think.

And by the way, I'll agree with the comparison between Amiibos and day one DLCs when Ubisoft says "Hey, you bought that costume DLC in Assassin's Creed last year, come get this extra mode in our new Rayman game for free".

Where I do see the controversy is when the content is not available by any other means, particularly if it's hard to get the Amiibo needed for the content you want. I had to wait for the Squid Amiibo to be released separately in Europe months later just to be able to play that extra mode and get that extra minigame in Splatoon. Some people might prefer buying that stuff with no Amiibo, I would certainly prefer not limiting the fucking Amiibo to a limited edition of the game. I mean, I'd buy the limited edition, but somehow it wasn't available in digital form, and I buy all my games digitally these days...
 

Tevious

Member
2SnGZ0.gif


And that's in regular mode. Hero Mode, and Link would've died at full health from that one hit. Yes, it's for masochists.

I'm sure I've been one-hit killed before in a souls game, you just learn to play more carefully and avoid the attack. I'd love to play this game with an actual challenge.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
A Nintendo party board game that uses the gamepad and supports all amiibos in actual gameplay could be bigger than Smash if well implemented. A new Wii Sports essentially. I think that boat has sailed though...

If it's not done by the Mario Party dev team, I'm sure it would be good and could do well. They'd really have to give it their all and really sell it though.
 

donny2112

Member
I don't agree with the premise that the 2x damage mode being tied to an amiibo is the real problem. The fact that it is not a free option at all after someone thought it would be a cool quick toggle in the game, is the problem. This isn't some extensive feature that you need to do a ton of testing for. It's just a modifier setting. Locking it away as a paid feature in any way is greed.

I could imagine a discussion at Nintendo where they wanted to use Ganondorf amiibo in the game somehow, someone said that they could use it to cause more damage, they were then reminded that Hero Mode is already in the game, and then they jokingly said, "Well then let's make him do more damage! :lol" Pure speculation, of course, but it's a plausible scenario, considering the 2x damage option is already in the game in a much more full-featured way. It would also change the color of the discussion from charging for a simple toggle to the toggle only being put in to give something for the amiibo to do.
 

10k

Banned
A Nintendo party board game that uses the gamepad and supports all amiibos in actual gameplay could be bigger than Smash if well implemented. A new Wii Sports essentially. I think that boat has sailed though...
I think anything like that, or any amiibo game is moved over to the NX.
 
2SnGZ0.gif


And that's in regular mode. Hero Mode, and Link would've died at full health from that one hit. Yes, it's for die hard fans that are masochists.
They're showing off one of the rare instances where an enemy would do more than 1 heart's worth of damage in the vanilla game. Most enemies will do far less than that, including other bosses.
 

duckroll

Member
If it's not done by the Mario Party dev team, I'm sure it would be good and could do well. They'd really have to give it their all and really sell it though.

Not really thinking of Mario Party at all. Something totally different and more of a large scale interactive board gamw for friends and families where you can load amiibos in as player tokens and have different interactivity at various squares depending on what character you are.
 

donny2112

Member
Amiibo went too far with Codename Steam, the Zelda ones are fine.

The amiibo use in CodeName STEAM is why I bought the game. :lol I was already buying the Fire Emblem amiibo and here's this effectively 3-D Fire Emblem type strategy RPG game from the FE devs that can use FE amiibo to play the game through. Yes, please!
 

RagnarokX

Member
Meh. The only amiibo feature remotely of interest to me is the Ganondorf one. Wolf Link unlocks a wolf-only version of the Cave of Ordeals, which was awful. I imagine going through 100 floors fighting enemies with Wolf Link's super limited abilities will get old even faster. And it unlocks a reward that is pretty much totally useless; TP has hardly a need for a 600 rupee wallet let alone 9999.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
Not really thinking of Mario Party at all. Something totally different and more of a large scale interactive board gamw for friends and families where you can load amiibos in as player tokens and have different interactivity at various squares depending on what character you are.

Man, I haven't played boardgames in forever I'm drawing blanks outside of D&D. Nintendo D&D with amiibo would still be cool though. Tap in your adventurers and the gamepad user is the dungeon master.
 
Top Bottom