Amiibo’s – On Disc DLC Everyone Seems To Be Alright With

Think about it, you are paying for a statue that Nintendo is artificially making a demand for and locking away content on disc. Everyone seems to ok with this and it’s because it’s Nintendo doing it everyone seems to be alright with this. Don’t mistake Amiibo’s for the same as Skylanders and Disney Infinity. Because they only apply for one game. Amiibo’s have locked away content on most games they appear on. This is not acceptable.

I don’t see any outrage regarding the Amiibo’s, in fact people are happy about them and want to buy them left and right(including many of the staff on site). It seems to me that people love Nintendo too much and don’t criticize them for this practice enough. Not making enough statue’s and then apologize for it is unacceptable. Don’t apologize for things you can do something about. They have no excuse that is valid for not making enough Amiibo’s to satisfy the market and its demand. Fix this Nintendo!

We also have the issue with them locking on-disc DLC only for those who actually buy the Amiibo’s as well. This is not a practice we should support as consumers. If there’s content on disc that’s locked away, there is something wrong. Capcom, Bioware and other companies have heard it from the consumers about how upset they were about this practice. Unfortunately this is a trendwhere people keep buying into bad consumer practices and award them for it.

What I am trying to get across is that you should know what you’re getting for your money. When you give your money a company for a product, you’re agreeing with the product and the practices around it. You are also saying that you want to spend money on that product and get similar products like that in the future. At the end of the day, your wallet is the most powerful tool to vote with in a consumer market.

Nintendo can do no wrong! :p

of course not! They're Nintendo! They can't screw up a console, third party relations, aritificially make demand, etc.

I don't see the issue with on disk DLC for amiibos. They're supposed to be like Skylander/Disney Infinity where you unlock content by buying toy figurines. It's a kids thing, and I think it is cool, but it is expensive for parents.

The main problem with amiibos is that it is very unclear what you're getting with each toy. With Skylanders/Disney Infinity, it was clear that you were buying new characters for those games. However, ambios have unique content spread out through several different games. Those figurines are supposed to work with upcoming games as well, and you have no idea how they will work with those future releases. Not to mention, the content you're getting with amiibos currently seems pretty crappy. You can unlock weapons in Hyrule Warriors and unlock Mii costumes in Mario Kart 10, super lame stuff.

First of all, they're totally optional. Nothing they unlock in games are necessary to enjoying or beating a game. You say "not acceptable" but I bet if Sony put out Soniibos you'd be all over them like white on rice, even if they were $50 a pop. I mean you're always proclaiming what a great value PS+ is even though for the past year or longer they've offered garbage tier rentals, so you're not getting much of anything for a $50 annual subscription.

Secondly, most people buy them as collectible figurines. For $13 they're pretty good quality, and the little extras they unlock in games are just bonuses.

Not when they're on seperate games that are on the disc themselves

Should you always know what you're getting for your money? Blind bags have been around for ages. Kids like that type of stuff.

It's not like anyone is mislead about what they'e buying. If people are happy about it what's the problem?

@The_Last_Ride said: "We also have the issue with them locking on-disc DLC only for those who actually buy the Amiibo’s as well. This is not a practice we should support as consumers. If there’s content on disc that’s locked away, there is something wrong. Capcom, Bioware and other companies have heard it from the consumers about how upset they were about this practice. Unfortunately this is a trend where people keep buying into bad consumer practices and award them for it.

What I am trying to get across is that you should know what you’re getting for your money. When you give your money a company for a product, you’re agreeing with the product and the practices around it. You are also saying that you want to spend money on that product and get similar products like that in the future. At the end of the day, your wallet is the most powerful tool to vote with in a consumer market."

The article you linked to hits the nail right on the head: consumers should make an attitude change. But maybe they simply don't care enough. It's a leisure activity after all, not food or water. Companies will exploit people if the possibility arises. Now, I would complain if there was no way to opt out or to not participate. But that's not the case. The success of these particular practices lies entirely in the hands of consumers. They're getting what they're willing to accept. I think this has more to do with indifference than with ignorance. In the end, I think most people don't care enough about how much content they deserve or how much money they spend on leisure activities.

If the majority is happy with their purchase, there really isn't a whole lot to do about it. Pointing out that people are being exploited or are not getting their money's worth isn't the solution. Saying that Amiibo's with locked away content are unacceptable is not enough. If people buy them, then apparently it is acceptable. You can only hope to convince consumers to have higher standards. So my question is: why is this practice still unacceptable if most people are happy with their purchase? And what's the better alternative for people who are happy with their purchase?

