Do you really think, if amiibo didn't exist, that Nintendo would freely build in any and every character of theirs into Mario maker for free? Lol the amiibos, hopefully, will be a way we can get really random characters.

A lottery ticket that you can borrow or resell. And put on display.

Amiibo is Nintendo's DLC. Think about it. Exclusive content like costumes etc, they're behind a paywall. You have to buy them. The only difference between Amiido and say, MK10 is that you get a little plastic figure that sits on a shelf. Otherwise, it's not different when you think about it.

Mario Party 10 Amiibo functionality was bull.

The thing with Amiibo is.. They're damned if they do and damned of they don't. It's tough to find a sweet spot to please everyone with these things.

I was thinking.. I wonder just how much consumers really appreciate the amount of content Nintendo provides, and if Nintendo are willing to just step back a bit from it and hold it the way they're doing with Splatoon. I couldn't believe how fast people were asking for Smash DLC. That game is jam packed.

I didn't buy the Mario Kart DLC when it was first announced because I was still having fun with what I had.. But at the same time I was hoping people would buy it so Nintendo could continue supporting it with more updates.

Maybe Amiibo could eventually be the key that balances DLC? One Amiibo gets you a "Season Pass" plus other silly things?

Hmm... You may be onto something here. As I recall, a wise man once said: "If you ignore its many distinct features, amiibo and DLC is more or less exactly the same thing."

Mario Maker itself worries my. I, along with most gamers, have the same ability to create a level as a bagful of thumb tacks. I'd rather have professional programmers come up with quality levels as opposed to some DIY dung.

i thought Nintendo would have a ton of new amiibos like gombas, turtle, all bowser's children, etc... for mario maker. that would be too much.

In all seriousness, there are some crucial differences. The most important is that you (usually) know exactly what you're getting when you buy DLC. By contrast, it's not clear what an Amiibo will get you: future games may or may not use the figure(s) you own, and the content unlocked (if any) is a complete mystery. Amiibo Tap is an emblem of this uncertainty: you know each figure will unlock a demo of a VC game, but until you scan your figure it's a complete mystery which game you'll get.

Completely agreed. We've suffered through generations of clones which are almost uniformly not up to snuff. If making a good Mario level was easy, the pros wouldn't repeatedly fail at it.

I don't think they'll take it that far, but we will have to see.