This articleneeds additional citations forverification.(July 2016) |
TheNintendo e-Reader,[a]commonly abbreviated ase-Reader,is anadd-onmanufactured byNintendofor itsGame Boy Advancehandheld video game console.It was released in Japan in December 2001, with a North American release following in September 2002. It has anLEDscanner that reads "e-Reader cards",paper cards with specially encoded data printed on them.
 | |
| Manufacturer | Nintendo |
|---|---|
| Type | Add-on |
| Release date | JP: December 1, 2001[1] NA: September 16, 2002[2] AU: October 31, 2003[3] |
| Discontinued | NA: Early 2004[4] JP: September 2008[4] |
Depending on the card and associated game, the e-cards are typically used in a key-like function to unlock secret items, levels, or play mini-games when swiped through the reader. The cards themselves contain data, as opposed to unlocking data already on the device itself.
Usage and versions
editTwo versions were released in Japan: the original e-Reader (without a link cable port), which could read cards to unlock game content, etc.; and later the e-Reader+ (simply "e-Reader" in Australia and North America), which came with a link cable port to connect withGameCubegames such asAnimal Crossingand with other Game Boy Advance systems for games such asPokémon RubyandSapphire.The e-Reader was only considered successful in Japan. In 2004, Nintendo's head European PR confirmed that the e-Reader would not be releasing in Europe, following a year of confusion surrounding the subject. She stated "The market potential isn't great enough."[5]It was discontinued in North America in early 2004, due to a lack of popularity.[4]In Japan, it sold much better and was produced up to the discontinuation of the Game Boy hardware line.[4]
In order to add items and scan levels in games such asSuper Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3,a player required two Game Boy Advance systems and a link cable. The gray end would go into the e-Reader GBA and the purple end into the GBA that had the game. After entering the needed point on the game, players would swipe the cards in and the data would be transferred to the game cartridge. This function does not work with theNintendo DSdue to the lack of link cable support.
e-Reader cards
edit
In the U.S., e-Reader Card packs have been released that contain:
- NESgames
- New levels and power-ups forSuper Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
- Items and designs forAnimal Crossing
- New trainers to battle inPokémon RubyandSapphire
- Mini-games, including an exclusive version ofMario Party.
- Game & WatchCards; originally there were plans to release more Game and Watch games as a series of E-reader cards. Only Manhole-e was officially released.
There have been numerous other games released with e-Reader support in Japan.
Dot code
editData is encoded on the cards using "dot code",a specializedbarcodetechnology licensed fromOlympus Corporation.e-Reader Cards may have one or two sets of dot code on them, either a wide strip on the left side of the card, a wide strip on both the left and right sides of the card, a narrow strip on the bottom of the card or a short strip on the bottom of the card with a long strip on the left side of the card. Smaller games may require scanning only one card (two sets of dot code), while the greaterNESgames can require as many as five cards (nine to ten sets of dot code) in order to start the application.
The shorter sets of dot code were only used with thePokémon Trading Card Game.Cards released in regular sets published by both Nintendo andWizards of the Coasthad a dot code on the bottom side of the card. When scanned, the e-Reader displayed aPokédexdata entry for the Pokémon shown on the card. Many of the cards published by Wizards of the Coast included a left side dot code that would allow users to play mini-games, animations, and use secret attacks in the Trading Card Game or play with various songs and graphics.[6][7]
Compatibility
edit
The e-Reader plugs into the cartridge slot of the Game Boy Advance like a regular game would. The end of the e-Reader sticks out from the Game Boy Advance unit to provide a slot to scan the e-Reader Cards. Electronically, the e-Reader is compatible with any console that supports Game Boy Advance games, however it may be mechanically incompatible with some systems (it simply does not fit), and the ability to link consoles may not be available.
Once installed, the link cable connector on the Game Boy Advance is obstructed, but a pass-through connection on the e-Reader allows link-up features to be used. The Game Boy Advance SP is also fully compatible, although the e-Reader does not mount flush with the SP (see picture). As the link cable connector on the SP is unobstructed, the pass-through on the e-Reader is not used. An additional cover (AGB-016) can be added to the e-reader in order to avoid damaging the 6 pin connector when linked to a GBA SP.[8]
The Game Boy Player is also fully compatible, and the e-Reader connects as it would to a Game Boy Advance (the e-Reader pass-through connector is used for connecting the link cable). The GameCube hosting this system acts as a Game Boy Advance - in order to link to a GameCube game, a second GameCube (or aWii) running the game in question, must be used.
The e-Reader can fit into theDS Lite,but not the original DS. The e-Reader can, however, be modified to fit into the original DS. In either case, there is no support for linking features, as neither system has a link cable port.
