Nintendo's selling an incomplete 2015 Wii U game? They sure are.

[FamicomRetroGamer]

You're just sugar-coating the problem which is the problem with the defendants of Amiibo locked content, and if you're okay with it, fine it's your decision but this no different than Capcom selling DLC which are already on the disc.

Amiibos are a form of DLC.  There isn't really a way to refute that.  Comparing it to plain old on-disc DLC is taking it a bit far, though.  Nintendo has taken great care in making DLC as palatable as possible via Amiibos.  You're getting a physical item.  You're getting content for multiple games and not just one.  You're getting something that tracks statistics.  It's as despicable as any other DLC, but it's impossible to say that they aren't at least trying to make it a bit more fun.

Fair enough, to that I agree.

The Amiibos of the Mario Party series do look a lot nicer and better than the standard ones from the Super Smash Bros. Collection. I might get a Mario and Luigi but it's still too early and I've decided for now I'll just stick to Ness and Mega Man.

[L___E___T]

I'd quite like Ness and Mega Man just to have as figures, I'm still lost on what the game value for them is.  They can level up if you play with them etc?  
Isn't the whole point that you play the game yourself, not have some AI play it for you?

[zmaster18]

You can either fight against your amiibo or use them on your side in a team battle. I have a Link Amiibo that's level 30ish. Took like 3 hours of gameplay, max level is 50. Do I even care about leveling up my Link? Not at all. I also don't really see the appeal in it. Hopefully Amiibo gets better integration in games in the future than this.

[nintendodork]

Isn't the whole point that you play the game yourself, not have some AI play it for you?

I like fighting Amiibos in Super Smash Bros, because they adapt to your play style and once they reach level 50, they become very formidable opponents. You can feed them equipment too, which makes them better than a normal player using that character ever could be, but it's optional. They provide a great way to learn the ins and outs of that character and show you the weak spots in your own strategies. I'm very excited for a Greninja Amiibo (whenever that happens) and a Ness Amiibo as well due to the lack of general Earthbound merchandise.

On-topic: I'm going to guess you need the Amiibo every time you want to play Amiibo Party if it's anything like Smash Bros., so your comment about touching them to the NFC once and then tossing them is invalid. Nintendo is just pushing a new product of theirs and I honestly don't see why any big Nintendo fan wouldn't want to own at least one. They're pretty cool little collectible figures (except for the fact that they can only store data for one game at a time. That seems really dumb and avoidable in this day and age).

[P]

(except for the fact that they can only store data for one game at a time. That seems really dumb and avoidable in this day and age).

That sucks!
Hopefully there'll be a way to back it up.

[zmaster18]

(except for the fact that they can only store data for one game at a time. That seems really dumb and avoidable in this day and age).

That sucks!
Hopefully there'll be a way to back it up.

Nintendo wants you to buy more, that was definitely intentional. Only Smash and Mario Party actually save to the Amiibo. For other games where you just tap the Amiibo to unlock a costume or whatever, I think you actually can just tap it once and throw it away. At least for MK8 Mii costumes you can.

[mario_bro2065]

Remember when games DIDN'T need Downloadable content and designers actually put thought into there DLCs. I mean is that so hard? Amiibos are basically physical DLCs. I wish Nintendo wasn't going in the way Sony and Microsoft were going. They probably are going to flop and Nintendo will be gone forever....

[UglyJoe]

Amiibos are basically physical DLCs. I wish Nintendo wasn't going in the way Sony and Microsoft were going. They probably are going to flop and Nintendo will be gone forever....

Nintendo has sold more than 5.7 million Amiibos.  I do not believe the word "flop" applies here.

[nintendodork]

People are going nuts over Amiibos. It's stupid. I just wish Nintendo would meet the demand of their consumer base and print more of the rare Amiibos like Little Mac and Villager. I know they don't care about scalpers, because sold units are sold units, but they have to realize by now that if they print more, people will definitely buy them. Same with the Majora's Mask 3DS.

I would really like to own a Ness Amiibo when they release this Spring just to have a piece of Earthbound merch (and to fight it on my New 3DS), but several Amiibo tracking communities are predicting he'll be the rarest one out of that wave of Amiibo. One nice thing about them is that they're region free, so ordering online internationally is always an option (and more viable than you might think).

[zmaster18]

I received a Villager amiibo for christmas and sold it a month ago. I didn't need a $100 figure, so I decided to just cash it in. My girlfriend is actively investing in Amiibos. Her investment portfolio is pretty strong so far, she has Ike, Rosalina, King Dedede, and some other pretty good ones. She's already going to double her money,but if she waits even longer I think she will triple.

[L___E___T]

'investment portfolio' - you know these are cheap plastic figures right?  Be careful with new items like these, everyone's at it and at some point the bubble bursts.

[nintendodork]

http://kotaku.com/is-the-west-coast-port-strike-hurting-nintendos-supply-1686594599

Interesting article and a very logical reason behind this strange shortage. I agree with L__E__T, zmaster. That investment portfolio may take a nosedive once that strike gets sorted out.