TSM Episode 363: Skeleton Keymiibo

By Lusipurr
2016.02.15

HOW'S THAT SHOVEL KNIGHT AMIIBO WORKING OUT FOR YOU? UNLOCKING LOTS OF STUFF WITH THAT? HUH!?

Some amiibo are created more equal than others.

Download: Released 2016.02.15

When Nintendo makes significant portions of full-priced in-game content dependent upon access to exclusive special edition amiibo figurines, SiliconNooB boxes up his Wii U and Lusipurr breaks out the megaphone-o-ranting to lay bare Nintendo’s greed.

Update:
In the podcast we discussed entries in the summer fundraiser and I could not quite decide between $10 and $5 entries. We have figured out a way to do both. If the requested game is connected to the amiibo entrant purchased, the price will only be $5. If the game is not related to the amiibo purchased, the price will be $10.

Example:
Buy KIRBY and request UNLIMITED SAGA: $10
Buy KIRBY and request KIRBY’S ADVENTURE: $5

Stay tuned: Final, official rules and entry instructions are coming in May.

23 Comments

Wolfe
Posted 2016.02.15 at 04:46 | Permalink

I wish I could advise a good anime resource site for ya, but there’s just nothing out there. Crunchyroll is the only place I can stomach gathering news, and Sankaku Complex is pretty decent for random nonsense. Beyond that? I really don’t know where to direct anyone. My inability to find an alternative to the festering shithole that is ANN is what’s lead to me asking across Twitter why there’s no SJW-free alternative. You’d think anime, big as it is these days, would have more than one hub. Sorry guys.

I can at least answer the nosebleed thing. It’s a play on the rapidly elevated blood pressure of a male character who’s suddenly sexually aroused. Now, I’m pretty sure most Japanese males don’t spew twin spiral of bloody jetstreams when they watch porn, but you know. Anime.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.15 at 13:07 | Permalink

@Wolfe: I suppose it is time for Lusipurr.com to step up to the plate and fill the void. If I had more staff members, we’d be cranking out anime-news non-stop.

Glad to hear I was right about my blood pressure suspicion!
Gyme
Posted 2016.02.15 at 13:10 | Permalink

While it is complete shit that Nintendo is using Amiibo as a new implementation of on-disc DLC, I wouldn’t say that the content that’s locked away is significant. As I type this, I realize that Lusi will respond by saying that any content on the disc that is locked behind a money barrier is significant.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.15 at 13:13 | Permalink

@Gyme. ANY content locked behind a monetary barrier is significant.

I agree about the cheats (instant arrows/hearts).
I disagree about the extended modes (increased difficulty).
I STRENUOUSLY disagree about the content (a forty-level dungeon!)
Gyme
Posted 2016.02.15 at 13:48 | Permalink

From what I’ve heard about the dungeon, it is basically a second Cave of Ordeals rather than a typical dungeon. I have a problem with all of the amiibo compatibility in the game though, not just because the Cave of Shadows is already on the disc but because it’s also bullshit to charge for cheats (Shit, even SquareEnix includes free cheats in their remakes). At least Nintendo didn’t make the instant arrows/hearts as micro-transactions….yet.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.15 at 13:51 | Permalink

@Gyme:
because it’s also bullshit to charge for cheats
I entirely agree. However, I think the position Nintendo is adopting is that these are ‘features’ extended to people who already own the amiibo in question. This is what the ‘universal amiibo’ attitude should be about: small, trivial things that you get if you have ANY of the amiibo associated with the game in question.

The problem, of course, is that Nintendo is dividing up all the access, and even locking some access behind amiibo that have not yet been released. It is one thing to toss some inconsequential bonuses to amiibo owners, and quite another to expect users to go out and buy NEW amiibos in order to access the substantial content which is restricted behind those purchases.

If it were just cheats, and if those cheats were ALL unlocked by ANY single Zelda-universe amiibo, I would have almost no problem with this at all.
Wolfe
Posted 2016.02.15 at 17:16 | Permalink

I’m with Julian. Nintendo products have no place in my household any longer. Their greed was bad enough. Amiibos pushed it. But letting Meatman Reggie and the Treehouse Kindergarten run rampant with censorship (call it localisation and I’ll call you the fool you are) was the line in the sand. I hope the NX buries them.
Gyme
Posted 2016.02.15 at 19:46 | Permalink

@Lusi: How would you feel if the Wolf Link amiibo was included for free with the game and it was used to unlock all of the amiibo content (dungeon, cheats, and double damage mode)?

At first I thought that might not be a bad idea, but I started thinking about people that buy the game used would be in the same boat as games with “Online Pass” DLC.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.16 at 14:57 | Permalink

@Gyme: How would you feel if the Wolf Link amiibo was included for free with the game and it was used to unlock all of the amiibo content (dungeon, cheats, and double damage mode)?