The e-Reader fits into theGame Boy Microand has a link cable port, but not a standard connector. A special Game Boy Micro Game Link Cable must be used for linking features.[9]The Game Boy Micro's non-standard link cable port can not accept the GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable, meaning it cannot link with GameCube games without modification to the cable.[10]
Because the first version of the Japanese e-Reader did not have a link cable pass-through connector, it can fit into consoles which the later e-Readers are incompatible with. Even though the Game Boy Advance and the DS areregion-free,Japanese e-Reader cards work only on Japanese e-Readers and North American e-Reader cards will only work on North American e-Readers. The system will display 'region error' on both systems if a user attempts to use another region's cards on their own device.
Game list
editClassic NES Series
editEach game in this series comes in a pack of five cards, each of which must be scanned twice, on both sides. There are thirteen games in this series; each is a direct port of the one-player mode of the classicNESgame of the same title (minus the added "-e" suffix).Excitebike,Donkey Kong,andIce Climber,all released as e-Reader cards, were later released in cartridge form as part of theClassic NES Serieson Game Boy Advance. Also, all games exceptUrban Championwere included as unlockables in the GameCube gameAnimal Crossing,in full two-player mode where applicable, and all games exceptGolfwere included in Wii'sVirtual Console.
All NES titles released include:
Animal Crossing-e
editA series ofAnimal Crossingcards were released for the e-Reader. When used with thepost officeinthe game,the cards could provide items to players, unlock "town tunes", or unlock new designs to be used around the village. Some were "sibling" cards (series 2–4) with two related characters on the front. In addition to being sold in card packs, some regular series cards were distributed on a promotional basis throughGameStop,EB Games,andEnergizerbatteries.
Pokémon Battle-e
editThePokémon Battle-eCards, when scanned intoPokémon Ruby or Sapphire,allowed the player to load up special trainers to battle or to get special berries. In Japan, the series was sold as six sets, each with a different theme, with 10 cards in each set (8 trainers, 1 berry, and 1 checklist), while in the US, the series was packaged together to have two themes per pack. In addition, 2 promo cards, 1 for each version, were packed in with the games. The cards are loaded intoRubyorSapphirethrough the Mystery Events function once it is unlocked.
There were additionalBattle-ecard sets forPokémon FireRed,LeafGreenandEmeraldin Japan. However, due to the e-Reader being discontinued in the US they were never released in other regions. The e-Reader functionality was eventually removed from all non-Japanese versions of the games.[11]
Pokémon Colosseum
editInPokémon Colosseum,there is a Colosseum at the back of Phenac City. There are 2 large doors, which in the English version lead to the same arena. In the Japanese version the right door goes to the arena, while the left door leads to a special e-Reader area where players can scan in extra cards to battle additional trainers and capture three more Shadow Pokémon.[12]
Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire
editThere were five cards that were released that were compatible with the Japanese version. These cards make minor tweaks to the gameplay, but do not add any new features.
| Card ID | Card title | Card effect | Promotion |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09‑A001 | Bonus Stage Card | Allows players to play the bonus stage of their choice | Pokémon Scoop (Summer 2003); Pokémon Festa 2003 |
| 09-A002 | GET Special Guests Card | Unlocks one of the following Pokémon for capture: Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile or Aerodactyl | Demo cards placed in selected stores in Japan throughout September 2003 (not for distribution) |
| 09‑A003 | Ruin Area Card | Allows players to start their games from the Ruins | Distributed to customers who purchase the game at Pokémon Centers |
| 09‑A004 | DX Mode Card | Allows players to start with 9 balls (lives), Master Ball and 99 coins; in addition, Pichu rescuer will always be enabled throughout the game | Distributed to customers who purchase the game at Pokémon Centers |
| 09‑A005 | Encounter Rate UP Card | The likelihood of encountering Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile and Aerodactyl increases. | Distributed to customers who purchase the game at Pokémon Centers |
Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3-e
editThere are 36 cards, divided into two series: 18 for Series 1 and 18 for Series 2. In each package of 18 cards there are five demo cards, five level cards, eight power-up cards, and a promotional card without data strips which only contains an advertisement for thePokémon Battle-ecards. More were released in Japan; however, they never saw American release due to the discontinuation of the device.
Two promotional cards came packed in with every US and Australian copy of the game sold. Five additional cards were released for a very short time and were packed in with the game and sold exclusively atWalmartstores in the US. These five cards have become extremely hard to find, as the e-Reader had been discontinued in North America not long after the release of the game. The two e-Reader cards that were initially bundled withSuper Mario Advance 4have since been discontinued.
