Maybe digital-as-the-status-quo has made me think that creating physical items is so extraordinary that they command a premium price. I'm not even one of those people who cares about owning a physical copy of a game (in the sense of how Kickstarter projects will promise physical media as a stretch goal). And apparently, Nintendo has made a killing with their Amiibo toys, which is even more bizarre to me than the recent Pokemon Go craze.

But a cute little Nintendo replica? I would never buy one just as a nostalgic paperweight. But if it plays games, even if it may not have much expandability or interoperability with Internet systems? That's very appealing to the kid in me, even though my Wii U has been collecting dust for the past year now.

I didn't even think about the actual physical cost to create one of these. I was just thinking that it's mostly IP.

When I order something off Kickstarter, I don't care at all about physical copies, because I just won't use them. If I get a book/comic/etc that's not readable on my tablet, I just won't end up reading it. It's not that I'm against physical media, but it's so convenient for me to go digital that I just won't end up using physical

Huh. I think many of us just consider $60 to be "impulse buy, plug into my display at work in case I need a break" territory, where the last thing I need is another PROJECT. I'd never even consider building an emulator.

That was my first thought too. They're trying to get the long tail on these games that have essentially made back their cost over the past few decades. If it wasn't for this effort, they'd all be abandonware. I wonder if Nintendo will try to pull off the same crap Disney does when copyright expires on their games and iconic characters.