Splatoon Amibo's - Where's the rage?

[joshuaayt]

It's because Splatoon is a genuinely great game even without the amiibos.

It's absolutely shitty that there's content that some people just won't be able to get because of Nintendo's inability to understand demand, but it's hard to stay mad at a game you can't put down.

I don't hate amiibos as an idea- Some of them look really nice. I just wish they weren't hyped up before release, only to be revealed to essentially be varyingly rare collector's items. I mean, fuck, some of them are being discontinued- Would it kill you to keep your toys on the market for more than a year, Nintendo?

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

Well, given I have shit all luck finding Amiibos, I guess I'm not getting Splatoon oh well.

 

[JayRPG]

You are putting way too much stock into what the Amiibos add to the game.

First of all you have to complete the single player campaign missions to access them in Amiibo mode, in Amiibo mode you do not get level cohesion, a feeling of progression or story, or anything like that simply because it's only 3 levels (out of 6) from each story area and the boss fight. For the most part (excluding the very few [less than 5] limited ink challenges) you just rush your way through the levels as quickly as possible. All of the squid amiibo challenges can be done in about 45 minutes.

The gear you get is basically useless as soon as you are over level 10, and the weapons are simple reskins.

The only reward that will have continued value are the mini games, and let's be real for a second, you didn't buy Splatoon to spend your time in the plaza playing some 2 button, extremely repetitive NES games, and the longest I've had to wait in the lobby is 30 seconds. I haven't even been able to get a quarter way through 1 song on the music mini-game.

Amiibo challenges don't unlock variety, they unlock anger and frustration. Squid boy challenges make you use the Roller, Squid girl challenges make you use the Charger; The Charger is the least popular weapon in the game, the Roller makes some of the challenges nearly impossible and the only reason I stuck with them (instead of throwing my gamepad out the window) is because I'm a completionist.

Honestly, they really don't add much to the game at all besides some extra mini games you might get to play 10 seconds of in between online matches. The gear is only 2 star and is replaced pretty much as soon as you hit level 10 (a few hours play time), and most of the challenges were anything but fun. If you don't have the Amiibos you really aren't missing out on anything unless you really want that cosmetic reskin of the never used regular Splattershot.

TL;DR Nintendo probably shouldn't have put what seems like a lot of content behind Amiibo paywalls, but at the end of the day Nintendo wanted to make it seem like it was a lot of content to try and sell the Amiibos. In actuality you are getting around 3 hours of frustrating and fury-inducing single player content you have already completed in a more balanced way, some useless gear you'll never use after a few hours of online play, 3 weapon skins, and 3 2 button NES games you won't ever get to play.

 

[Maximum Bert]

You are right about this and with a good reasons, however don't ignore the fact that an Amibo Toy isn't only usable for only one game.
Nintendo have BIG plans to make sure the Ammibos have compatibility in other games as well.
Think for example Super Mario Ammibo. If we say Nintendo make 4-5 new games for Mario, like hell Nintendo make sure you can use the Ammibo on them. And lets no count other games which there is a possibility you can use him as well.
So in other words, the situation is 50/50. It is indeed very expensive to get, but it give you content and it will give you more in the future, if Nintendo handle it right.
Also you pay for a figure. A nice looking figure which also include DLC for you to enjoy.

But isnt that rise to a greater problem in that they are locking on disc content behind toys? They could have released the Amiibos just as figures that have no bearing on games whatsoever and thus those who want a figurine can get one but those who dont care about them and just want the full version of a game are not effected. Other companies lock parts of a game away and they get shit for it which they should and its a shame Nintendo are basically repackaging such bad practices.

Amiibos take more from a game than they add they are basically key cards with memory that have a figure stuck on top.

Its just creating tiers in customer access to a product where there does not need to be any.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

ok guys let's stay on topic, stop talking about IPs.

Nintendo has a new 1st party IP in like forever and I think that's the reason the rage about its blatant shortcomings is muted.

 

[SweetShark]

You are right about this and with a good reasons, however don't ignore the fact that an Amibo Toy isn't only usable for only one game.
Nintendo have BIG plans to make sure the Ammibos have compatibility in other games as well.
Think for example Super Mario Ammibo. If we say Nintendo make 4-5 new games for Mario, like hell Nintendo make sure you can use the Ammibo on them. And lets no count other games which there is a possibility you can use him as well.
So in other words, the situation is 50/50. It is indeed very expensive to get, but it give you content and it will give you more in the future, if Nintendo handle it right.
Also you pay for a figure. A nice looking figure which also include DLC for you to enjoy.

