It's either Nintendo trolling or a clueless social media intern. Either way it's pretty funny. I've been reading the amiibo reddit to see what's going on and it's insane. People should just buy a few of their favorites and be done with it, not obsess over getting every single one. If your mind is like that then it's probably best to stay out of this altogether lol.

It's fair for them to suggest that. How many people played EarthBound before 1999, for instance?

I can feel Nintendo's pain in the subtext of those 144 characters.

The amiibo that made me lose interest in it

Why would anyone be mad about this. Do these guys seriously think that most people know who Shulk even is? Come off it. To 99% of Smash owners, Shulk is just that weird new Japanese Smash fighter, like Robin and Lucina.

To add to that, how many more people really played Earthbound after either?

And here I thought it was a female version of hulk (she + hulk - he)!

Either way, I think the fans who feel "insulted" are too sensitive.  It's completely reasonable to assume that many people will know Shulk from Smash but not know where he came from.  Many more people bought Smash 4 than people who bought Xenoblade.

I wouldn't be surprised if many didn't know about shulk before smash. Xenoblade is a great game but it wasn't a huge seller, although likely would have sold far more if there were more released which is likely why Nintendo has chosen to remake it for the 3DS.

How does one insult a company?, the last time I checked a company wasn't a living being capable of emotion.