Nintendo Badge Arcade
| Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Nintendo SPD |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Director(s) | Shohei Mizutani |
| Producer(s) | Kouichi Kawamoto |
| Composer(s) |
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| Platform(s) | Nintendo 3DS |
| Release | |
Nintendo Badge Arcade, known in Japan as Badge Torēru Center (バッジとれ〜るセンター Bajji Torēru Sentā, lit. "Collectible Badge Center"), is a freemium application developed by Nintendo for the Nintendo 3DS, allowing players to customize the 3DS home menu with badges.[1] The game launched in Japan in December 2014,[2] and worldwide in November 2015.[3][4]
Gameplay
Nintendo Badge Arcade takes place in an arcade filled with machines known as Badge Catchers, each containing badges based on various Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing, The Legend of Zelda, Splatoon, and Pokémon which are reorganised regularly. The arcade is hosted by a pink, anthropomorphic rabbit character called Arcade Bunny, who always greets the player, and often introduces promotional events. The Badge Catchers are viewed from a 2d side-on perspective. Similar to real-life UFO catchers, players must move the catcher's claw side to side, pick up badges, and try and drop them off the bottom-left of the screen. They can accomplish this by simply picking them up, or use other techniques such as pushing them or causing land-slides (this only works if there is a big pile of badges). Some Badge Catchers use alternate means of obtaining badges. The Hammer Arm knocks badges sideways towards the hole, the Bomb Arm blasts badges away in all directions, and the Stick Arm (which originally went unused, but was first revealed on April 28, 2016 in Japan) sticks badges onto the arm. Any badges that the player obtains can be placed on the Nintendo 3DS' HOME Menu, with certain badges able to launch some of the 3DS' built-in applications. Most badges can also be used as decorations for the Swapdoodle messaging app.
First-time players begin the game with five free plays, after which they must purchase additional plays via the Nintendo eShop. Special themes for the HOME Menu, and one set of badges based on Arcade Bunny, can also be unlocked by purchasing enough plays during certain periods. Once per day, players can use the Practice Catcher to practice catching dummy badges. Players earn a free bonus play for every ten dummy badges they collect, plus additional plays should they uncover a bonus badge. Additional plays may also be offered to the player through occasional events. In theory, it is possible to have up to seven free plays in a single day, albeit chances of this happening are very slim. All activities require a constant online connection.
References
- ↑ Frank, Allegra (11 November 2015). "Nintendo Badge Arcade is Nintendo’s latest free-to-play experiment". Yahoo! News. Polygon. Retrieved 12 November 2015.
- ↑ "バッジとれ～るセンター｜ニンテンドー3DS｜Nintendo". Retrieved 2016-07-24.
- ↑ "North American Nintendo Badge Arcade launch trailer, footage - Nintendo Everything". 2015-11-10. Retrieved 2016-07-24.
- ↑ "Nintendo of America on Twitter". Retrieved 2016-07-24.