Really costly, usually unlocks only small things and simple gimmicks, forced shortages to drive up or keep prices high. I don't see how they're any better than other DLC, if I'm honest. And for me personally, the added hassle of actual, physical figurines seems cumbersome, but that has nothing to do with ethics or norms of the industry, as I'm well aware.

That said, I'd take Nintendo over Activision, EA or Ubisoft all day long, as a company and publisher.

Lootboxes are more common in competitive games. Usually for skins.

I'm pretty sure the person who bought the Urbosa amiibo for $15 bought it because they mainly wanted the figurine. Not a helmet.

Don't forget Pokken and MK8.  Possible rumor of Smash too? 

Well I guess i meant ports/remasters.  It's all the same to me.

I have something like 40 amiibos. I probably used them 3 times in games. I don't see them as bad DLCs as I really don't use them as DLCs. Locked content behind amiibos has been really chill so far IMO. I can understand how someone who doesn't want a figurine but does want the ingame reward (as useless as they usually are) might be annoyed by those...

Overall, I don't think Amiibos or Season Pass (which I would rank on the same level of annoyance than Amiibo as you have to buy a package to get one or two things you might be interested in...) can compare to predatory practices like lootboxes which are basically Casino at home (moreso when they are mandatory to complete a game or compete in a multiplayer game).

If Nintendo can stay away from those, that would be nice (unlikely if they are widely accepted by players).

Super Mario All-Stars was a remaster.

They have more but this is now suddenly a thing.

The Zelda and Xenoblade DLC packs are done right. In both cases, we have massive games packed with content. These are more like old style expansion packs rather than DLC.

Speaking of story DLC of course, alongside of Trial of the Sword, bonus side quests, and arguably Master Mode (though that is debatable). One could argue that DLC pack two should be able to be bought seperate from DLC pack one at a cheaper price, but one cannot deny the value of the expansion pass if DLC pack 2 delivers. In this case, it was well worth the money overall.

Xenoblade 2 I expect to be a massive story expansion at least on par with Dying Light's major expansion pack, where it felt like a whole new game rather than just DLC complete with new overworld, story, and features. Seeing how the Xenoblade games are more like Final Fantasy where no two games are linked, this could be their way of adding somewhat of a "sequel" to this newest entry. In this case, it is again well worth the money.

Locking costumes and the like behind amiibos are great and I support it fully. Even wolf Link in BotW is acceptable. What I do not agree with is locking a harder difficulty behind one UNLESS it is unlockable in game as well or offered as DLC as well at a cheaper price.

Overall Nintendo is on the right path with DLC, while amiibos are hit or miss. In most cases, amiibo are fine. However they are starting to push it a bit with Metroid 2 on 3DS. Only time will tell how they play it out in the future.

Uh, Nintendo has Amiibos, the worst of the DLC bullshit.

What we should be hoping is that the rest of the industry doesn’t go Amiibo type crap.

I said it 2.5 years ago: Nintendo is now part of the problem. Sure its DLC practices are, in general, less egregious than other big publishers. But the company is still supporting this "new normal," where games are sold piecemeal.

Yeap Super Mario All-stars was the original remaster. But Nintendo seemed to sway away from remasters since it was huge last gen, but seems they're starting to embrace it moreso.  As they should because they have a ton of games that many would want to rebuy.