We will try our best not to associate the free-to-start Nintendo Badge Arcade with drug use - even if the first sample is free it's easy to get hooked, and visions of pink rabbits will fill your life more the farther you go into it. The Badge Arcade is perfectly legal, for one, and its pink rabbit will not whisper at you to burn things. At least it hasn't yet done so during our first few days with him.
Regardless, if you enjoy crane games and menu customization, the arcade is going to be awfully tempting to drop some coin on.
The Nintendo Badge Arcade offers a regularly revolving array of crane machines containing "badges" from a range of different properties. In our first few days the machines included 8-bit Mario and Zelda, as well as newer stuff including Super Mario Maker, Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Splatoon, and even BOXBOY! Each theme sticks around for a few days, then disappears. We assume they'd eventually make a return, but it still adds that "better get it before it's gone!" nudge.
Operating a crane is handled the same way it is in the minigame from Kirby's Adventure: hold A until the crane is where you want it, then let up. The Badge Arcade cranes do have a bit more momentum to account for, however, as well as different crane types. Instead of a classic claw, some machines have a swinging hammer attachment or drop bombs. Each of these secondary crane types adds a bit of satisfying violence to the games, although they're harder to finely control.
Any badges that fall, whether dropped directly by the claw or otherwise knocked about, can be claimed for use on the HOME Menu. More on that later, but what it means now is that there can be some strategic or just plain lucky turns on the crane that yield bounties of two, three, or more. Each machine's layout of badges and chutes is different, and clever players might be able to pick up on ways to snag more badges on one go.
While the lure of potential jackpots can be enough for some people to keep coming back, Nintendo also added some conversational incentive with the pink bunny attendant who runs the arcade. Talking with him feels a lot like speaking with the shop owner in Rusty's Real Deal Baseball, with plenty of expressiveness and opportunities to respond. It might not sound like much, but it can be fun to see what the bunny has to say each day. A good deal of it does seem to be promotions for games and such, but at least it's often done in an entertaining way.
Of course, the rabbit is there to make real money - real, real money, as he notes. To this end, things can start to feel a bit iffy. If you want to go without ever paying a dime to the carrot fund, you can: free plays are trickled out through daily use of the no-prize practice machine or just plainly handed out on certain days. It will likely never be enough to collect a full set of anything before it cycles out for a while, though, and that's when they slowly start to raise the heat.
Initially, it's $1 for 5 plays. But if you liked that, the attendant notes, you could switch up to $2 for 10! Oh, liked that too? Then how about $3 for 15! $4 for 20? On one hand, you can always switch to whichever bundle you want, and the larger bundles can save time processing through the clunky eShop system. On the other hand, costs can add up more quickly this way than some might realize.
What you do get for money can be pretty fun, though - if digital décor is your thing, at least. Badges can be easily dragged and dropped onto HOME Menu slots normally reserved for games, with some larger ones taking up 2-4 places. Fulfilling certain collecting or monetary requirements will provide access to free themes that provide better stages for certain badges, although they're not really much to look at by themselves. Everything seems neatly organized by game and grouping, as well.
Our favourite thing to do with badges so far is sticking them on folders. Instead of an obscure "G" on your Game Boy games folder, why not have pixel art of the machine itself? Or how about Isabelle managing your folder of premium favs? The badges on folders look nice, too; not just being flat like a sticker, but actually protruding a bit like a solid object. It would be nice if the same 3D effects were applied to the badge collection viewable in-game, but they only appear flatly in little scenes.
Ultimately, Nintendo Badge Arcade feels like a hit-or-miss activity, depending on how interested players are in the virtual merchandise being offered. For some, the badges probably aren't going to be worth paying anything. Others with collecting streaks (and Nintendo knows who you are) may find the arcade too cute and compelling to put down. Whether you want give it a try or just say no, the bunny will be waiting 24-7.
Comments 108
I like the possibility of winning free plays through the practice game. I've nearly managed to complete the 8-bit Zelda set that way.
@NintyMan I keep seeing the "one guaranteed free play a day" thing everywhere but I've failed to get any free plays out of the practice machine two days in a row now so that's dumb.
