Disney said:
Source
NO
I can understand disliking amiibo (since there is game content/features directly tied to it), but why should the others stop? Them existing shouldn't affect you in any way.
couldn't agree more. it's always seemed like a scam to me. same as amiibos.
Oh, but it does - in a major way. The success of Skylanders paved the way for Infinity, Dimensions, Amiibo and other assorted nonsense that plays no practical purpose other than inflate the price of the "complete" game. I can understand people complaining over toys-to-life and it makes sense for the same reason why complaining about the iPhone makes sense - because of their undue influence on the rest of the industry. It only takes one teaspoon of salt to spoil the whole broth, and it takes quite a while to "fix" it afterwards. Physical DLC is a money-fleecing scheme, that's the whole point of it in the first place.
It's fine to dislike them, but that's not what you said. What you basically said is "I don't like them, so they shouldn't exist." If you don't like the figures, don't buy them. It's not a scam unless they say "Hey kids, all the game is there! Just buy one figure and you'll have access to everything!" Just because you didn't read the fine print that doesn't mean it's a scam.
You're right - it's not illegal, just highly unethical. It's like selling a car that requires an additional accessory pack in order to use the ignition. That's not a car - that's a lemon. You were sold a lemon and you were mislead into thinking that it's a complete product that you can *expand upon* by accessorizing - that's not what's happening, you're just unlocking access to features that are already there.
Which is why I have never and will continue to never buy any of those games. But there are people who are perfectly content with that purchase model, unlike the buyers of so-called lemons, which is the main difference here. No one's ever happy for receiving a lemon, but someone may be happy with their Skylanders purchase, so let them purchase it.
I don't know about that - some people are happy enough with partially functioning goods as long as they're relatively servicable - they "won't use the features anyways", at least that's how they validate their purchase post-factum. It's the gambler's fallacy - you already paid $90, why not pay $10 extra. And again. And again. There are obviously people happy enough with the model, but that doesn't shield it from criticism.
Capitalism!
It's all a matter of the amount of content versus the initial investment. There are ways to make this model work, for instance making the game free to play and treating the figurines as the revenue maker. In that scenario the game plays the role of an interactive advertisement and if you like it, you can grab an "expansion pack" with the reader and the figurines. It's like IAP, but it brings in actual physical value to the purchase - that works. There's no shortage of people buying virtual goods, those people would buy the same skins as physical items. Alternatively there's the Amiibo model, but that provides too little value in my opinion - the Amiibos do nothing. You have to strike a balance here, and nobody really got it right yet.
