Amiibos - are they amiigos or foe...miigos?

To revitalize sales, Nintendo Introduces Toys That Roam Virtual Realm

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http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/22/technology/nintendo-tries-to-energize-wii-u-sales-with-amiibo-toys.html?_r=0
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Summary - 

     This article goes into the marketing and effects of Nintendo's new line of NFC figures, known as Amiibos. It also discusses past ventures of video game developers into the toyToLife market and how Nintendo's is supposedly different. There are also a few different quotes and analysis from experts on the state of Nintendo.

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-"Nintendo, long a leader in the video game industry, needs a new sales hit. The company reported a profit in its most recent quarter, but losses had piled up in recent years as consumers turned to less expensive games on smartphones and other mobile devices."

-"“It’s a great idea, but it’s limited to Wii U owners,” he said, predicting that Nintendo would gain only about a 10 percent share of the toys­to­life category. Disney and Activision figures can be used on all consoles, including the Wii U."

-"Nintendo should strive to be more forward­thinking, he said: “Their strategy is looking in the rearview mirror to see what got them there."

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     Nintendo has been struggling because of the failed third party console, the Wii U, as indicated by the first quote. It's main problems were lack of third-party support, unattractive marketing, and not enough iconic launch titles. Nintendo seems to have realized and attempted to fix two out the three problems because their recent marketing strategies have been praised by many and they are finally creating the software that people were expecting at launch, such as super mario 3D World and Smash Bros.

     I disagree with the final two quotes more than a butcher disagrees with a vegetarian. The second quote states that the amiibos being limited to the Wii U will be its fault because the demographic these figures are directed at are obviously small children (6-12), which are the most likely to have a Wii U. The third quote is partially true because eventually Nintendo will run out of things to look back on, but for now the public wants classic Nintendo products re-imagined, judging by how specific games are selling. Also since some metros use NFC similar to amiibos, it has been shown that they can be used to open metro gates, which is awesome and hilarious, if it in fact works.

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Week One

Nintendo and it's Strategy with Smash Bros.

Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy

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Tassi, Paul. "Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 14 July 2014. Web. 26 Nov. 2014.

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Summary -

     In this article Paul Tassi briefly explains how Nintendo is intelligently using their two new titles, Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U to come back from their financial down trend. Nintendo is using spaced out animated trailers to build up anticipation for its upcoming games, as well as finally welcoming a professional community to this game when they a;ways shunned that community from playing their games.

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Smash Bros. has effectively built up this “new challenger approaching” reveal system that generates tremendous anticipation for the game."

- "Nintendo is learning, and between their character reveals and their newfound support of competitive Smash play, they really could not have concocted a better marketing campaign for the new game."

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      He sums up the marketing strategy well, but he misses a few key points. The 3DS version of this game served to even further increase the hype for the franchise, while at the same time bringing in hundreds of millions of dollars into the company. It was also an amazing game, allowing for multiple bonuses if purchased before the WiiU version. 

      At the end of the article he raises the question if the Wii U version will actually deliver to these immense expectations, and although I sadly do not own the Wii U version yet, but judging by the social network(mainly YouTube and twitch) craze it has spawned, along with it's 92/100 score on metacritic, I can assume the public absolutely loves it. One bundle of the game sold out the first day and is going for almost 200% the price on third party websites such as ebay and amazon, which means I can't get the bundle yet. I'm so sad. I want to play it.

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Week One