One thing i hate is that there is no mirror option on the badges. So if i get duplicates and want to set them as bookends i cant because they are all facing the same direction
This is the sort of thing you would expect to see on a smartphone. But a trusted family friendly brand like Nintendo, this is a step down. Much the same as putting sweets at the check out in a supermarket.
If you have a lot of folders, this is a godsend bease these babies cerainy snazz them right up. I have gotten several badges for free each day, but I did spend a dollar earlier to complete a Splatoon set. The only other time I can see myself putting actual money in would be when some sweet Kirby badges come up.
@Mijzelffan In my experience, it's been a free play for every 20 badges you manage to get on the practice claw per day, although I'll have to research more. I know this because I got a bonus badge and the rabbit said i got an additional 2 free plays for getting 20 badges, so it is challenging. You get even more by getting bonus badges that appear maybe 1 in like 40. If you want badges, you're going to have to be very patient or willing to fork over the cash. Nintendo, you sly dogs, like you don't already have enough of my money.
EDIT: Based on what other people are saying, it's a free play every 10 practice badges, so they aren't guaranteed but Nintendo sometimes sends out a free play.
@Mijzelffan It doesn't give a lot of blue or red bonuses, but you get a free play for each 10 practice badges you get, which you should be able to get on most days. Plus, they accumulate from day to day, so to fail to earn a free play 2 days in a row you must be doing something wrong if you couldn't get 10 badges across 2 days: look for ways to cause an avalanche instead of only grabbing badges one by one.
@iphys No, you are the one wrong about how you think this game works. Stop propagating the lie that you get one free play each day, it simply isn't the case.
I have been playing the game since first day, now I have 19 badge without spend any real money, is really hard not to get into it, I been thinking to spend a few tries (real money) mostly because you can access the exclusive theme (background) section to see what is there, but hey we can have free plays everyday so I will try a little longer.
I like collecting things, but I dislike having clutter on my home screen and paying for anything in free to play games, so I'm unsure how much I'll play this.
@Mijzelffan I got 12 fake badges on the practice machine today, which got me one free play since I got over 10 fake badges. You're not guaranteed a free play every day, but if you play really well then you should be able to get one most days.
@crimsontadpoles I haven't gotten more than 6 fake badges at most in the practice machine, most often it's 5.
This sort of interested me until I noticed all the badges are either stock art or straight NES sprites. Egh. Give me a sprite sheet and MS paint and I could make better-looking themes in a few minutes.
i have 7 badges so far. I even got a mega one. This game is so addictive and I have yet to spend a dime.
@Zebetite Oh yeah Nintendo is evil, is charging $2 for a theme and now for badges, when a lot of people have the skill to do it without spend a buck but at least we have theme, no more of the white and boring background.
What is really cool is the system badge but you can´t replace the original system icon, so sad.
Love it. Have like 35 badges and only have paid $2 because I wanted too. Love crane games and decoration. Just wish there was more Zelda so far from MM. I love mario but EVERYTHING is pixel mario so far
Without paying anything, I managed to get 41 badges with the free plays I've been getting every day. I may spend a buck or 2 (actually it's $1.46 for 5 plays where I live) if Star Fox badges ever come out.
@Pie7 hey it will be cool is you share you screen menu!
@Mijzelffan I didn't say you're guaranteed a free play from the practice machine, but that it's possible to earn one for getting 10 practice badges, which so far I have done on all 8 attempts across 4 days on two 3DS systems. It should be a rarity to walk away with nothing if you know what you're doing, and even if you fail to get 10 practice badges, they'll at least count towards the next day to make it easier.
I like it, many of the games look easier than than they actually are. I haven't spent anything yet, but I like how you get one turn a day and can do practice to earn more. I may plunk down a buck or two when the Mario Kart badges appear, but aside from that I'll try to do my daily table and that's about it.
There are also badges that actually function to open specific apps (Camera, Download Play, Mii Plaza, Activity Log, System Settings) with Mario characters on them... kind of a fun way to fancy up some specific icons, not just the folders. While I like the game, I'm not tempted at all to spend money on it, but I'm already hooked on Pokemon Shuffle, so the free to start model can work well.
