So Nintendo made a bit of a stir this past week when NeoGAF spotted that Amazon France leaked that Twilight Princess HD will feature a new role for Amiibos. Most of the Zelda series Amiibo from the Super Smash Bros line will do normal things, like give you extra hearts and arrows. But the Wolf Link Amiibo will supposedly unlock a whole new dungeon, only accessible through the Amiibo. Controversy, shockingly-not-shockingly, ensued. But let’s think about this. Is Amiibo DLC a good idea or a bad idea?
Twilight Princess HD Amiibo Dungeon: The Case Against Amiibo DLC
It’s not surprising that a lot of Nintendo fans immediately reacted strongly against the Amiibo dungeon news; head over to the NeoGAF thread and see the anger. This is a totally new proposition for Nintendo, tying new (and highly desirable) content specifically to an Amiibo. Considering the very slow stance Nintendo has generally taken to DLC, it’s a bit of a surprising leap.
So people are angry. The arguments against Amiibo-based DLC are what you would expect: That not everyone can afford it, that not everyone can find the Amiibo in question, that content is being “locked away” on the disc; that it hurts completionists. But the arguments against really seem to boil down to “this isn’t the way Nintendo usually does things.” I don’t buy it.
Twilight Princess HD Amiibo Dungeon: The Case For Amiibo DLC
After much thought, I’m coming out publicly in favor of the Twilight Princess Amiibo DLC (which, bear in mind, isn’t even officially confirmed yet). It’s a big change for Nintendo, but it’s a great move, and it’s superior to the traditional DLC model. In Nintendo’s model, for $13 or $15, you get a DLC dungeon and a cool-looking Amiibo. Most developers just give you the digital content; with Nintendo, you get something physical as well. It’s a bargain compared to other DLC.
As for the trouble getting the actual Amiibo… Nintendo has gotten much better at handling Amiibo shortages, which were a plague early on but haven’t surfaced in a while. There will still be rare figures, but Amiibos available as a game pack-in that also unlock in-game content aren’t going to be hard to find. Every Gamestop in the country will have the Wolf Link Amiibo, at least most of the time. It’s not going to be hard to get, and it’s not expensive compared to regular DLC either. Sure, it’s not quite as easy as downloading a mini-campaign from the PSN store, but Nintendo isn’t going to release Amiibo DLC that’s deliberately exclusionary or hard to get. There would be no point.
Long-story short, Amiibo-based DLC is a better value than regular DLC, which you would have to pay for anyway. Will that DLC dungeon already be on the disc? Who knows. Chances are Nintendo has the sense not to do that at this point. Regardless, the Twilight Princess HD Amiibo DLC, if it’s real—and it certainly seems real—is a paradigm shift for Nintendo, a big change in how it handles Amiibo. And that’s a good thing. It will give us more reason than ever to want to pick them up.
