Yay amiibo locked content.

Amiibo are good, Amiibo are great! We surrender our will as of this date.

Yeah it sucks they're looking content behind Amiibo but this isn't the first time Nintendo has done this with Metroid.  Metroid Prime 1 required players to have Fusion and the GBA/Gamecube Link Cable to unlock the Fusion suit and the Original NES Metroid in that game.  Zero Mission requires players to have to link 2 GBA's together, one with Zero Mission and the other with Fusion to unlock the Fusion artwork in Zero Missions gallery.  Then lets not forget the bullshit they pulled with Prime 3 and Prime Trilogy Collection where you need those stupid online tokens to unlock everything, which are both now 100% impossible for anyone to unlock everything in those games since that part of the Wii's online servers was shut down years ago.

So yeah, requiring optional bullshit to unlock things in Metroid games has kind of become a tradition for Nintendo at this point so it shouldn't be a real surprise they'd use Amiibos to fuck with us this time.

This would be less of an issue if Amiibo were well stocked

I mean, are you complaining that the Samus Smash Bros amiibo was hard to get?  It was quite the peg warmer for the longest time.

Depends based on popularity and functionality. These aren't exactly the hardest to get, but for people who casually collect amiibo it will probably it isn't as easy as it should be

Agreed.  It wasn't like buying Metroid Fusion required you to lineup at stores when they open or pay inflated prices from scalpers.  Nintendo should either make this stuff also available in an alternative way (even DLC) or make it so that Amiibos are actually something you can just walk into any store that stocks videogames and buy.

It's like with the SNES Classic what really pisses me off is the inclusion of Star Fox 2.  So either make enough that I can buy the system easily or make Star Fox 2 also available as a seperate download for the Switch.  By tying software which has no limit to the amount of copies made to physical items Nintendo is making something scare that doesn't need to be.

Like UB said, the Samus Smash amiibo were really easy to get.  Yeah, there were problems with some amiibo stock, but this wasn't the one.

And aren't you buying the game for the game?  Do you really need the extras?  Like, if none of the other stuff existed, would you care?

I personally don't care about an extra difficulty mode.  I'm not very good at videogames so a hard mode is never any interest to me.  But the concept of hiding features in underproduced toys is stupid and in the future it may effect something I care about.

That 3DS is very tempting. One of my favourite koans to meditate on is "how many 3DSes does one person need"?

I prefer extras that are unlocked by gaming skill and accomplishments rather than just paying to get an extra. I look to F-Zero GX as the best example of this. There were characters/racers, karts/parts, and other tracks/cups that you could unlock by basically getting good. There were further little extras like different questions and responses you could get from a racer when you ask them a question at the end of the race depending on the difficulty giving you more of a reason to play as them all. If you could beat any Master cup with a racer then you got a short goofy video of that racer. None of that was needed to enjoy the game but it provided a nice carrot/stick incentive for those that did achieve such feats.

Now, if it was a case where an extra character, the hardest difficulty or unlocking racer videos was hidden behind an Amiibo, sure, I can still play the game and have a good time but the experience would be diminished. Of course, I know it would be diminished having played and seen such extras but that would be the difference between myself and someone else who played without those extras. What happens if I really liked that F-Zero game with all the extra Amiibo content but others found the game so-so without it? I could be in the minority opinion from that disconnect. If the majority opinion is then tepid or negative then will it have an effect on another F-Zero game being made? Amiibo could do some harm in this regard.

So far, Nintendo has kept Amiibo from really changing the most common experiences possible in a game. Having played some games with Amiibo support but not owning the Amiibo hasn't made much difference between my experience and someone who has the Amiibo. Let's use BotW as an example. That is a game that can have many different experiences for a player. Amiibo had a minor effect on the experience. They just offer some extra outfits that are tied specifically to them. You can also get some free materials which may make it easier to acquire upgrades or rupees faster than normal. Sure, Epona is tied to Amiibo but there are other horses out there with better stats anyways so none of that really has a large enough factor to cause Amiibo owners a better experience than a player without. Yet, perhaps as my nature of play to accomplish and complete everything, it bugs me to know that these extra costumes and "true" Epona are something I can't acquire in my game. Most likely, I'd hardly use them and they'd just be in my inventory as a way of proving/satisfying my desire to 100% complete something. Just knowing those things are out there but I can't acquire them irritates me. If it was a case like F-Zero GX where I had to complete a Master cup to unlock something and I didn't bother then I'd be ok with that. That's on me to get done. With stuff blocked by Amiibo that isn't from me not accomplishing something, that's me being blocked out by a decision to try and squeeze more money out of me for wanting to play the game.

If none of the other stuff existed, would I care? No. Stuff doesn't in other games but I still speculate about what could be added to it for a sequel or what may have helped make it better but that game is what it is and I accept it for the completed title that it is. With Amiibo, I know other stuff exists so now I do care about it because it is actual content in the game that is being blocked unlike a game released without such stuff so there is nothing being blocked in it. Yes, going back to BotW, I'm buying and playing the game for the game and experience it offers. Yet, with even how good that game is, I still have this twinge of disappointment when reviewing my armor of knowing I don't have all the armor possible because of Amiibo. As stupid as it is there is some kind of psychology at play and I'm not sure what the solution is.

There's other future Amiibo related issues I could go into but I've typed enough so I'll let you all disseminate this bit of ranting and raving and attack me as you see fit on it.

Very nicely detailed opinion there, Khush.

I don't have as much of the completionist urge when it comes to amiibo content.  However, I have been able to get a lot of the amiibo content I'd be interested in anyway.  But seeing a reasoned argument for feeling negatively about amiibo-locked content makes been accept that people can feel down on it.  And if you can feel a way you can feel that way strongly.