@iphys On yesterday's practice table I got twenty pins (2 free plays) and a mystery badge for 5 plays. So it doesn't happen every day, but you can get more free turns depending on how well you do.
Hint: On the Chain Chomp level if you grab the Chomp's head you'll pull down any badges that are on top of him. More badges less effort.
I really like this game. Way more than I should. And it's almost all the bunny's doing.
What is his name? I read the entire review looking for it. We call him "amirite" b/c he said that twice in the first 20 minutes. NA version.
So far I've seen him promote Splatoon and the Nintendo Play website. This really should be a mobile app.
But that pricing is insane. I've played enough free-to-start games from Nintendo, on PS3 in Home and on mobile to know they can't gain any traction on addiction with a crane game that charges $1 for 5 tries. That's what you pay at Chuck E Cheese to win real prizes, not digital ones. And they need to do some math when you raise the increments. $1 for 5, $2 for 12, $3 for 30, $4 for 50. Has anybody tried to count all the badges? And then do the $ math to get them all? Pokémon Rumble World had a cap at $30, I see no ceiling on this. Ever. It may be worse than the $60 content on SSB DLC.
I really like this game. And appreciate all the work that went into it, it's no throwaway crane game like the ones I've played on mobile. But it does come across as a mobile game, but with a ludicrous pricing scheme. And I'd even be OK with the pricing if the refresh worked like a mobile game, 1 try every hour or 2, w/ a max of 5. The bunny could cycle thru his game and website commercials for marketing purposes.
Great game, but it feels wrong. But there isn't really enough there for $30 retail either. Maybe $15 on eShop with unlimited tries? Sell each new theme set for $1? Seems like it could be better somehow.
But get it on mobile, that Bunny is a winner. amirite for President. Better than anybody running now.
I'm kinda mad it took so long to localize such a cool app. The bunny is cute and funny. I do love it, however, I made a promise to myself to never spend money on it.
@Nico07 Was that a big square pile w/ the hammer? My first day I got 22 practice badges - 20 cleared the table and 2 on a refill with my last shot. Since then not so much. I do like the variety though, lots of variety for a free-to-start game. And I haven't even seen the bomb yet. If I had money to burn I'd burn some of it on this.
@rjejr It was a claw table but the chain chomp looks like a regular chomp and then has three chains behind it with a block at the end. When you lift the chain chomps head you find that the chains and block are all connected to it and the badges above it get dropped into the chute. It's a pretty fun game when you get the hang of it and it's secrets. I haven't tried any bomb levels, so I'm not familiar with them yet.
I wish they'd also put it on the Wii U so I can decorate the folders there. And let us share any earned badges between the two systems.
i dont understand this game. why can i only start the game with an internect connection? why cant i get any new plays through the training? why can i only have one training-play per day? why does the login take so damn long??
@6ch6ris6 Ok, in order....
1) You need an Internet connection to make sure you don't cheat the system by changing the system clock, and to check what new badges are available.
2) You can get free plays by finding the blue bonus badge (1 free play) or the red super bonus badge (3 free plays). These are somewhat rare. You also earn 1 free play for every 10 practice badges you accumulate, and these can be carried over from day to day. Bonus and super bonus badges do not count towards your practice badge count. If you're lucky, you can also earn a free play just for booting up the game.
3) Because you can earn free plays from the practice catcher, you're only limited to one go a day. (And also to get more money from you because you can't practice infinitely)
Its ok so far, I don't plan on spending any real money on it.
The rabbit's a bit annoying.
I spent $6 on this, I NEEDED those Super Famicom and Gameboy badges and got a few Mario sets. It's odd you can't buy plays and just save them until there are badges you want....or did I miss that feature somewhere?
Aaww mine's just been Mario, Retro Mario and Animal Crossing so far. I was willing to actually pay for Splatoon badges (and maybe BOXBOY! ones too, didn't know they were there!) but the lack of variety at the start is disappointing to say the least.
Still I won 5 free ones and stuck them on my home screen. At first I thought they were just flat graphics mire like stickers so I was impressed when I selected it and found it was a 3D item I could rotate about.
It's a fun distraction. I don't see myself collecting them all just a few sets I like/am given for free. It did make me want real versions of some sets though!
