Nintendo's Amiibo Figures Are Not Quite as Detailed as First Advertised

[144_v1legacy]

It's actually a dealbreaker for me. The prototypes were something worthy of being displayed, but the actual ones are simply too cheap-looking for visual purposes. Why does one buy a figurine? To display.

That's why nerds buy figurines.
Children (ya know, the people figurines were originally invented for) buy them to play with and they don't care about tiny details.

I might be generalizing a little, but I'm pretty sure kids don't pay attention to detail.

Why does one buy a figurine? To display.

You buy these figurines to obtain the virtual version of the character and they appear inside your game, Skylanders style.

Nintendo never said they're for displaying.

I'll respond to both of you simultaneously. Your responses both justify the quality drop through children being the target market. So I assume then, that in spite of your defense of the product, you also won't be buying these? In spite of their in-game functionality, you've both condemned these products to the realm of lower-quality children's toys. And I agree. They look like toys. But a higher-quality item would be more versatile, displayable for adults and playable for kids.

 

[martyrdrebel27]

Miniatures are not as detailed as they were in promotional material? I MUST SEND DEATH THREATS TO FEMALES WORKING IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY!!!!

Is that supposed to be a joke? Because I'm not laughing.

chill the fuck out. The poster was obviously poking fun at the idiotic mentality of these people who see some slight against them, real or imagined, and respond with death threats. We're on the same side of that fight. Its satire, stop being so god damn sensitive.

 

[Verlander]

Figurine gaming is all about the $$$ anyway, so it's unsurprising to me that these cost $13 in the first place. To my non-collector eyes, these look about right for the money. Non-gaming figurines look better for that cost, but these are specific for the game, and I wouldn't expect them to be at the same level of detail. To be honest, I think they look pretty decent. That said, I'm not the one expected to be buying them.

 

[Verlander]

I'll respond to both of you simultaneously. Your responses both justify the quality drop through children being the target market. So I assume then, that in spite of your defense of the product, you also won't be buying these? In spite of their in-game functionality, you've both condemned these products to the realm of lower-quality children's toys. And I agree. They look like toys. But a higher-quality item would be more versatile, displayable for adults and playable for kids.

Agreed, but there's a third factor in play: price. They want to be price because from Nintendo's perspective, this is a money making exercise. The more detail, the higher the price (and risk of pricing out less committed customers) or the loss in profits.

 

[Story]

Yeah, this might very well be a deal braker for me as well.
I mean even Disney Infinity and Skylanders have better quality. At least their poses are more stagnant to begin with so they would be sturdy without the use of ugly plastic supports.
I was a little suspicious when I saw the poses for the figures to begin with. Ah well.

 

[KazeAizen]

No kidding, if Nintendo is circling the drain, then everyone else is already in the drain. Such as Sony, who's set to post a multi-billion dollar loss (AGAIN). Or how about we get into how every 3rd party is struggling to make ANY sort of profit with their offerings, profit margins continuing to get slimmer and slimmer while they are content to let the gaming audience continue shrinking thus making the future of the medium very shaky.

Anyway, this is completely typical; prototypes are ALWAYS better than the mass-produced models. Plus, if you notice, it's the more complex ones that have suffered a slight downgrade. The simpler ones like Kirby, Yoshi, and Mario (which Kotaku have conveniently ignored) have actually maintained the same quality. There is no need for people to get pissy about this.

Looking at the other two I kind of smile to myself as it seems the Xbox is struggling still and again Sony is losing money left and right making me wonder if they would actually lop off their gaming arm to try and save some money. Not going to happen but from where I stand Nintendo is sitting pretty. Especially with its line of software being released from now till the end of the year.

If these figures take off like Skylanders though there is no doubt in my mind that they will be fine. I mean I'm kind of sad that there is a downgrade as the link figure looked truly awesome but they still look good enough to display on a shelf to me. Not that that was their purpose initially. Their purpose, which I think some people forgot, is to add to the gameplay of some of their games. Its a good thing I planned on getting the Link one first as it seems their will be some Amiibo interaction for Hyrule Warriors as well.

 

[Aerosteam]

You buy these figurines to obtain the virtual version of the character and they appear inside your game, Skylanders style.

Nintendo never said they're for displaying.

If they weren't for displaying, they why are they using figurines? After all, if they only were only there to do something in a game, they could have made them like the QR cards that came with the 3DS and cut the production cost to nil.

And, since it appears that you don't know, when not being used for putting a character in game, the Skylanders are sturdy actions figures and are meant to be mashed up against one and another and have posable arms and legs, because they're toys that just happen to have chips in them.

These figurines, on the other hand, are just barely attached to the stand by a piece of plastic. Obviously, they not toys meant to be played with. The only justifiable reason to have them be figurines is that they were meant to be displayed.

Posable or not, having a figurine will appeal to kids as opposed to something flat like a code.

 

[madwarper]

Posable or not, having a figurine will appeal to kids as opposed to something flat like a code.

You'll pardon me, but I can't seem to hear you over the sound of MtG, Pokemon, YuGiOh, and all other TCG's appealing to kids.

 

[Aerosteam]

Posable or not, having a figurine will appeal to kids as opposed to something flat like a code.

You'll pardon me, but I can't seem to hear you over the sound of MtG, Pokemon, YuGiOh, and all other TCG's appealing to kids.

Sure, but if I were still a kid I'd choose a figurine over a card.