But isnt that rise to a greater problem in that they are locking on disc content behind toys? They could have released the Amiibos just as figures that have no bearing on games whatsoever and thus those who want a figurine can get one but those who dont care about them and just want the full version of a game are not effected. Other companies lock parts of a game away and they get shit for it which they should and its a shame Nintendo are basically repackaging such bad practices.

Amiibos take more from a game than they add they are basically key cards with memory that have a figure stuck on top.

Its just creating tiers in customer access to a product where there does not need to be any.

True indeed. This will be a problem for the customers who just want to play the game. However we must not forget there also the kids customers who don't think so deep of this problem and the hardcore Nintendo players. Nintendo being titled "child friendly" by most people around the world, it is logical to combine his hardcore buyers with children buyers:
People who want to make a collection of Ammibos.
Kids who want just to play with them.
A normal customers isn't something who concern Nintendo right now in my opinion.
For that reason also aren't so many figures in the first place. Nintendo made sure the demographic that they are very sure will buy them, will be enough for only them.

 

[Silvanus]

I understand all your nitpicks, but Xenosaga isn't entirely a new IP, nor is it entirely 1st party (developed by subsidary co.).

That's getting silly now. If you discount everything developed by subsidiaries, even if they're first-party developers, then you're discounting a giant portion of everybody's stables. That would discount Killzone, Uncharted, and TLoU from being Sony first-party titles.

Nobody goes by that standard.

 

[Godzillarich(aka tf2godz)]

ok guys let's stay on topic, stop talking about IPs.

Nintendo has a new 1st party IP in like forever and I think that's the reason the rage about its blatant shortcomings is muted.

I'm not saying neither of you have a point. I'm saying this thread is about Splatoon Amibos and if it cutting off content or not. You people are getting off topic.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Let's hope Sony doesn't catch wind of this (who am I kidding); The annoyance of the DLC model combined with the highly addictive nature of figurine collecting. Looks like Nintendo still has some innovation left in it. *sigh*

 

[Dragonbums]

Eh?

I mean, the amiibos don't unlock as much as people are making it out to be. The levels they "unlock" are the same levels you get in the single play campaign anyway. Like, they are literally in every way the same levels. So if you didn't get the amiibos, you aren't missing out in terms of stages. The only thing they do is allow you to use either the roller or splat charger on a set given amount of levels. And those levels weren't changed in the slightest to accommodate those weapons.

The only thing these Amiibo lock are the outfits (which are useless as shit after level 10, and who's to say they won't be unlocked for everyone else later down the line anyway.) and the gamepad minigames. The weapons are reskins of existing ones, and let's be real, online is so packed I hardly have the time to even hit play for Squid Jump. Yet alone complete stage 1.

All in all the "locked" content behind amiibos for Splatoon boil down to Smash levels of importance. Especially when it's biggest effect is in the singleplayer campaign which is a small side compared to the real meat of the game- the multiplayer- where amiibos do fuck all for. So why should people get mad over that, when y'all have no problems paying $80.00 for 2 outfits, some shitty maps, and exclusive and statistically different weapons (PREORDER EXCLUSIVE) that you can't even show off on your desk?

 

[Flammablezeus]

This is the first I've heard of it and it has compelled me to not buy Splatoon. It's a shame, it looked like a fun game but I won't support the act of locking game content behind the purchase of bloody toys. Day one DLC is bad enough, but this is much worse.

 

[Maximum Bert]

*snip*
A normal customers isn't something who concern Nintendo right now in my opinion.
For that reason also aren't so many figures in the first place. Nintendo made sure the demographic that they are very sure will buy them, will be enough for only them.

Agreed on this and I believe this thinking will further back them into a corner once again trading long term stability for short term profit (like the Wii). Then again maybe they just see the WiiU as a complete lost cause and so want to squueze as much out of their customers which are mostly a hardcore Nintendo base while they can.

I know they have Amiibos seeping into the 3DS as well which is a shame. If they pull this crap on their new console I think it will do more harm than good they have a huge hill to climb mostly of their own making and this wont help. Selling to the converted isnt a good long term strategy.

