The e-Reader ( カードeリーダー , Kādo Ī Rīdā ? , Card e-Reader ) is a device made by Nintendo for its Game Boy Advance portable video game system. First released in Japan in December 1991 it has an LED scanner that reads "e-Reader Cards," paper cards with specially encoded data printed on them.
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. See below for a comprehensive list of cards and their functions.
The e-Reader is neither a console nor an accessory, but an add-on device, like the Famicom Disk System or the Sega CD. The e-Reader is one of only three official Nintendo add-ons to be released in North America. The other two are the Super Nintendo Entertainment System's Super Game Boy and the Nintendo GameCube's Game Boy Player. It is also one of the very few Nintendo add-on successes, compared to the 64DD and Famicom Disk System.
General information
Two 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 with Nintendo GameCube games such as Animal Crossing and with other Game Boy Advance systems for games such as Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire . The e-Reader was only considered successful in Japan. It was announced for Europe but very few were made, as it was almost immediately canceled, and it was discontinued in North America in early 2004, due to a lack of popularity. In Japan, however, it sold much better and was produced up to the discontinuation of the Game Boy hardware line.
In order to add items and scan levels in games such as Super 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 will not work with the Nintendo DS, partially because there is no link cable support and partially because the shape of the e-Reader prevents it from plugging into the DS's slot 2 (the DS Lite has no such problem, as it is thinner than the standard DS).
e-Reader cards
In the U.S., e-Reader Card packs have been released that contain:
- NES games
- New levels and power-ups for Super Mario Advance 4: Super Mario Bros. 3
- Items and designs for Animal Crossing
- New trainers to battle in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
- Mini-games, including an exclusive version of Mario Party .
- Game & Watch Cards, originally there were plans to release every Game and Watch game on a series of E-reader cards, or at least 20 according to some people. There have only been four of the games officially released.
There have been numerous other games released with e-Reader support in Japan.
Dot code
Data is encoded on the cards using "dot code," a specialized barcode technology licensed from Olympus Corporation. e-Reader Cards may have one or two sets of dot code on them, either a long strip on the left side of the card, a long strip on both the left and right sides of the card, a short 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 larger NES games can require as many as five cards (ten sets of dot code) in order to start the application.
The shorter sets of dot code were only used with the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Cards released in regular sets published by both Nintendo and Wizards of the Coast had dot code on the bottom side of the card. When scanned, the e-Reader displayed a Pokédex data 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.
Compatibility
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 doesn't 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.
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, running the game in question, must be used.
The e-Reader can connect to the DS 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 does not show up on the DS as a GBA game, nor does it appear to be recognized. It can be used however, by booting a standard GBA game, and then quickly swapping the game cartridge with the e-Reader.
The e-Reader does fit into the Game Boy micro., and that system has a link cable port, however it is not a standard connector. A special Game Boy micro Game Link Cable must be used for linking features. The Game Boy micro's non-standard link cable port can not accept the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable, meaning it cannot link with GameCube games without modification to the cable.
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 Game Boys and DSs are region-free, Japanese e-Reader cards work only on Japanese e-Readers, etc.
Game list
Classic NES
Each 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 of these games is a direct port of the one-player mode of the classic NES game of the same title (minus the added "-e" suffix). Excitebike , Donkey Kong , and Ice Climber , all released as e-Reader cards, were later released in cartridge form as part of the Classic NES Series on Game Boy Advance. Also, twelve of the thirteen games were included as unlockables in the GameCube game Animal Crossing, in full two-player mode where applicable (Urban Champion was the excluded game).
All NES titles released include:
- Balloon Fight
- Baseball
- Clu Clu Land
- Donkey Kong
- Donkey Kong Jr.
- Donkey Kong 3
- Excitebike
- Golf
- Ice Climber
- Pinball
- Mario Bros.
- Tennis
- Urban Champion
Animal Crossing-e
The cards, when used with the game's post office, would provide items to players. Some were rare, while others were more common. Some unlocked "town tunes", which were played each time you talked to an animal, still others were "sibling" cards (series 2-4) with two related characters on the front, and yet more were tailor design cards, which unlocked new designs to be used around the village. Aside from the regular card packs, some regular series cards were distributed on a promotional basis through GameStop, EB Games, and Energizer batteries. These cards did not differ from the regular version of the cards contained within the packs sold at the retail level.
Pokémon Battle-e
The Pokémon Battle-e Cards, when scanned into Pokémon 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 into Ruby or Sapphire through the Mystery Events function once it is unlocked.
- Trainer Cards
When scanned and loaded into Ruby and Sapphire, a trainer would appear in a house in Mossdeep City. When the player battled the trainer, the Pokémon used in battle would not gain Exp. points, and the trainer would not earn any winnings, like in a Battle Tower or link battle. The checklist card in each set lists all the trainers for the theme of the set.
- Enigma Berries
E Reader Cards
Nintendo - Customer Service | Game Boy Advance - Using the e-Reader ...
e-Reader - Using the e-Reader with Animal Crossing. Please Note: The steps below apply to both the Game Boy Advance, and the Game Boy Advance SP, unless specially ...
e-Reader - Wikia Gaming - Walkthroughs, games, guides, and more
The e-Reader is a console add-on for the Game Boy Advance. This add on allows data to be input by scanning e-Reader cards. It could also be used to send data to a Nintendo Gamecube ...
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I would like to collect the e-Cards that were associated with Pokémon. Not so much the ones with pokémon and/or card information or the hidden attacks for TCG, but the ones that ...
Pokémon E-reader Data Cards - Wikia Gaming - Walkthroughs, games ...
This is a list of Pokémon cards for the e-reader video game system add on that just have the data side of a card, organized alphabetically by name.
Nintendo e-Reader - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The e-Reader (カードeリーダー, Kādo Ī Rīdā?, Card e-Reader) is a device made by Nintendo for its Game Boy Advance portable video game system.
E-Reader card definition of E-Reader card in the Free Online ...
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only.
Nintendo - Customer Service | Game Boy Advance - e-Reader Scanning a ...
On the e-Reader title screen, press the A Button, then select "Scan Card" and press A again. After the "Scan Card" screen has appeared, hold the e-Reader ...
E-Reader cards definition of E-Reader cards in the Free Online ...
More e-Reader cards are on their way this spring as well, with the second and third series of Animal Crossing-e(TM) cards (Jan.
E-Reader - Pikipedia, the Pikmin wiki - Pikmin, Pikmin 2, Pikmin 3 ...
The Nintendo e-Reader is a Game Boy Advance add-on device that reads a special strip on e-Reader cards via an LED scanner. Its purpose is to unlock mini-games, items, levels or ...