That’s a good question. I have a couple views which, initially conflicting, are resolved by priorities.

1. Initially, it makes me say, “Then what the fuck is the use of all those other Zelda-series amiibos?” After all, the whole point of those ‘universal’ SSBB amiibos (according to Nintendo, when amiibos first came out) was that they would work in any relevant title.

2. However, rewarding existing owners of amiibos is a lower priority than ensuring that the people who buy the full game get the full game. Therefore, if people buying the full game get everything unlocked by default with their included Wolf Link amiibo, I would be willing to consider that preferable to having it be unlocked with already-released amiibos that do not come with the game.

3. Online passes are stupid. But they are less stupid than this, because at least in the case of an online pass, it is possible for the buyer of the used software to purchase a NEW online pass. In this case, the buyer of a used copy of the game will have to bet on the market and hope he can get his hands upon a Wolf Link amiibo that someone no longer wants. Good luck getting that at the price of an online pass!

4. That said, when I think about non-transferable digital purchases which are increasingly prevalent, at least some ability to buy/sell used is better than none at all. Pragmatically, buying a used version without Wolf Link amiibo content is better than not being able to buy a used version at all.

IDEALLY:

– Nintendo would release the game with all content unlockable upon completing the main story (New Game + mode)
– People with current amiibos could then unlock tweaks from the beginning of the game
– Wolf Link amiibo could be used to unlock the extra content from the beginning of the game

And everyone would be happy.
The Legendary Zoltan
Posted 2016.02.16 at 16:27 | Permalink

great show! Best Nintendo rant ever. The Smash AI contest sounds so damn fun! Thank you.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.16 at 16:32 | Permalink

@Zoltan: Thanks!

Also, we worked out the pricing per entry (it is both five and ten dollars). I have put the update in the podcast notes above.
Lane
Posted 2016.02.17 at 19:04 | Permalink

I don’t own any Nintendo products, nor do I care to, so I have no real dog in this fight.

However, I will chime in that this seems like the logical (and idiotic) extension of the “preorder bonus” bullshit we’ve been seeing recently (i.e., how to convince your Steam customers to buy the UltraMegaGold edition that has all the preorder bonuses your console-bound friends will lament as they choose between Best Buy and GameStop for which extra and totally useless gun they want!). I can recall one game where the preorder bonuses felt like I was getting something for the extra or early dough I ponied up, and that was several years ago. At this point, I’ve not found an extra mission, dungeon, level, weapon, skin, or whatever even remotely useful.

And the reason for that is: you can’t lock in overpowered or game-changing content behind these kinds of paywalls. Essentially, they become a tax on completionist/collectors who simply have to play every dungeon, mission, earn every skin, etc. Which seems like bad business sense, to penalize your arguably most-devoted customer by treating her as a cash cow rather than a valued and loyal customer.

But that’s the world of business we live in: exploit while the exploitin’s good, make that quarterly target, retire with a nice big golden parachute, and then divide up the company and sell it off to foreign holding corporations for millions, increasing stockholder value temporarily.

And I’m not sure what the answer is; a more democratic source of funding (crowdfunding) is a shitshow and always will be because there’s zero accountability and video game crowdfunders are not savvy enough not to fall for stupid ideas. Short of government-grant sponsored content, I’m not sure if there’s an answer (and here, I have something much more like the BBC in mind than whatever the US government would dream up for its grant money would purchase, which is no doubt a sequel to “America’s Army,” but with even more chance to nuke people who don’t look like you).

You know what, fuck it. Seize the means of videogame production, we’re takin’ this shit communist guys. I am now the Josef Stalin of video games. Lusipurr, prepare the gulags.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.17 at 19:21 | Permalink

@Lane: Seize the means of videogame production, we’re takin’ this shit communist guys. I am now the Josef Stalin of video games.

I am so on board with this. Proletariat gaming, ho!

The US system of government funding lacks both sufficient funding and oversight. The result is PBS fundraisers and virtually no production. The BBC is a great system, but it is paid for by a licence fee (at least in part) which tax-fearing Americans would never accept. Alas!
Lane
Posted 2016.02.17 at 19:33 | Permalink

We must reeducate Americans to accept the licence (spelled with a c).

Except the US Broadcasting Corporation, instead of producing actual quality content like Orphan Black or The Last Kingdom, would instead give us period piece historical dramas that ignored real history. Can you imagine? “Brave George Washington leads a team of ragtag commandos against the crack troops of the British Empire, snatching a surprise victory!” The real historical account would be “some bumpkin-headed dude from Virginia and his ragtag band of miscreants manage to beat England’s C-team and only then because France decided we were a good proxy war to fight against England.” Hardly the stuff American exceptionalism is made of.