@Ogbert Yeah when it launched in North America the Super Famicom set (3 carts, 2 controllers and the console) and the Gameboy set (4 different Gameboys) were on their last day.
It'd be nice if we could just purchase the badge sets rather than go through the rigmarole of paying for chances to get them by playing a crane game.
Even with the free try per day (if you're lucky enough to ace the practice), you're then given one chance on the claw - and some games need a set-up turn before you can get a cascade going. So either you waste your one turn trying to win big, you go for an easy, single badge, or you pay money.
I've spent enough money for 5 turns - I'd rather not spend any more, if I'm not guaranteed a good return.
This model is truly insidious. I don't care if it takes years - I'm not spending several pounds for the chance to win badges.
I'll look forward to the sporadic free tries though (are there going to be days where you get 5 tries for free?).
I couldn't resist and ended up spending about $3 or $4 on plays. It's a good thing the Smash Ballot characters won't be announced until December.
It's ok, I suppose. I know Ninty is, just like all companies, there to make money. However, this effort feels a lot more cynical than most. Apparently, I am the only one who finds the rabbit really irritating. I don't want a manipulative, pink rabbit trying to befriend me and then telling me to spend real money.
I'm not sure if its just the eu version but all I'm getting are mario and animal crossing badges I want zelda badges for my majoras mask background... Plus ive only had like 1 free play from the practice machine despite clearing 2 of them grr
@Mijzelffan You do if you have patience and/or skill; it's not our fault that you're not good at the game, so stop being hateful, please.
@Sikboy1029 Hopefully they'll come back around again. Those sets would be mighty useful for labelling my VC folders.
@Mijzelffan The highest amount of free badges I have gotten in practice machine is 21. I have gotten at least 1 or 2 free plays a day highest being 6 since I 1st downloaded it. Don't know if I'm just lucky or if the 1 day thing is true.
So far I haven't spent a dime, and I've gotten a few cool random badges.
I can see where it hooks you though, but I've resisted so far.
Now if they make Donkey Kong and Kid Icarus bdages...I may have to drop some real cash to get them all.
@ReshaSong
Same...so far without spending any money I get usually 2 free plays a day, but I have never had a day go by where I haven't gotten any.
Dead set on not paying a dime. I'll take what I can get and that's that.
I'd like some more free plays (like in Pokemon Shuffle) but the game itself is fun and most of the badges look nice. And nobody's forcing me to "pay to play"so i've got no complaints really.
@Mus1cLov3r the fact is that there is no such thing as "1 guaranteed free play a day" as a lot of people imply. You can be immature and say "it's just because you suck!!!" but that doesn't change the fact that there's no free plays each day as a lot of people try to argue for some reason.
So the way I understand it, you get free plays for every 10 practice badges you get, and every hidden special badge you get.
I've played for three days, on the first day, I cleared a few badges, one of which was a special one, so I got a free try.
On the second day, the practice machine had 4 large badges - I grabbed 3 of them, but none of them were a special one (being large, they were tricky to grab), so I wasn't able to play that day.
Today was the Mario Bros. one where you pick bowser up, and all the badges can cascade in to the middle. I wasn't able to get them to drop all at the same time, but was able to clear them all within 5 tries. No special badges, but a free try for clearing enough badges overall. I got one free try, and I wasn't going to waste it on the real version, so I went to a different, hammer game and was able to grab a few.
Honestly, as silly as it sounds, I'd pay money for the badges. The crane game seems like a roundabout way of getting them, and just a cynical method of draining my funds.
This sort of function should have been available on 3DS as standard. It's a great idea, but I won't pay money on something I will likely get nothing out of. Oh, and, what free plays? I'm given a free go at the training mode once a day (how generous), but there's no guarantee to get a free turn.
By far the most tight-fisted of Nintendo's 'F2P' efforts so far, imo.
I have gotten quite a few badges with out paying. I just do the practice machine before school and win a few things. I wish more badges opened applications on the home screen though!
I think I might send some money on this game as a actual "Thank you for localizing it Nintendo" kind of thing :+). I wouldn't spend a lot probably, but I am not going to spend any money on either Mario or Animal Crossing badges ;^^. (Give me Zelda and I might use some real money as a thank you).
