Over the past few months we’ve seen two waves of amiibo released, with some discontinued and not a word from Nintendo on what’s happening on that front for people who were unable to secure their own favorite amiibos. It doesn’t help that Miyamoto briefly spoke about a card option for discontinued amiibos, leaving fans to wonder if they’ll have to resort to picking up their favorite character in card form.
Thankfully, a Nintendo representative took to the amiibo subreddit to answer some of the questions people have had about the amiibo release so far and what we can expect in the future. While the answers aren’t super concrete in terms of what’s in the future, they do shed a light on the direction Nintendo might be taking with the toys. A brief Ask Me Anything style forum was held where users could submit questions and have them answered by this rep. Here’s some of the more interesting questions that have been answered.
How soon are these supposed “amiibo cards” going to be hitting retailers? Will they be permament replacements for certain figures?
NR: “(laughs) I think Miyamoto was vague about that on purpose. Last I heard, we are still working out the card situation. I believe it’s still being discussed, and I doubt it’ll be a permanent replacement; more than likely it’ll mostly feature characters who won’t be receiving an Amiibo figure. It’s been described as an ‘on-the-go’ alternative as well, so you won’t have to lug around your entire Amiibo collection when traveling with your 3DS.”
This direction makes sense, especially once the new Nintendo 3DS is released in the United States. It’s currently the only major territory that doesn’t have access, as both Europe and Australia have gotten the new Nintendo 3DS before North America.
Can they stop making store-exclusive Amiibo? That has been the largest source of my headaches these past few weeks.
NR: “(laughs) Yeah, that has been an ordeal. My phone has been on fire for the past two weeks, so I’m feeling it too. But retailer exclusives will be around as long as stores put the money up for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if those figures got a wider release further down the line though.”
Store exclusive amiibos aren’t going to end anytime soon, so you’ll have to be quick to get in on the upcoming Rosalina & Luma pre-order period for Target. We’ve already seen huge headaches in regard to stores like Toys R Us dropping pre-orders for exclusive items, as well. Nintendo likes money too much to prevent these scenarios from occurring.
Perhaps the best question asked was whether or not there would be an amiibo exclusive game, similar to Skylanders or Disney Infinity. The rep stated that they don’t know of any game in development like that, but admits it would be a great idea. If you’d like to see more of the questions and answers, be sure to check out the amiibo subreddit.