Pretty much all Amiibo support has been either patched in post release like Hyrule Warriors and Mario Kart, or is content on top of what a game in a series would normally have, like the Amiibo mode in Mario Party 10 wasn't present in previous instalments.

There are games with Amiibo support to bitch about like Splatoon which is launching bare bones with locked Amiibo content, but like actual DLC, you can't just make a blanket statement and say it's all bad.

People find the high quality statuettes enough of a reason to buy them. Yes, they do need to fix their supply chain because at the moment we're getting to beanie baby level craziness. The quality of the statuette and the mostly benign DLC that's attached to it are probably the reasons for people not complaining, most games only lock away single daily use items or a power up or an AI fighter. I don't think anyone really cares about the DLC being locked away within the amiibo to really complain because it all seems inconsequential to most of the games at the moment.

Yeah I'm alright with amiibo's and what they currently unlock in games which is exactly why I buy them and the games. I buy anything that I find acceptable and I pass on anything that I don't so I do very much vote with my wallet.

I am at least saying my piece about it, even if it isn't popular

Honestly, I wouldn't care who was doing it. I would not condone -bos of any type, and here's the deal. Regardless of what superfluous content the -bo unlocks, it's content on a disc you paid for. You are entitled to that feature; to that costume; to that ability. There should be some other way of getting it without having to spend 13 bucks on a cheap piece of plastic.

Yes, most people are buying them as figurines and as collectibles, they're doing a pretty good job about it. As I said before, though, these "bonuses" are on games people paid upwards of 60 dollars for. There needs to be a way for the owners of those games to unlock whatever content is on the disc without the need to buy these Amiibos. The people who do have them simply get those bonuses instantaneously where as those who don't don't get them at all. And that's why Amiibos are shitty.

@JustPlainLucas: No more shitty than day one DLC, horse armor, season passes and premium editions. But because Amiibos are from Nintendo, GAWD!

Exactly, and all games in the future will have on disc DLC

Not sure what your point is. There's been a lot of blowback on those other practices (just from Arkham Knight's 40 dollar season pass alone). So, why shouldn't someone who's call those practices shitty not call Amiibos shitty as well, unless it's because they're from Nintendo?

No, I just see people who don't own anything Nintendo (like the TC) cherry picking this to get all grumpy about.

Of course it's all old-hat, and the best way to complain about all of it is by not buying and supporting what you don't approve of, but even that is futile given the popularity of all these things. That leads me to believe the people who complain are just doing so for attention.

So you're ok with future games having on disc DLC?

Or maybe they're complaining because they just don't agree with it? Yeah, it doesn't seem like it's going to change anything, but if you have something to say, you should say it. It may influence some people, it may not, but a vote of not buying something without saying why is a silent vote. At least Nintendo knows there are some people out there that aren't buying their Amiibos, and now they know why. They may not change anything because of how popular they are, but then again, someone at Nintendo may realize they can sell even more if they change after all.

For the record, I own every piece of Nintendo hardware sans the Virtual Boy and the Japanese N64 DD, and I think the practice of Amiibos are revolting, so I view bias as a result of ownership or lack thereof to be irrelevant. TLR has a point, and I agree with him.

Yes. DLC is dlc, plain and simple, arguing about how it is delivered to the consumer is pointless. They'll either put it on the disc or make you download it later. There is only two things that I look at when I purchase and that is, is the initial game offering worth the price for me and is the extra content worth it for me. How the content is delivered is not the problem, the problem is whether or not it's worth it.

Thinking from a business persepective, DLC of any kind is rather sensible to price the game at a point that it will sell when it hits the retail market. The other solution would to make a complete package and price it at $80-100 which would probably be more outrageous than the model they use now. Breaking up a game into bite size prices allows those who want more to get more and those who are satisfied pay less. The only downside to this model is that a lot of DLC will not be preserved down the road.

Why is this model a necessity? Rising production costs.

Blind bags are only a few dollars, amiibos are like $13-$15. Kids like that stuff because it encourages trading with friends. You're not buying an amiibo with the idea of trading it later on. It's not primary a collectors toy, it's something you play with.

I don't know, I get the impression that people are buying amiibos for the wrong reasons. Amiibos are geared toward kids, but they've mainly caught the attention of nostalgic adults. The people buying amiibos are likely just buying them as figurines for a shelf. I don't see anyone buying amiibos for the DLC itself, that stuff unclear and pretty crappy.

Well they are selling figurines... Whether the figurines are being played with or idolized on a shelf, I think the main intention of amiibos was always the physical figurine product because if they wanted to sell DLC/microtransactions then they could just do that instead of wasting money on high quality figurines.