I'm not going to lie, I may of spent at least $3 on plays since release. Seems fair since the game style is not cheap or random like a gatcha machine or the real life crane games. Plus for a person that spend money on certain 3DS themes, it makes sense if you have an interest for it.
It would be nice if you can save plays (at least the payed ones) for another day. There are times I pay for 5 plays when I only need 1 to complete a theme/collection I want but I don't want to waste the 4 on the other current machines.
I like it so far but does anyone else feel like the badges and regular icons are more clutter and chaos thentai decorations? Idk, maybe I need more badges or something....
One nice thing about the free plays is that you can switch machines - go after badges you really want instead of the machines that set you up in.
I just wish you could save your free plays up for the future instead of having to use them right away; I'd love to have some Kirby and Pokémon badges to decorate the screens with, but they're not out yet.
I'm playing it on both my 3DS and I start to think there is no "randomness" in the free plays. Both plays I did had the same machines and the same free plays prizes (if there are any) on the same fake stamps for two days in a row (then again noone ever said it's random, but it's just something that feels natural to think with a setting like this IMO ^^; ).
I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing... Sure, randomness is picky and some people could never win cause of it, but if they choose everything then they can keep the free tries as low as they wish (which they are totally doing, there was no free plays to win in today machine EU).
Anyway I'm totally loving this little game, if the prices were different or if there were some offers making the cost more tempting I wouldn't resist in putting in it some euros ^_^;
I feel pretty indifferent to this one. It's arguably a much better app than the majority of the ones that came with the 3DS, and the presentation is nice. I just don't really care that much about the actual content. I'll play with free plays sometimes, but I don't feel any incentive to pay. The crane game isn't THAT fun, and the badges are cute but useless.
It's not a bad little game, though the bunny is a bit psycho. Some nice humour there too - "Peach is in another catcher". But the pricing is something to keep an eye on as it is pretty addictive even though I don't really know what to do with the badges as the themes I already have are enough for me.
I worry for my own sanity sometimes - 62 badges collected, and £9.90 spent on plays. I do, however, have the majority of the current Animal Crossing badge sets, and can see myself only really spending money on further Animal Crossing sets, unless a franchise I like as much, like Picross or Chibi Robo, sees representation.
Ultimately, I acknowledge that badges are a waste of money for something that's just further customisation for a home screen myself and maybe five other people see, but I am having fun with the crane game, probably not a tenner's worth of fun, granted; and I find messing around with my 3DS home screen relaxing for some odd reason.
As for free plays, I've not received any Yesterday or Today, but that's partially my own fault, as I've not done too well with the given practice games.
I find it to be one hell of a scam, I'll just try out the practice machine and get a few free tries now and then, to get some of the Zelda badges... when they're actually there.
@LinkSword
I fail to see how this is a scam.
The badges don't add functionality to your system and games.
They are just nice to have on the main home screen.
I've gotten almost 30 badges from free play, with today getting 5 badges, 2 of which were mega badges (I don't like them because they take up too many spaces).
I have the full Splatoon set just from winning it on one free play.
I only spent $1 on the first day, just because that is all I had left on my account and I wanted to spend it on something.
I have no trouble winning free plays, which I have done all but once.
It's quite easy to topple most stacks getting most of the badges even in practice play.
I have to admit I thought this was silly until I tried it. I have 10 badges and haven't paid for a single one. I'm just waiting for the retro Nes and Gameboy badges to arrive, then I'll spend some real money! The pink rabbit teased them at one stage and they look glorious!!!
@NintyMan It is mentioned in the article.
@Mijzelffan Have you ever thought that—maybe, just maybe—the reason that people say that the practice crane gives you a guarunteed free play each day, is because they no know better? No one's lying, as you seem to think—there would be no point in doing that; it's a new game, so people haven't quite figured it all out—that's all it is. You're being overly hateful because of a simple mistake, yet I'm being immature?