TheVirtual Consolererelease of the game forWii Uand theNintendo Switch Onlinerelease include all of the e-Reader levels, including those that were never released outside of Japan.[13]
Mega Man Battle NetworkandMega Man Zero 3cards
editThe JapaneseMega Mangames for GBA used Card Reader e+ cards to customize their game with the e-Reader +. The cards caused various effects as, such as Base HP, Abilities, Buster Changes, Charge Shot Modifications, B+ Back Abilities. There are even Item Cards which can give out sets of Battle Chips, Sub Chips, BugFrags, Zenny, and even Navi Customizer Programs (Only introduced inMega Man Battle Network 6Modification Card Part 1 &Battle Network 6Modification Card Part 2). They could also cause negative effects ('Bugs') to happen, causing such effects as causing Mega Man to lose health and move the wrong way, or causing the player to be unable to control it. As for theMega Man Zero 3Cards, they change the Resistance Base and add an overhaul of new things to it as well as Weapon Upgrades and Bullet Appearances to make an actual Buster Shot look like a real bullet that an actual gun fires.
The only way to gain the cards' effects in the English versions is through various cheating devices, such asCode Breaker,Action ReplayandGameShark(although inBattle Network 6all e-Reader content was removed from the European and American versions, and can no longer be accessed). TheMega Man Zero Collection,Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection,andMega Man Battle Network Legacy Collectionreleases includes the e-Reader bonuses forMega Man Zero 3andBattle Network 4–6as unlockables, marking the first time they have been legitimately accessible outside of Japan.[14][15][16]
F-Zero: GP Legend
editExclusive to the Japanese version, e+ cards could be used to unlock additional machines, race courses, and staff ghosts to race in the game's time trial mode.
Other
edit- E3 2002 Promo Pack:A very rare promotional pack given away at the 2002E3conference, this pack contained a variant Manhole e-card, two Pokémon trading card game cards and a Kirby card that, when scanned, would tell the player if they have won a prize. The Kirby card is considered to be the rarest e-Reader card produced.[17]
- Mario Party-e:A complete card game with 64 cards using the e-Reader for minigames.
- Mario Party-e Promo Card:While not an e-Reader Card (the card contains no dot codes), a promotional "Two Coin Card" was packed with GamePro magazine and can be fully used with the Mario Party-e game.
- Air Hockey-e:A promotional card given away at various retailers when the e-Reader was initially released. This card plays a real game of fast-paced air hockey. An AU-exclusive version of this card was packed in with the e-Reader when sold inAustralia.
- Manhole-e:A port of the original Game & Watch game. Included with the e-Reader, the player must close the manholes as pedestrians pass by. A complete Game & Watch card series was planned for release, but never made it to stores.
- FoxBox Kirby Slide Puzzle:A slide puzzle game included in issue 175 ofNintendo Powerand in an issue ofTips & TricksMagazine.It was also given away withFoxBoxpromotional boxes atToys R Us.
- EON Ticket:A promotional card given away at E3, at Toys R Us during the EON Ticket Summer Tour in 2003 and in issue 173 ofNintendo Power.This card was used to getLatiasorLatiosonPokémon RubyorPokémon Sapphireby allowing the player access to the Southern Island location.Latiaswas given in the former andLatioswas given in the latter.
- Pokémon Channel:Three US exclusive cards and three Australian variant cards were released with theGameCubeGamePokémon Channel.The USA version holds a "6-Pattern" card, a Pikachu card and a Kyogre card, whereas the Australian version has a Jirachi card, instead of the Kyogre card.
- Domo-Kun no Fushigi Terebi:Released in packs exclusively throughout Japan, little is known about this series to English-speakers. The cards extended the original title by a great number of mini-games and events not available on the cartridge.
- Mario vs. Donkey Kong:CoroCoro Comichad a competition where 1,000 people won a set of five cards, and a sixth was distributed at the 2004 Next-Generation World Hobby Fair. Despite there being data for twelve levels within the game, only these six cards were released. They are considered to be among the rarest of e-Cards. While connecting the North American version of the game to a Japanese e-Reader+ and fully scanning one of the cards will reveal the e-Reader menu, the cards cannot be used to unlock any levels. However, all versions of the GBA game have the data for these 12 levels, unlockable via Action Replay codes.
- Pikmin 2-e:Exclusive to Japan, six packs of e-Reader minigames were released subsequent to the release ofPikmin 2.These games challenge players to pluck all the Pikmin in an area in a set amount of steps, to try to get Pikmin from one point to another without injury, etc. The cards contain region-specific encoding blocking their use with North American systems.