On the other hand, an American version of Doctor Who would cause nerds to self-destruct, and that’s pretty OK.
evilpaul
Posted 2016.02.19 at 10:09 | Permalink

So I just bought my first new console since my PS2 and GBA….a PS3! (I’d been PC only mostly for $$$ reasons for quite a while) I got a new Ultra Slim 12GB for barely $100 (mounting bracket and 500GB HDD are already ordered), and games are really cheap, so…any PS3 or last gen console exclusives I should grab? Gems in the rough or ones that came out a long while back, but are still worth owning?

I ordered Demon’s Souls and Catherine already off Amazon. I still have a lot of PS2 games on my shelf, so ICO, FFX, Kingdom Hearts HD collections are out. I can emulate them at 4K or pop them in my (somehow) still functioning PS2. I like all sorts of games, but racing, puzzle, and fighting games (I guess unless there is online and people still playing it?) are not my favorites.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.19 at 12:25 | Permalink

@EvilPaul: Gems in the rough or ones that came out a long while back, but are still worth owning?

HEYYYYY Evilpaul! There you are!

Physical Releases
If you are looking for a Zelda-style adventure game, 3D Dot Game Heroes is more than competent. It was developed with input from and published by FromSoftware, who made Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls

There are numerous Disgaea titles if you are a fan of the franchise: Disgaea 3, 4, and D2, in order of release and escalating order of excellence.

Ni no Kuni is getting a sequel, and is a beautiful and solid JRPG. It holds your hand for the duration of the gameplay with a party member who tells you the weakness of every boss, but other than that it is a good game.

Valkyria Chronicles is a must-buy. Easily the unlooked-for gem on the console. It has gone on to become a classic

At the bargain level: Puppeteer is a beautiful platformer; Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection is a huge selection of classic Genesis games, including both Ecco games and all of the Sonic Genesis titles.

(You’ve probably already played Portal and Portal 2 on PC, but they are both available on PS3.)

Digital Releases (many of these are available elsewhere)
Braid is just about my favourite puzzle-platformer. It’s available nearly everywhere, but is a must-own on PS3.

Fez is another really great puzzle-platformer, with a sort of Super Paper Mario 3D rotation mechanic going on. Phil Fish is a thieving dick, but this game is good at least.

Geometry Wars 3 is the definitive version of the franchise. Worth getting if you like Geometry Wars.

Guacamelee is a fantastic Metroidvania-style platformer, as is Outland. The latter is especially good.

Limbo is a minimalistic, challenging puzzle-platformer. I recommend it. Teslagrad similarly so, although less minimalistic and more colourful and Russian.

Mega Man 9 and Mega Man 10 are essential purchases for any Mega Man fan. 9 is particularly excellent.

Shovel Knight is a MUST own for any serious gamer. Full stop. Buy this game.

Thomas Was Alone a very minimalist, dryly humorous puzzle platformer about coloured blocks.

You can see a complete list of games I own and have installed here: http://lusipurr.com/documents/LusiGames.htm
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2016.02.19 at 16:09 | Permalink

Info Blast.05

This week’s panel
Silicon Noob
Lusipurr

Feature
Summer Gaming Challenge Fund-raiser
Smash Wii U buy a character Tournament
What settings will the matches be using? Items? Stage? Time/Stock? 1v1/FFA? double/single elimination?

NEWS
Upcomming Releases
Fire Emblem Fates
I love the Fire Emblem series a lot but I just can’t picture having the time to actually play this thing.
I still have the shrink wrap on Splatoon…

Megaman Legacy Collection
The only Mega Man game that I played was 10 on Wii and, while fun, it kicked my ass so hard that it’s still kinda sore.

Pokemon Classic

Twilight Princess HD

Pokken Tournament

Hyrule Warriors 3DS

Star Fox 0

Valkyria Chronicles Remake
I played the first mission of the original and got sidetracked. I really should go back to it.

Mighty No. 9

Ubisoft not making AC game this year
That’s probably a good idea.

Quantum Break announced for PC
I didn’t know a thing about this game, and I still don’t.

Nintendo announces Twilight Princess HD Amiibo content.
The only Amiibo that I have is a blue Woolly Yoshi. I’ll never use it in a game.

Imitanis Literature Corner
The Once and Future King by T.H. White
Part 2 Chapter 5

Imitanis Entertainment Moment
This week I played Sushi Go! and The Big Book of Madness, but since my gaming has slowed I’ll discuss only the former and cover the later next week probably.