@Xenocity I guess rip-off would be a better choice of words for what I meant, which is that I find the price for a mere 5 plays excessive. Sure, a skilled and/or lucky player may get a lot of badges out of just five tries, but for the majority that won't be the case, and the ''prize'' of customising your Home menu with some Nintendo-based badges seems really meh to me, especially when a single home theme is a much more complete package than several badges here and there for just a dollar/euro/pound, and there's no risk of failing to get it.
So yeah, in a nutshell, a rip-off is what I feel this is, not really a scam.
I'm addicted to it and I really like the bunny. I just want the badges.
Its far too expensive to spend much money on beyond the free plays. I feel like it should cost half ad much, and let us use play coins too
I'll stick with the Home themes, thanks. More and more, Nintendo's starting to look like an app store company with all this "free to play" trash...
The bunny creeps me out. I like playing the crane games, though. Not enough to spend actual money on this, but enough to log in every day and try for some free plays. I've won three free plays every day since the game launched, except for yesterday when I only got one.
I spent a grand total of €1 on this thus far, and I don't plan on spending much more on it. I just wanted some Yoshi badges for my home menu, and that's what I got, so I'm fine now. Maybe if there'll ever be more Yoshi badge available, I'll spend a little more, but not right now.
@starman292 Yeah, EU just gets Mario and Animal Crossing right now. It's not very fair. If/when we get the Splatoon badges, I may spend some money on this.
@LinkSword
Even then, I don't think that right either.
I mean you get a free play, if you are able to get 10 practice badges in a practice session.
It's not hard to get badges.
They've been giving free plays all weekend and Friday.
I can see why you don't like it, but it doesn't make it something bad.
Nor do I see paying for themes as bad either since neither have true functionality.
It's a decent enough incentive to launch it everyday to play the practice machine and any free plays I get, although I couldn't care less about most of the badge options available so far. Though, the only way I'll ever spend any money on this thing is if I want any of their exclusive themes, since it's essentially the same as buying a theme from the theme shop with the bonus of 5 additional plays on the badge catcher machines.
It's great! I've spent a total of £3.60 so far! The only annoying thing about placing badges on the home menu, is that there's no way to multiple select games/software icons. So, I have to move it one by one!
Have 33 badges and the Zelda theme, in five days. I've got a free play every day, sometimes more. Spent two dollars.. Couldn't see spending only one when two gets you the special theme (which there is a preview pic of on the bottom screen after just added). I also downloaded lots of demos and leave them wrapped for extra blocks on my Mario design...fun for now, I'll delete them as I need more space...
Not paying real money for the CHANCE to win something that isn't even tangible or worthwhile in away. I scored 12 bogus badges yesterday and I didn't get a single free play out of them (yet the 20 I had accumulated at that point entitled me to 1 or 2 free plays).
A stupid waste of time and an absolute rip-off. I fear that Nintendo is going down the crapper with these badly priced F2P games. These sorts of in-app purchases were unthinkable just one year ago. Ah, what a difference a year makes. It will only get worse from here, and believe me, I would love to be proven wrong on this topic.
@Nico07 I actually got that chain chop level today. But w/ only 1 move I was only able to get the piece off of the top of his head. I did pick him up in practice, I think I cleared that level w/ the 5 practice moves.
I'm am hooked on this. I'm up to 70+ and only spent $3 so in the long run I am actually pretty happy with how everything is handled and the money-to-digital goods ratio. I actually look more forward to these daily updates now than I do streetpass and puzzle pieces.
I also agree that having badges for folders ALONE is a great thing. I never used folders because I hate that obnoxious letter sitting there otherwise, but now I can slap a yellow game boy color or pixelated character to signify NES... I LOVE IT!! Nintendo's got me by the b@@@s.
@RainbowGazelle Mario and AC? It must be empty in yours. We have several Splatoon and Zelda levels. How many machine backgrounds can you guys scroll thru to play, we must have at least 20 , it takes awhile.
@Action51 Donkey Kong
I don't know if it counts as Donkey Kong but there was 1 level w/ DK, some of the other characters, a barrel and some bananas I played on today. I got the bananas and it said "Mario and Friends" whatever those badges are called. I'm in the US.