I just want the Metroid amiibo because it looks cute and squishy. Like Ian Sane I'll never use it to play the super difficult mode, because I usually have enough trouble with games set on easy.

Sidenote, but got a question for Khush, could you unlock the F-Zero AX stuff on GX as well? Or did that require actually going to an arcade machine and loading your memory card into it? I vaguely recall something like that? Although I wouldn't know since I never made it past the 4th or 5th story mission.

I could look it up on Gamefaqs to be sure but I'm going to trust my memory here and say that everything in AX was in GX and could be unlocked except for 3 F-Zero machine/kart pieces. To get those pieces you needed to insert your GC memory card into the Arcade machine and unlock them somehow from there. (And, yes, I dreamt of one day accomplishing this feat and unlocking those final cart pieces because I knew they existed and were out there. Even now, if I see an arcade, I'll take a quick peek in case an F-Zero AX machine is magically there but I'm pretty sure I'd have to go to Japan to find one. Although at this point, they may be out of circulation.) Still, at least that's better than the Mario Kart arcade machines that have never had their contents hidden as an unlockable in a Mario Kart game. Or an Amiibo. Yet.......

The only time I ever saw an F-Zero AX machine was in Las Vegas at one of the casino's arcades (I think it was Excalibur) back when the Gamecube was current.  It was a Japanese machine since all the text was in Japanese.  Since I was on vacation I naturally didn't bring a Gamecube memory card with me so I was out of luck.  Though I wonder if a North American card would even work on a Japanese machine.  Was their region lockout for memory cards?

Sorta.  All memory cards work on all machines, but most games will 'format' the card to one region or the other and won't save onto a card formatted to another region unless you go into the system menu and wipe the card first.  I believe there were a few games that did this on their own (deleting your save files from one region to make a save file for the other without really telling you.

Essentially, if you had a way to play multiple regions, you kept a small memory card tagged for the other region.

Oh, of note - F-Zero GX has virtually the entire AX game hidden and inaccessible on the disc.  Wanna talk about disc-locked content.  You need an AR to get to it, but the ARs hat let you enter custom codes are a little hard to come by and a bit pricey (due to the Smash Melee community).  Much harder to get than a Samus amiibo. ;)

Ok, this got me to look up F-Zero information again. From what I can see, all F-Zero AX racers and their vehicles can be unlocked in GX. As well, I only see 6 tracks listed for AX and those can all be unlocked in GX and are playable in the AX Cup. There are 3 custom parts (Mad Bull, Crazy Buffalo, Mars -EX) that you can not unlock in GX and need to obtain from the AX arcade machine itself requiring you to bring your memory card for them.

F-Zero AX had a couple modes that you can't really play or unlock in GX for those AX courses. I imagine the entire hidden AX game would be like what you see at the arcade with its beginning screen and menu options. Still, according to Wikipedia, one of the game modes in AX is a sort of race-the-clock. "Each track must be completed before time runs out." It's a mode that makes sense in an arcade trying to take your money. The game also allows you to make an F-Zero Licence Card in which you can store and save data that you swipe like a credit card in a slot of the machine. There's no way to do that on a Gamecube.

However, there's also a race mode where you select a track and rave 29 other CPU characters. This, to me, is the same as racing in the AX Cup. There's Versus Play allowing you and 3 friends to compete against each other. You can do this in GX and do 4 player races in any track or cup. There's Time Attack which is like MK Time Trials. Try to complete a track in the fastest time and you can unlock staff ghosts to race each other. Even without unlocking the "true" version of AX, it's basically all available on GX just through accomplishing tough racing challenges.

On a different note in this thread, I have been thinking about picking up another 3DS. I was leaning towards one of the smaller NEW 3DS units to replace my original 3DS and then I'd have one of each of the NEW 3DS units. Plus, the removable faceplate idea still interests me a bit. With the NEW 2DS that recently came out, I was worried that Nintendo may be phasing out production of actual 3D systems. But with a special Samus edition I'm now debating if I should get that as my back-up system and have two bulky units or stick to my idea of getting a smaller, lighter one.

Does anyone have a smaller NEW 3DS unit and what is your opinion of it?

Alll this talk of FX makes me want a re-master of GX and AX for the Switch. Would be a nice advanced racer in 2019/2020 after Mario Kart has burned down a little bit.

I'm not a big F-Zero fan, but Nintendo should really have an F-Zero month where they re-release all the F-Zero games on any of the applicable virtual console forums - and include playable versions of AX and DD - games the vast majority of players have never got to touch.  I know they don't want to sink a bunch of development costs into a new F-Zero, so here's how you release a 'new' game on the cheap.

They actually tried to make a new F-Zero during the Wii U era by approaching Criterion (the developer behind Need for Speed) who declined.  Had Criterion had agreed, then the stupid meme about F-Zero, Metroid and Star Fox all being dead IP's Nintendo doesn't care about would have finally died this year since we would have had a new game in all three series these last several years.

Seriously, we're going to get a new F-Zero in the future, it's just a matter of Nintendo finding a studio willing to make one.  Now with the Switch unifying many of Nintendo's development teams they might have an internal studio make one again, but if not, I'm sure eventually they'll be a third party studio willing to make one.  Hell, that's how we're getting Samus Returns in the first place since Mercury Steam approach Nintendo with an idea for a Metroid and things went from there.

Yeah, plus they did actually make one of the NintendoLand mini-games F-Zero themed. It wasn't bad either, though I'm glad that was never used for the basis of a full-fledged one. Speaking of which, Metroid Blast was the absolute highlight from Nintendo Land imo, especially in co-op.

Nintendoland as a whole was a neglected co-op/competivive gaming treasure. A shame more didn't come from it. I love the asymmetrical competitive gaming in the vein of Pac-man Vs.