As you have most likely seen by now, the owner of this blog has a huge addiction to Lego. But ya see, my addiction is very very different. My addiction is far more worse and way more expensive. I am addicted to Amiibos. For those of you who don’t know what Amiibos are, (shame on you) they are little plastic figurines. They aren’t just figurines though, oh no, because you can get all your favourite (or not so favourite) Nintendo characters.
The main reason I started buying them is because they look so amazing. In my opinion figurines of this quality should cost a lot more, but the average RRP is between £11.99- £15.99. Of course scalpers like to charge thrice the price for the super rare ones like the Villager, Meta Knight and Ness. As I refuse to buy from scalpers I found myself buying them at the average price of £14.99 and the fact that they are easily purchased from shops like game for this amazingly small price (I say small very loosely since that initial £14.99 has escalated into hundreds) has set me on the road to addiction. If they were £29.99 instead of £14.99 I can’t help but think I wouldn’t have the burning desire to complete the whole collection.
Of co
urse Amiibos have multiple uses though. Although they look pretty darn awesome on my shelves, Amiibos have the ability to use the NFC scanner on the WiiU gamepad. In short this means that each Amiibo is essentially a portal to downloadable content. For instance, in Mario Kart you can unlock loads of different characters. In Kirby you can access special moves (which is my favourite.) In Captain Toad you can unlock an extra puzzle on each level and in Super Smash Brothers you get trainable AI characters. Although I am against companies charging extra for something which is already encoded in the game, I don’t have a problem with Amiibos. This is because you aren’t just spending tons of money on unlocking a small bit of content, you are getting a figurine as well. To me the figurine is the most important part, but the fact you get the content free is what makes Amiibos that little bit more tempting.
The AI characters were also a huge draw for me. As someone who was brought up with no siblings and very few childhood friends I had to play against computer opponents all of the time. The problem with this was that after some time you would become better than the AI and so there was no challenge. Amiibos rectify this issue because they are intelligent. Even though they are “technically” a computer they learn in the image of you. They learn how to counteract you and it ends up as a cat and mouse game until the Amiibo eventually learns how to beat you every time. Let me tell you a story about a little guy called Bruce. (Oh, I forgot to mention you can also name each Amiibo.) Bruce is my Villager Amiibo and since training him up to level 50, I cannot beat him. Only once has someone beaten him. A part from that one and only time, he is unbeatable. So I started buying even more Amiibos. My logic was if I couldn’t beat him myself then maybe another Amiibo could? You know what they say? If you can’t beat them… then buy some more.
Because of these above reasons I am now a possessed man. I am too far into the addiction to stop. I have come so far and I am only about twenty more Amiibos away from completing the set. So my message to you is that addiction is dangerous kids, especially when the addiction is as big as mine. Ouch, I think my wallet is crying again. I better buy some more plasters for his stab wounds.
Written by Liam Gore
Edited by amaneatingpie.com