Bunny 4 Smash! Love this guy. I wish his (or her?) quizzes were longer and more in-depth, to reward players with free plays if they know their stuff. Also would really like more plays on the practice catcher, even if only the first one gives free plays. It would just give me more of a reason to pick up the game for more than 5 minutes in the morning. Also, even on the New 3DS, the start-up and "collecting badges" screens are WAY too long.
@BinaryFragger
Have any of the sets repeated on the Japanese version?
@happylittlepigs I agree- load times are a bummer even on the new 3ds... Not too bad but it's definitely cumbersome... I wonder how different the regular 3ds is..??
So with the ones that replace app icons like settings or download play...those original app icons cant be deleted so if you wanna use those badges you just have to have the app on your home screen twice?? That's dumb...
@brewsky
THANK YOU for explaining the key points!
This game just seems silly to me. It's like in real life I place stickers on folders. Whats the point?
@RainbowGazelle Good (?) news! There are Splatoon badges up for us today.
I've spent way more than I should have on this stuff, especially when I'm already hesitant on themes themselves. But it's fun and the prizes are worth more to me than most real-life crane game prizes.
@rjejr
"amirite" is Am I right?
Just call him pinku unagui (the pink rabbit) and call it a day.
@maceng Sound like something a dose of penicillin would help clear up.
@rjejr - Actually, I managed to do really well on the practice crane, then I saw the "freinds of mario" catcher.
With my two free plays, I got Donkey Kong, Diddy, the barrels and the Bananas! I would have liked Daisy and Wario as well...but I was like: I got what I came for, I'm happy!
Honestly, I'm really enjoying this little app/game, and I haven't spent a dime of real world money so far.
@123akis yeah, my home menu is very, very cluttered, and some sort of batch-move for icons or folders would be lovely, especially considering I easily have over 100 games/apps saved on my system at this point. Hopefully Nintendo includes some way of allowing this in a future update.
Vote with your wallet folks. If you want this as the future of Nintendo gaming then go ahead and pay. Coming up, buy Mario 4 extra lifes for $1.
This thing is atrocious. Paying for a possibility of getting little digital images on your screen is the dumbest thing Nintendo has invented yet. And even worse - people fall for this! Why?! Nintendo should be ashamed, and parents should sue Nintendo for how this game/thing tries to lure people (especially children) into paying to play, by saying they have to make money for creating these useless digital images. Ridiculous!!!
Polarbear is right
This so called game us an abomination to the gaming world. We should be able to customise our 3ds 2ds etc with out having to pay for it and play poopitypoopoop like this.
It'd just totally boring not entertaining and annoying.
Please boycott this game and spend your money on worthwhile games.
...I LOVE claw machines in real life. I don't want to get addicted. : (
Weird, I've only seen Mario & Animal Crossing badges on mine and I downloaded it right after Nintendo Direct. Has it been out longer in America? I have to confess, I'm getting addicted. I've even chucked in a little bit of money.
@Mario_maniac Awesome! Thanks for that. I'll be grabbing some.
@rjejr Okay we at least have Splatoon badges now. We must have at least 20 machines as well; roughly 10 are Mario and 10 are Animal Crossing.
This overall is the first f2p game to really grab me. It even encouraged me to clean up my overflown Home Menu to make room to display the badges.
I do have some complaints though, mainly in the glitches-department. First off, my badge-names are glitched, which as it turned out is like that because my system is set to Dutch. Really stupid oversight if you ask me, but now, instead of reading 'Mario & Friends', it reads something like 'badge_round_mario_00' or something like that.
The second is that whenever I go back to the Home Menu either when I reboot my system or I quit a game, sometimes one of the badges has randomly dissapeared. Sometimes it moved back to the item box, and other times I have to go to the Arcade and let the bunny put all my badges back.
However, I do really like the concept of this game. The crane can be frustrating, but that's just how these things work, and I'll admit that it does work. I'm probably going to spend more money on this than I want to admit.