Well yeah, the figurine is part of it, but the delivery of some digital goody is what makes them appealing. Skylanders could just have downloadable characters and levels, but that would suck away all the magic out of physical toys interacting with a game.

You can do this in another way, other than screwing over the costumers by putting content behind DLC statues when they're on the fucking disc. This is a weak excuse

The figures worth $13 to me alone. The dlcs are just added bonus. I mean just look at them! Most of the locked dlcs on amiibo aren't substantial at all. They are costume tier at best.

I think it's the other way around. The main attraction is the physical product.

So the issue is that the information is on the disc? If they offer the information as a downloadable update like they did with Hyrule Warriors, Mario Kart 8 would that be okay?

I don't really think it's a weak excuse. I think you're just upset. The industry is at a position where development cost is not sustainable, so there needs to be some give and take if you want those shimmering production values. The give is you get your pretty games; the take is you have the option to pay more for more of it.

I'm in way too deep with amiibo. It's an addiction at this point. I could not care less about the DLC, I just like having Nintendo figures displayed on my shelves. The demand for these things are insane though. It's getting super ridiculous trying to get these things. Pre-orders and the store exclusives are lame.

You keep saying "on the disc" but can you prove it? Seems to me the games get updates that allow these things to work and do what they do.

Even if the content is on the disc, so what?

Really? You know the content is there on day one, and it's going to be there in the future. You can honestly say that it's ok with Nintendo getting a pass but EA, WArner Bros Games, Ubisoft, 2K, Activision ,etc all get blasted for it? It isn't "so what". Gamers are getting fucked and people like you are accepting it...

Yes the issue is that it's on disc, if it's in the statue or you get to download it when you register the amiibo i would be fine with it.

I am upset of crappy business practices. I can see that games cost more to develop, but you don't need a 1000 people to make a good freaking game. You need to spend it wise and don't expect to sell 10 and receive a loss when you only sell 4.

No I don't think anyone gets a free pass, but it's a simple business practice that isn't going to go away unless you can convince hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of paying customers to stop doing what they're doing. People these days can't agree on anything, much less what's valuable or worth buying.

As far as Mario Kart 8 and Captain Toad goes, the option to use Amiibos wasn't there when the games first came out, but did show up after updates later on. That would imply the content wasn't ever on the discs when I bough them.

That's asinine if your only problem is with the code being physically stored on the disc instead of physically stored on the figurine because in both cases the figurine is gating the content. I mean just pretend that it's stored on the figurine.

This is the conundrum though because while people scoff at the exorbitant budget of AAA games, they'll whine about how last generation lasted too long, about graphical downgrades, and about a 'plague' of indie titles on the new consoles in the same breath. Anytime there is a generational leap, like Nintendo transitioning from SD to HD, there's going to be an increase in hiring to bear the additional work and trouble shooting as well as an increase in development costs that need to be swallowed. This means that budget and sales expectations are going to keep rising, not because of mismanagement or delusions of grandeur that their product is going to sell a billion units, but because people insist on new technology and new technology is expensive.

THey are there on all of the new games though

No it's not, in one case you buy additional content to own it, on the other option you own the content but you are not able to access it...

Don't put words in my mouth. Cause it seems like you are here. Yes it is, because of mismanagment. Capcom, Square Enix, THQ, etc are all freaking examples of this...

It really isn't. If the content was on the disc, you own it but can't access it without the figure. If it was on the figure, you can't own it unless you buy the figure, thus it becomes the "bonus". This would be the same if you bought a car and its fifth gear was locked to you until you bought the hood ornament that unlocks that gear. Now, if your car didn't come with a fifth gear and you could get a fifth gear packed with a hood ornament, then you wouldn't be able to complain about having a fifth gear in your car and not being able to use it.

You don't "own" whatever content is on the disc, you have a liscense to use the content that's on the disc at their discretion. Also you're buying what they advertise and unless they falsely advertise any on-disc dlc as being usable when you buy the base game then you have no claim to it at all. These analogies to missing car parts or incomplete meals are simply erroneous. If you don't get your fries with your Happy Meal then it's either false advertising or they are just selling the burger with a pop, which they can most certainly do if they wanted to.

That's totally justified and fair, but who are you trying to convince?

Gamers are fucking themselves and they like it. The capitalist reality is that people (could) know what they're buying and that they're happy with the stuff they buy (either a figurine or a supposedly incomplete game). And it will lead to more of this stuff being sold. The problem is not that these are bad practices (which by the grace of the apparent majority they aren't), the problem is that people are fine with them.