As for me personally this makes me extra wary of any 1st party Nintendo titles although to be fair Xenoblade X and the new Fatal Frame are the only titles I dont have that I am interested in on their system so its unlikely to affect me which tempers my condemnation of what they are doing. Albeit if even people like me who have a WiiU and have enjoyed their games since the NES are getting tired of their products and IPs in general then it may not be so bright for them. If anyone can turn it around Nintendo can but Amiibos wont help them in the long run because honestly I think people are reaching a point where they are sick of all this DLC, Sesaon pass, Amiibos, extras upon extras BS.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

Because people are having fun playing the game instead of whining. The thing is, this Amiibo criticism might have been more worthwhile if it weren't for the fact that A) what they do is optional B) they work across multiple titles, thus meaning their value goes up because the features can vary between titles and C) we're going to have the NFC cards made so if people want them for gameplay they'll be a lot cheaper. I do wish they'd hurry up with them though.

 

[babinro]

Let's hope Sony doesn't catch wind of this (who am I kidding); The annoyance of the DLC model combined with the highly addictive nature of figurine collecting. Looks like Nintendo still has some innovation left in it. *sigh*

Microsoft and Sony does love to 'innovate' on Nintendo's successful idea's. It wouldn't be at all shocking to see this trend continue in those markets albeit with a more 'adult' badass spin on the figures/collector objects.

Maybe it'll take EA releasing Mass Effect 4's Grunt as a playable character behind a low supply toy paywall for people to see why this isn't a consumer friendly or desirable practice.

 

[Flammablezeus]

This is the first I've heard of it and it has compelled me to not buy Splatoon. It's a shame, it looked like a fun game but I won't support the act of locking game content behind the purchase of bloody toys. Day one DLC is bad enough, but this is much worse.

From what I've seen it's nothing worthwhile, basically just challenge levels.

We were still told from the beginning by Nintendo that Amiibos wouldn't be necessary to unlock any gameplay options or modes in games. This contradicts that completely and Nintendo should really be held to their word. I won't reward business practices that are designed specifically to exploit people by convincing them pay more for something than they should.

 

[Elijin]

The people who have the game, are having fun with the semi-new fun concept. A fresh nintendo party funsies game. It might bother them, but overall, they're having a positive experience.

The people who dont.....have no reason to have gone to any lengths to find this information, and thus dont care.

 

[CaitSeith]

Full Disclosure:
I don't own a WiiU and I had no plans to buy this game before I learned about this stuff. That said, I will effectively boycott any game I am interested that pulls this kind of stunt. I've bought my share of CoD games for their single player campaign experience and if I found out that this much CONTENT was being taken away from me because of an 'optional' hard to find toy I'd be very unsatisfied with my purchase.

Then you should be mad at Activision, as they did it first with their successful game series Skylanders. And they are still doing it, so why not to boycott them too? Why Nintendo and not Activision?

 

[CaitSeith]

Maybe it'll take EA releasing Mass Effect 4's Grunt as a playable character behind a low supply toy paywall for people to see why this isn't a consumer friendly or desirable practice.

A Grunt figurine standing on my desk? Don't give me false hopes.

 

[babinro]

Full Disclosure:
I don't own a WiiU and I had no plans to buy this game before I learned about this stuff. That said, I will effectively boycott any game I am interested that pulls this kind of stunt. I've bought my share of CoD games for their single player campaign experience and if I found out that this much CONTENT was being taken away from me because of an 'optional' hard to find toy I'd be very unsatisfied with my purchase.

Then you should be mad at Activision, as they did it first with their successful game series Skylanders. And they are still doing it, so why not to boycott them too? Why Nintendo and not Activision?

Ignorance?

I've never even heard of the game Skylanders let alone their practice of selling DLC worthy content behind a physical object paywall. If what you're saying is true then yes, I'll add them to my list.

You quoted what I said after all...."I will effectively boycott any game I am interested that pulls this kind of stunt."

I'm not trying to be exclusively anti-Nintendo here.
They just happen to be the company that truly caught my eye.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Yeah, suppy problems plagued Skylanders for months and months. It wasn't nearly as popular as amiibos, either.

Now, I know most of my experience seeing stuff getting put together comes from Kickstarter updates, but the idea that Nintendo can't fix their problem in the months between apologizing for them and now make sense to me. Especially considering other regions outside the US don't seem to have as much of a problem. Labor disputes at the ports will do that and act as a multiplier to any production problems.