@RainbowGazelle Well that's boring. Our 23 - counted'em last night - are split between Mario, AC, Splatoon and Zelda w/ the 1 DK machine. Though a lot of those were 1 or 2 days left so I Expect things will change up soon. I plan on checking once a day until bunny gets repetitive. Not twice though as "Deja vu" just isn' tthat funny. If Nintendo ever ports this to mobile - and they very well should - it's a 1 button game that works w/ touch so people shouldn't complain too much about "no buttons on mobile". And badges just need to be made into app icons, and some of them already are, I have Yoshi Activity Log. When they do that, he should always do a commercial for something every time, even if it gets repetitive, that's what mobile is for, marketing.
@TerrapinJess The letter on the folder never bothered me until I got the Hanafuda theme, then I was like, I don't want to cover up this nice little kanji on my folders. What I do now is make the first character of every folder name a space, so try that if you have a folder you don't have a good badge for.
@NintyMan Nope, I got all the badges available in there today and I got no free plays from it.
@Kiyata_Hamasaki I mean, "paying for digital images" is what all video games are, really. Except Zork.
@Mijzelffan I agree with you that there's no guaranteed one free play per day (as in: even if one sucks at practice). We're still in the honeymoon period, but Japan has already entered a number of no-promo droughts according to my Japanese friend.
@rjejr I skimmed through the wall of replies but if it's still not answered, I think the bunny's name is "Staff" as that's what it says on the nameplate if you go in the "post on Miiverse" section. The Japanese bunny is "Baito-kun" (stands for Arbeit or German for part-time) and his boss's name is "Tenchoo" (lit. storekeeper).
@Adamario the difference between paying for those ridiculous "badges" and video games is that the video games are interactive whereas the badges are not. All those things do is unnecessarily clutter up a screen. They don't even have a function. But I also think it's ridiculous that people will pay more than a couple dollars (ever) for digital download games. When someone spends $30, $40, etc for a digital copy of a game it just blows my mind. You can't sell it or put it in another system or let a friend borrow it or anything. You are paying for something virtual or intangible. I've been a hardcore gamer for nearly 40 years and have amassed an impressive collection of games across all genres and systems and love going back and playing my older ones. You can't do that with most digital games. The industry is going to just totally collapse if this keeps up.
@HADAA But those aren't names, they are titles. Only Nintnedo could come up w/ such a cool character w/ personality and not think to give him a name.
Can't wait until he has a female co-worker and they name her "Staffie".
Don't be a jerk.
~Santa
Some 20+ badges, most of them useless. Haven't spend a cent for them of course.
You see, my problem with the badges is that I want them for my folders and that is...so I got a couple of Game boys for my GB folders, an 8 bit Mario for my NES folder, a Mario coin for my Free to play folder, etc.
ANd that's it. I have no need for Splatoon badges, or most Animal Crossing badges, or most random enemies from the Mario franchise. I want icons to represent my folders, and I can wait until something pops up them. Frankly, when I got the initial 5 free plays I basically wasted most of them because there were simply no badges useful for my folders.
@Bakajin WOW - I would have not thought of that... You just made my menu so much cleaner looking. I'm waiting until there's some Sega badges so I can slap a sonic on the Sega/Game Gear folder. Until then, it looks best without a letter! Thanks for the tip!
@MrRight it's almost amusing, but rather sad really that someone brimming with boundless naivety has the audacity to call ME a moron. You would feel all the more ridiculous hurling such ludicrous insults at me if you knew my history and affiliation with Nintendo over the last 27 years. I'll just leave it at that.
@TerrapinJess Happy to help. I'm quite OCD about the look/layout of my HOME screen so I know where you're coming from.
@RainbowGazelle @Action51
Man, both Pokemon and Pikmin today. I almost spent money on the game for those Pikmin badges. I don't really care about Pokemon personally but it could be a gold mine for Nintendo on mobile. Though I was happy to get super-effective in our battle.
I just want to know who thought Meet-A-Mii was a better mobile choice than this? This is pure marketing genius, but the choir needs to be let out of the church among the masses and stop singing only to the already converted.
OK, time to move on, but I just couldn't let both Pokemon and Pikman slide by w/o some recognition.
I can only get 10 pins on my home screen. Is this the max or am I doing something wrong. HELP !!
Defiantly better then Pokémon Shuffle with a better payment model; if you're skilled enough then you CAN get at least a free try off of the practice machines a day although that's not always a given and with that free try you can get A LOT of badges.
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