It's no secret that Nintendo's "Amiibo" lineup of NFC toys has been a tremendous success. Amiibo has consistently pulled in strong sales since its launch last year, and new or rare additions to the lineup often sell out quickly.
Some Amiibo models sell out so fast, in fact, that's it's been a great source of frustration for hardcore fans who are seeking to complete their collection. Three "waves" of Amiibos have been released so far, and each time fans have had to scramble to get the ones they desired before they were gone.
Nintendo has promised multiple times to try and do better with meeting demand for the product. Now, the word is out that those looking to get every Amiibo in the upcoming fourth wave may in fact be able to do so... if they live in New York City.
The official Nintendo World Store in the Big Apple has tweeted notice that it plans to stock almost every Amiibo in the upcoming wave that releases May 29, including some that are supposed to be exclusives for other retailers.
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The list for the midnight release on May 29 includes Greninja, Ness, Wario, Lucina, Robin, Charizard, Pac-Man and Silver Mario. Jigglypuff will be available for purchase on June 5. The store is hoping to keep the release under control by limiting each customer to only one of each model of Amiibo.
May 29 will be a busy day for the store, and for Nintendo fans everywhere, as the midnight launch will also see the release of Splatoon, the Big N's highly anticipated take on the first-person shooter.
It's nice to see Nintendo putting a little effort into making sure every fan that wants an Amiibo in NYC can get one with the one model per person policy. It's an idea that would likely be greatly appreciated by fans if other retailers across the rest of the country were to follow suit. But really, the only way the constant shortage of certain Amiibo models is going to get fixed is if Nintendo follows through on its promises and releases additional inventory.
The company did make some progress on this account just last week, with the re-release of rare figurines like Marth and Meta Knight. But it still has a long way to go if it truly wants to meet the massive demand for this product.
Of course, another way to look at it is that by keeping some Amiibos in short supply, Nintendo will continue to create a lot of hype (and strong sales) every time a new wave is released. The frenzied pursuit of Amiibos by hardcore collectors is money in the bank for Nintendo, whether they actually manage to get the new models or not.
Source: IGN UK