 

[FFMaster]

They really don't look that much different on the whole, yeah i can see that peaches dress is more "rounded" (has divets in it on the prototype), and maybe that gold stuff on her dress (which looks different in the prototype but could be lighting) but overall it looks about the same overall. Maybe a bit less on some but nothing like as bad as i was expecting when i hear people say they look "utterly awesome now and I'm canceling my pre-orders"

The swords are bent in one pic but that seems odd to me, as if they got whacked in transport, I imagine they bend back if a bit of pressure is applied (and for safety reasons i imagine they can't be fully "solid" and need a bit of bend, to stop them from snapping).

But bending it back would stop them from making the point kotaku wanted to make

A lot of the "omg its worse" does seem to come from the lighting as far as I can see it, with a pinch of exaggeration becuase the lighting in the new shots is a bit on the awful side, mainly becuase its not "white" light, its yellow.

The link stand thing is a bit disappointing but at the same time i was thinking that the link one looked a bit breakable or snappable on the prototype so i imagine it was for toughing up reasons.

Experiment for someone, take the pictures, put it up on your site with a article about how they look better than the prototypes, see what people say. See how much of the "they look worse" is people reading the article then looking at the pictures to confirm the article rather than making their own decision.

And before you mean, its a confirmed issue with how our brains work, hence why people handed McDonalds to organic food lovers and got told it was great, because they said it was organic when they handed it over (and hid the boxes obviously).

[EDIT] If you have a look at hte picture with all hte marth ones in teh background, you can see that the other marths swords seem straight, a more cynical person like myself would have something to say about this.. something like they choose the one bent one out of the pack to make a point. But of course that's just silly cause its not like kotaku make their money from click bait at all so they would never exaggerate something for more vie...oh wait

 

[Batou667]

I actually think the production models look decent. The level of painting might be a touch lower, and obviously the publicity photos were taken with optimal lighting and possibly a bit of digital touch-up, but the detail seems to be there. Check out the Peach model in image 6/8, the simulated layering on the dress looks fine to me. The big yellow rod up Link's butt is a bit ugly, but nothing a steady hand and five minutes with a pot of acrylic paint wouldn't fix.

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Miniatures are not as detailed as they were in promotional material? I MUST SEND DEATH THREATS TO FEMALES WORKING IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY!!!!

Your so negative, just send death threats to the woman that worked on the figures, that way its targeted at woman that deserve it. ;-) Satire aside, the figures look fine. Just wonder why companies advertises something that wont look as detailed as what they release. Seems stupid because they must know people will notice the difference?

 

[144_v1legacy]

I'll respond to both of you simultaneously. Your responses both justify the quality drop through children being the target market. So I assume then, that in spite of your defense of the product, you also won't be buying these? In spite of their in-game functionality, you've both condemned these products to the realm of lower-quality children's toys. And I agree. They look like toys. But a higher-quality item would be more versatile, displayable for adults and playable for kids.

Agreed, but there's a third factor in play: price. They want to be price because from Nintendo's perspective, this is a money making exercise. The more detail, the higher the price (and risk of pricing out less committed customers) or the loss in profits.

So, to bring it back to my original question, will you be getting one? I have the disposal income to afford higher-quality figures, if they were were to exist, and children can afford these versions. I already stated that they'll have no place in my slick apartment. Maybe it's a good business decision for Nintendo, but it's a shame for me personally.

 

[Svarr]

Oh look, Mcdonalds toys!

 

[gigastrike]

No, I think it's just the lighting.

 

[Verlander]

I'll respond to both of you simultaneously. Your responses both justify the quality drop through children being the target market. So I assume then, that in spite of your defense of the product, you also won't be buying these? In spite of their in-game functionality, you've both condemned these products to the realm of lower-quality children's toys. And I agree. They look like toys. But a higher-quality item would be more versatile, displayable for adults and playable for kids.

Agreed, but there's a third factor in play: price. They want to be price because from Nintendo's perspective, this is a money making exercise. The more detail, the higher the price (and risk of pricing out less committed customers) or the loss in profits.

So, to bring it back to my original question, will you be getting one? I have the disposal income to afford higher-quality figures, if they were were to exist, and children can afford these versions. I already stated that they'll have no place in my slick apartment. Maybe it's a good business decision for Nintendo, but it's a shame for me personally.

Personally no, but there's less profit to be made in producing different quality figurines simulataneously. I'd imagine collectors like that to be a minority in the audience Nintendo is aiming for. Which is a shame, I'm not criticising your decision personally, but I can see what they're doing with it. The Disney Infinity characters are similarly "cartoonish", which has been off putting to me and my kids in the past.

 

[jFr[e]ak93]

Miniatures are not as detailed as they were in promotional material? I MUST SEND DEATH THREATS TO FEMALES WORKING IN THE GAMES INDUSTRY!!!!

I feel like a horrible person for finding that comment as funny as I did.

OT - I notice a marginal difference. I hate that Link statue. I like the thought of having him in a mid-air pose, but that gaudy yellow stick holding him up is a turn off. I would have rather seen him on his feet.

 

[JediMB]

It's a bit of a shame that we lost some of the detail (like the engraved pattern on Peach's dress), but they're still nice looking statues. I picked up the Frozen figures for Disney Infinity (and don't even have the game), so I'm sure I'll pick up a few of these later on.

I just wish the Samus figure had a more inspiring pose.