Sushi Go! is a drafting game about creating plates of different Sushi dishes. Every player gets a hand of different food items like tempura, sashimi, Dumplings and nigiri that they can add to their plate. They will choose one in secret, pass their cards to their left and then reveal their choice. This continues until all cards have been chosen. The goal is to get the most points on your plate, where most items score best in set or in combinations with other items. For example: Dumplings score more points the more of them that you have, Tempura are worth 5 points per pair (0 points for 1), and nigiri has a flat score that is tripled if you had a wasabi card on your plate before you chose it. The game is played across three rounds (plates) where the player with the highest combined score wins the game.

So the idea is to grab high scoring sets while not passing along cards that will complete the sets that your opponent is trying to complete. Card passing might sound like a strange combination with a Sushi theme, but it actually works amazingly! If you’ve never been to a Sushi place: most of them have this conveyor belt system where the dishes are constructed and then set on the belt. The Customers sit next to the belt and simply pick the food that they want from the belt as it passes. So, if you picture the players as sitting around a Sushi belt then the food drafting immediately ties in perfectly.

The game plays 2-5 but I’ve only played this game with 2 players, which may be an ideal number. There are only two hands of cards, so it is easy to keep track of what items are available to get in any given round and you must immediately take cards that you don’t want the other player to have, which circumvents a problem that some drafting games tend to have: Players can force the sub-optimal selection onto another player. For example: If I’m playing a three player game and the player to my right has 3 dumplings already and the hand that I’m passed contains another, but the other two players (myself and the player to my left) each have no dumplings, then one of us must take the dumpling for 1 point in order to keep it from getting back to my right and netting that player 5 points. I don’t have to take the dumpling though, because I can pass it to my left and force that player to take it because it can’t be risked to pass it on. This can kinda suck for the player who passes to someone who has a great combo as they get stuck being the dumping ground for all of the cards that can’t be passed along for fear of making it worse. This player usually loses.

All that said: I enjoyed it with 2 players and it only took about 10 minutes to the play all 3 rounds. The nice thing about drafting games is that everyone plays simultaneously, so rounds tend to be pretty quick. I wouldn’t expect the play time to go beyond 15 or 20 even with five players. Highly recommended for 2 players, probably still pretty good with 3-5 but I don’t know for sure. Oh yeah, it’s also super cheap and can be found at big box stores. I got mine at a Fred Meyer (Kroger) for $8. Check it out.

DiceAdmiral Travel Moment
I spent Valentines weekend getting soaked in driving rain doing some beach combing. On the plus side we also didn’t find anything! Still glad that I went though.

Quotes
“PS4 has more exclusives than the XBone has games.”
“Animals need food this time of year. You can provide it.[By blowing your brains out in the woods]”

Final Notes
When I listened to the Fancy Cast it was every week (Granted, this was many many years ago). What happened that they lost 1.75 years of their 2 year lead on TSM?
As far as length goes I think that the format that you have works well. I can’t count the number of hours I wasted listening to recounts of dreadfully dull Sword of the New World stories on the Fancy Cast. There’s a certain level of detail that is ideal for listeners that have no idea what you’re talking about, and they consistently went into far far too much detail.

Donators
Cumulative total record holder: Imitanis
Single Donation record holder: Imitanis

Donators eligible for end of year drawing: 2
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.19 at 17:49 | Permalink

@DiceAdmiral: The only Mega Man game that I played was 10 on Wii and, while fun, it kicked my ass so hard that it’s still kinda sore.

WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT????????
SiliconPoop
Posted 2016.02.21 at 16:12 | Permalink

Physical Releases
If you are looking for a Zelda-style adventure game, 3D Dot Game Heroes is more than competent. It’s by Level 5, who made Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls

I was under the impression that it was by Silicon Studio, who also made Bravely Default. Also, From Sofware makes the Souls games.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.21 at 17:06 | Permalink

@SN

That’s correct. I meant From Software, not Level 5. FromSoftware published the game in Japan, but also had some input during the development process. As such, there are a bunch of references to FromSoftware games in 3D Dot Game Heroes.
Lusipurr
Posted 2016.02.21 at 20:22 | Permalink

@DiceAdmiral: Lest it be thought that I missed your post or that I did not have anything to say to it, I am in fact just really, really busy.

However, we dedicated a portion of the next podcast to addressing YOU IN PERSON, so look forward to your DiceAdmiral moment. ;)
evilpaul
Posted 2016.02.21 at 23:55 | Permalink

I’m evilpaul13 on PSN if anybody wants to add me.
DiceAdmiral
Posted 2016.02.22 at 00:47 | Permalink

@Lusipurr “In person”? I’d better watch my back.

Tell your friends!

23 Comments