But it is not a car. It's a relatively cheap leisure item. The simple fact is that a car manufacturer won't get away with locking out the fifth gear, while a game publisher will get away with locking out content. You can't compare a figurine/dlc with a car. So it would in fact not be the same. In this particular context people are apparently willing to accept these practices and if someone wants to address that, I think he/she should first address the people accepting it, not the company applying the practice. Pointing out a company's 'bad' practices means very little when the people buying its stuff are numerous and happy with their purchase.

Nonsense. Fifth gear is a necessary component of the car. Minor bonus unlocks from Amiibos aren't an essential part of a game.

How they're unlocked is absolutely irrelevant. DLC is DLC.

So in both cases you buy additional content to access it.... lol

Sure but unlike a car, it's much easier for a developer to just simply never offer the extra content (on disc or downloadable). The content is much less essential than a 5th gear.

I don´t care about the games, I don´t even have WiiU, I like the figures and I will purchase those that I like, so far I have 2 different Marios ( domestic and Japanese ), 2 different Luigis ( domestic and Japanese ), one japanese Bowser ( gonna purchase the domestic version ), one japanese Yoshi ( gotta purchase the domestic version ), Diddy Kong and Donkey Kong.

Unlike Skylanders and Infinity amiibos are NOT NECESSARY to play the game.

Isn't that what I said...? Or is 'but' supposed to be 'and', because now it just looks like you think I'm acknowledging the analogy. Or are you actually replying to JPL?

I'm sorry loaf, I meant to respond to JPL. Sorry about that, I was rushing out the door this morning when I typed that.

I am voicing my opinion and if i can change one persons mind, then i have done what i set out to do.

Yes, they are bad practices. How would you have felt you bought a sandwich, you got ham and all that stuff on it. But then get told: "no, you don't get to eat that." Nobody would stand for that. They're giving you the ham, but you can't eat it, but you have to pay for eating the ham in your sandwich

Fair enough.

I wouldn't buy that sandwich in the first place. That is the point. It is MY decision. There are plenty of delicious sandwiches out there. I don't need this particular one. Besides, the beauty of a sandwich (and the shop selling it) is that you can wait a while before you buy it and find out what you actually get when you buy it, how the sandwich is made and what other people think of the sandwich. I don't need that sandwich to survive. It's a snack. And if they want to sell me a ham sandwich, but I have to pay extra for the ham (which I don't think is actually the case in this particular context), then I won't buy the sandwich.

I get your point, but people like the figurines and they want to pay for it. And others think the related game is fun enough even if some content is locked out. And then there are the people who just don't care. And then there are the few who think this is unacceptable. But doesn't the majority get to decide in this capitalist structure? Judging by the popularity of those figurines, the majority apparently thinks this is very acceptable. I mean, justified or not, criticizing this particular example just seems like a waste of energy. But that's up for debate, of course.

That's cool. Just making sure.

And that's just the thing. They SHOULDN'T get away with it, regardless of how small or large the content is but like you said, we should really be addressing the people out there buying it, not giving a damn at all about their consumer rights and how they'll continue to be taken advantage of. Of course, it's incredibly difficult to get people to care.

Fifth gear is not a necessary component of a car. So long as the car has first gear, it can still move. At that point, you are merely adding features to the car. Yes the Amiibo bonuses aren't essential, but if they're on the disc that someone has purchased, then it's content they possess but can't access. I don't quite get why people like yourself can't see anything wrong with that.

And actually, on-disc DLC is somewhat of a misnomer, because you aren't actually downloading anything. It honestly makes no sense whatsoever in ANY other industry to sell something to someone and lock out a portion of it to sell back to the consumer at a later time. Books aren't sold with chapters missing (or afterwords or whatever). Movies aren't sold without scenes missing. Music isn't sold without tracks missing. Why on Earth do people somehow DEFEND this practice when it involves games?

Please stop with these analogies because they are terrible and are inaccurate. They don't advertise dlc as something that comes with the base game so saying that it's equivalent to buying a ham sandwich then being told you can't eat it is erroneous, they are advertising a ham sandwich for you to eat just like publishers are offering you a base game for you to play.

But are you going to accept it when they're trying to sell you a sweater and then they give you a t-shirt and say you have to pay extra for the sleeves? ;-P

I just don't understand the crux of the argument if you think it's okay if this content is removed from the disc and offered for downloading at an additional cost. Both methods end in the same results; I'm not sure why one would be preferred over the other.