Since Saturday, we've been wondering if Nintendo really did cancel production on three of its new Skylanders-style Amiibo figures. Now, following a pair of vague statements from Nintendo, we've seen a more definitive answer.
A GameStop source has shown us an internal message from the gaming retail giant that was sent to regional stores earlier this week. It mentions the arrival of wave 2 figures (Diddy Kong, Zelda and Little Mac), and it mentions that "the following wave 1 characters have been discontinued by Nintendo." Those figures are Villager, Marth and the Wii Fit Trainer. Those are the same figures that a Canadian retailer said on Saturday had been discontinued.
We asked Nintendo about the status of those Amiibos and any others on Saturday. On Monday, we got this statement:
We will aim for certain amiibo to always be available. These will be for our most popular characters like Mario and Link. Due to shelf space constraints, other figures likely will not return to the market once they have sold through their initial shipment.
On Wednesday, Nintendo supplied us, without prompting, a new statement:
Some amiibo were very popular at launch, and it is possible that some amiibo in the United States, Canada and Latin America may not be available right now due to high demand and our efforts to manage shelf space during the launch period. Certain sold-out amiibo may return to these markets at a later stage. We are continually aiming to always have a regular supply of amiibo in the marketplace and there are many waves of amiibo to come.
We've pointed out the obvious to Nintendo that neither of their statements actually answer the simple question we asked about the status of those Amiibos. This doesn't seem like a difficult question, so we're not sure why Nintendo is having trouble providing a clear answer.
We've also reached out to GameStop for any further clarification on their end.
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