"WHAT'S IN THE BOX!!" The two variations of E-reader out now differentiates strictly by the pack of trading cards that is bundled inside the packaging. One bundle includes the game Pinball, the other Donkey Kong Jr.. (I decided to choose the latter of the two.)
Click to enlarge
Bundled Games
Getting back to the initial bundled package of cards, in my case Donkey Kong Jr. -- Nintendo also included a "sample card pack". This extra pack has the classic Game and Watch's Manhole, one Animal Crossing card, and three Pokemon battle cards (Machop, Machoke, Machamp). Close up: Cards
Game cards in packs have the same size dimensions as regular sports trading cards. The very light weight of each individual card is nearly identical as well. Today's technology really is amazing. Whole NES cartridges can be fitted onto a few backs of trading cards! Misconception A common misconception people have about the cards concerns the process of scanning them in. The general idea is only one card needs swiping, ATM-motion-style, and that's it. You'll now have that game to pick up and play. Well, misinformed consumer, that blanket statement is... WRONG!
Check out the gray stripes on the top and bottom of cards on the pictures above. That is where the data is stored. This very important tidbit will most likely separate the men from the boys, in a sense. Both Donkey Kong Jr. and Excitebike titles have an amount of 5 cards in their packs. Each card must be scanned through twice, one on the top end back portion and one on the bottom, which brings the total amount of scanning to a whopping 10(!) before you're able to race / defeat the Kong. Cue the waterworks--those of you expecting quick, pain-free access to games on the fly can now bawl tears of utter disappointment by this news. In fact, I encourage you to snap a Polaroid of yourself in this state and send it over to the folks at Nintendo. Yes, it's as bad as it sounds. The Process of Scanning: I
The e-Reader plugs into the cart slot and into top of the GBA's ext. port. One should take in effect that any 3rd party accessories one would like to use. Interact Light Shields cannot be plugged into your GBA stimulaneously with an E-reader! It just won't fit! The original Gameboy Advance has a key flaw of lacking a backlight. (Down my fellow Nintendo fanboys, down I say!) This has been a problem since its release and will continue to remain one until a new portable system replaces it. The only real solution to this dilemma is a tricky and warantee-destroying crusade. In order to do so, you have to internally install a back light. Sure there have been many success stories, but my hidden fears and doubts shall forever make me weary nevertheless.
The Process of Scanning: II
Upon starting the software up, a menu screen will appear. Three choices are made available: Scan Card: Start scanning non-saved games Communication: Hooking up the GBA to a Gamecube Play a saved Game: E-readers are able to store one game on its memory. Choosing this will result in instant gameplay. 'Scan Card' is the option to click on first. When the next screen appears, just press start. I am, of course, too cool to read the instruction booklet that comes along with the E-reader, therefore I'll now scan the card right in at my heart's delight and let my male testosterone have a good laugh!
DAMMIT ALL TO HELL! Expect to see errors like this one--A LOT--when you first start out. I still get the occassional error now and then now that I'm a "more seasoned" e-Reader user. Let's pick up the pieces of our pride and have a glance at the manual. The Process of Scanning: Errors
Carefully push the card, relatively slowly, through the slot. 'Read Error' and 'Time Delay', should you see them, are the most common errors you'll encounter at first. The Process of Scanning: Sounds
The Process of Scanning: Success!
If you slide a card in perfectly, a new screen should appear showing just how many more scans are needed. Pressing 'A' will take you back to the previous screen to scan another card. Repeat this process until all sides of game cards have been processed. The Process of Scanning: Saving
Now that you are tired out from all that scanning, you can choose to save the scanned game into E-reader's memory. Joy to the world, right? Gameplay
Personal thoughts and theories The above walkthrough information is nice and all but you are probably still wondering if you should cave in and make the purchase. To put it bluntly, the E-reader has left me with mixed feelings. The grueling process of sliding 5 cards, 10 times, to play a simple game is crazy and just not good engineering. The scanning process itself is not perfect either. The motion of sliding must be slow, but not too slow, and quickly, but not too quickly. If you're on the road carrying 5 cards, attempting to scan them right then and there on your lap, this is not the ideal accessory. The save feature is nice but God forbid you would want to play 2 different games at one period of time. You see, the reader has room for but only one game. Bummer. The released games out are good, but they're not great. One would think Nintendo should have picked their obvious NES masterpiece classics to promote the E-reader instead of these simplistic arcade titles. If anything it's a foreshadowing of what is to come in next series packs. If Nintendo would rub the backs of other companies, many a NES classic could prove me wrong. Mega Man and Castlevania would surely raise the "must buy" rating of the device. However... The size issue is another important considersation. One long gray bar holds roughly 2.2 KB of information and a short bar only 1.4 KB. Given that info, what is the possibility of larger games (e.g. RPGs) making an apperance? I made a little table based on the specific game's rom sizes below.
Of course this chart is not completely accurate, just in comparison to DKJr. and Excitebike sizes. Do I like it? Well, yes. Will you like it? I'm not sure. I would say you should 'support the NES' and all that jazz and buy one. I can't 100% fully recommend it, though. Don't get me wrong, it's a great idea, but Nintendo (and Nintendo alone) will determine what kind of toy this turns into through the supporting software. Oh! And expect more of those Pokemon battle cards in the future. Grand. Q&A General What is an 'E-reader'?
Specifics Why do I get error messages when I try to scan a card?
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