Dear Nintendo,

I want to love you. I really, really do. I have a Wii U, I still own a Wii and I’ve held on to my 3DS for a few years now. Here’s the thing: lately, you’ve been making a lot of… weird decisions. And that’s making it so much harder for me to stay loyal to you.

Let’s start with the New 3DS that came out on February 13. First of all, that’s one heck of a crappy name for a product, and I get the feeling it’s going to lead to a lot of “Who’s on first?” situations, especially when the old 3DS is still on the market. I can see the confused parents already: “Can I get a new 3DS?” “Sure, do you want a New 3DS or a new 3DS?” “I told you, I want a new 3DS! Why is this so hard to understand?”

My other problem is in the lack of choices you’re offering us. Basically every other country in the world is getting to choose between the New 3DS and the New 3DS XL; you’re giving us North Americans the 3DS XL only, under the guise of “[thinking] New Nintendo 3DS XL makes the most sense for our market.” (This according to the letter you sent out to everybody who asked “Why?”) You say that you “make different systems… for a whole range of consumers,” and you claim that “New Nintendo 3DS XL simply expands those choices even further.” How exactly does limiting our options expand our choices?

I will admit that the New 3DS is a great system, at least from the demos I’ve tried. But as long as there’s only the New 3DS XL here, my money will remain firmly in my wallet.

If you came out with the regular-sized New 3DS, I would have been one of the first people in line on launch day. I have no need for the XL; I just want something reasonably priced that I can fit in my pocket. Is that too much to ask?

My other aggravation is amiibo, or the lack thereof, in stores. I love the concept. The statues look great, and I’m a fan of the little features that they add in the games that support them.

Here’s my problem: I can’t find any of the ones I want anywhere. Everywhere I go, it’s endless Mario and endless Yoshi; on the other hand, I’m still trying to find so much as ONE Kirby or Animal Crossing Villager.

I could buy them online, but wait, they’re sold out there too! That leaves eBay, and quite honestly, I have no need to pay over five times the regular price to get a hold of a single figurine.

It’s pretty clear this is a supply and demand issue, so how hard is it to get more amiibos out there? The longer you wait to get this fixed, the more money you lose.

Listen, Nintendo: You do great things, don’t get me wrong, but you’re putting yourself in an awkward situation with all these bad decisions. I’m not expecting you to come back to the glory days of the NES, but the gamers of America deserve better.

Signed,

Evan R. Hatfield