Summary
edit| Title | Type | Release Year |
|---|---|---|
| Air Hockey-e | Game | 2002 |
| Animal Crossing-e | Data | 2003 |
| Classic NES Series: Balloon Fight | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Baseball | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Clu Clu Land | Game | 2003 |
| Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong 3 | Game | 2003 |
| Classic NES Series: Donkey Kong Jr. | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Excitebike | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Golf | Game | 2003 |
| Classic NES Series: Ice Climber | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Mario Bros. | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Pinball | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Tennis | Game | 2002 |
| Classic NES Series: Urban Champion | Game | 2002 |
| Domo-kun Card-e | Game | 2003 |
| Eon Ticket e-Card | Data | 2003 |
| F-Zero: GP Legend (e-Reader cards) | Data | 2003 |
| Hamtaro Card-e | Game | 2003 |
| Kirby Slide | Game | 2003 |
| Manhole | Game | 2002 |
| Mario Party-e | Game | 2003 |
| Mario vs. Donkey Kong (e-Reader cards) | Data | 2004 |
| Pikmin 2-e | Game | 2004 |
| Pokemon Aquapolis | Game | 2003 |
| Pokémon Battle-e | Data | 2003 |
| Pokémon Channel (e-Reader cards) | Data | 2003 |
| Pokemon Expedition | Game | 2002 |
| Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire (e-Reader cards) | Data | 2003 |
| Pokemon Skyridge | Game | 2003 |
| Rockman Zero 3 Kaizou (Modification) Cards | Data | 2004 |
| Rockman.EXE 4 Kaizou (Modification) Cards | Data | 2004 |
| Rockman.EXE 5 Kaizou (Modification) Cards | Data | 2004 |
| Rockman.EXE 6 Kaizou (Modification) Cards | Data | 2004 |
| Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3-e | Data | 2003 |
Notes
editReferences
edit- ^"Kādo e de hirogaro shinji no Yū sekai!"カードeで quảng がろ tân じ の du thế giới![Expand your world with Card E!].Nintendo of Japan(in Japanese).Archivedfrom the original on 8 March 2021.Retrieved2 February2021.
- ^Berghammer, Billy (August 7, 2002)."E-Reader release date and details!".Nintendo World Report.Archivedfrom the original on 23 October 2020.Retrieved26 October2020.
- ^"News".Nintendo of Australia.November 14, 2003. Archived fromthe originalon 2003-12-02.Retrieved2020-11-14.
- ^abcdHeaton, Andrew (19 July 2021)."Rare E3 Nintendo e-Reader Card is Selling for Thousands of Dollars".GameRant.Archivedfrom the original on 17 January 2023.Retrieved8 January2022.
- ^Bramwell, Tom (8 July 2004)."Nintendo will not release E-Reader in Europe".Eurogamer.Archivedfrom the original on 15 April 2022.Retrieved15 April2022.
- ^nick15 (February 17, 2021)."Pokémon TCG Card-E Era".Pokémon Aaah!.RetrievedJune 4,2024.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^Snorlaxative."Pokemon Card E Reader: Sure to revolutionize the Pokemon TCG for the better!".RetrievedJune 4,2024.
- ^Rosewood (April 23, 2013)."Nintendo e-Reader 6PIN Protection Cover and Urban Champion".retrostuff.Archivedfrom the original on March 23, 2021.RetrievedMarch 24,2021.
- ^"GBA Accessories".Nintendo of America.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-10-14.Retrieved2016-07-22.
- ^dude22072."Make a Gameboy Micro to Gamecube Cable".Autodesk Instructibles.RetrievedJune 4,2024.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^"Pokemon Generation III Version Compatibility".Scripters War.RetrievedJune 4,2004.
- ^"Pokémon Colosseum".The Cutting Room Floor.Retrieved4 July2023.
- ^Brian (21 December 2015)."Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3's Wii U VC release will support e-Reader levels".Nintendo Everything.Archivedfrom the original on 23 December 2015.Retrieved22 December2015.
- ^Holmes, Jonathan (July 10, 2010)."Review: Mega Man Zero Collection".Archivedfrom the original on 2023-03-10.Retrieved2023-06-13.
- ^Doolan, Liam (25 October 2019)."Modification Cards Designed for Nintendo's e-Reader Return in the Mega Man Zero/ZX Legacy Collection".Archivedfrom the original on 25 June 2021.Retrieved25 June2021.
- ^"Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection Trailer | March Capcom Spotlight".IGN.March 9, 2023.
- ^"e-Reader Encyclopedia | カードe bách khoa sự điển".ereader.no-intro.org.Archivedfrom the original on 2021-08-14.Retrieved2021-03-24.
External links
edit- Official page at Nintendo of Japan's website(in Japanese)
