Nintendo Admits They Screwed Up Amiibo, Promises To Do Better

It’s no big secret that Nintendo has totally bungled the way they handle Amiibos, their line of plastic figurines based on iconic characters like Mario and Peach. Today, Nintendo’s finally admitting there’s a problem—and they’re vowing to do better.(new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c&cid=872d12ce-453b-4870-845f-955919887e1b'; cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "995c4c7d-194f-4077-b0a0-7ad466eb737c" }).render("79703296e5134c75a2db6e1b64762017"); }); Ever since Amiibo first launched last year, customers have run into supply shortages and intense scalping for many of the rarest figurines, like Villager and Marth. This came in part because of a west coast port labor dispute that crippled shipments of Asian products, which nobody could blame Nintendo for, but people were infuriated by Nintendo’s poor Yono Rummy communication and seemingly out-of-touch Amiibo advertising on social media. In a statement sent to Kotaku this afternoon, Nintendo of America apologized for Amiibo shortages—and for their awful communication—and said they plan to “make it easier for consumers to know when new amiibo are on the way.” Here’s the full statement: We appreciate the enthusiasm that our fans continue to show toward amiibo. Sales for the product have exceeded our expectations. We understand how frustrating it can be Yono All APP at times if consumers are unable to find certain figures, and we apologize for that. We’re trying to meet the demands of our fans and consumers by increasing the amount of amiibo we manufacture and ship to retail. We may continue to see consumer demand outpace supply levels for certain characters at times, but we will do our best to prevent that from happening. As our library of amiibo continues to grow, some figures will be easier to find than others. We are constantly looking for the opportunity to reissue amiibo and are already making plans to bring back some currently out-of-stock amiibo figures. l86 Stay tuned for details. Nintendo plans to make it easier for consumers to know when new amiibo are on the way, through Nintendo press announcements, timely updates on our social media channels and working closely with retailers. We remain committed to keeping amiibo affordable and easy to access as a platform to enhance game-play experiences. These plans include Animal Crossing amiibo cards that will become available by the end of 2015, and a free-to-download app for Wii U called amiibo tap: Nintendo’s Greatest Bits that launched on April 30, 2015, that lets consumers enjoy playable scenes from certain NES and Super NES games with amiibo. You can reach the author of this post at [email protected] or on Twitter at @jasonschreier