Funny there actually is a TV digimon, so I can actually see a tamer with a Monitamon (Monitor Monster haha punny) using the Digivice to scan E-reader cards to play Donkey Kong.
Beyond thrilled to see this video come out: More than happy to have sold those cards and passed the torch after my collecting journey ended with those years ago. It was the start of me joining the internet, as I obtained most of my collection via ACC or NOA's online store selling unsold packs, but those two cards were really tricky to track down. I think Mario Bros came from a Series 4 pack, while Ice Climber was one I got from a trade on ACC. Now they have been bestowed onto you, for I've moved onto collecting limited edition video games instead and have other things in life to deal with. This was a very enjoyable video all around and while I made a vid on the e-reader itself as an accessory, I didn't go too much into the AC stuff since I aim to do that in the future when I cover the actual game. Still, the e-reader was one fun ride I enjoyed back in the day that I'll always miss. Maybe if there's a hidden trove of unopened packs and they get super common again, i'll join the fun, but for now I'm content with my collection being as-is and those cards heading to you. Thank you so much James for letting me help you out! And yes, I also treated it like a digimon tamers device as a kid, much to my dismay. Also kinda pretended it was a henshin device of some kind, like the Magna Defender from Power Rangers, but alas, it's too impractical to even use it as a fun prop!
Oh Im so glad of seeing you ocne again friend and its a loving and touching story! and I am sorry that you wont get to hurt for it but at least being happy that they are out in the hands of such a great and cool and awesome person such as Nitro here!... Wait..what even is his real name anyway?
And when we're all living underground and only 1% of the earths population is left from the fourth wave of rona in december it'll be the only thing keeping her hope alive :') will she ever see nitro again? find out next time!
6:16 On the contrary, the E-Reader was a success in Japan. Theres so many Gamecube/GBA games with e-reader support from Pikmin to Mario Kart Circuit, DKC, Megaman.exe and more. To the point that its pretty undiscovered in the west and hardly any info comes out for it.
What made the E-Reader so popular in Japan? From what Nitro Rad was saying, the E-Reader felt annoying to use and expensive to make it work. Do the Japanese have more tolerance for this type of stuff?
You can really tell when the video was made by a person passionate about the topic. This has been a joy to watch and I really learned a lot about the e reader, which I had only heard of online. Thank you for the effort and work it took to make this video, it really paid off!
They used them since New Leaf at least, but the album covers use a bigger segment than the cards. So I guess they just kinda held onto those assets until they had more use for them.
The E-Reader is definitely one of the biggest regrets I have as far as Nintendo-related purchases goes. It wasn't very useful, hard to use, and getting cards in the USA was a lot harder than it was in Japan. The peripheral also wasn't supported long on top of all of that, so it never really went anywhere.
1:19 wasn’t expecting a Tamers reference. Also glad to see that I didn’t miss much with the e Reader since I wasn’t into Animal Crossing. I always saw the cards but never the actual device itself
Beeing from europe, seeing all of this its really cool! The e-reader wasn't released in europe, and the post office basically looks like the one in doubutsu no mori 64
Wow. After that fantastic series retrospective on your Animal Crossing memories, you had a tough act to follow and honestly, this video is just as awesome as the Animal Crossing Memories video. Fantastic presentation, dude!
As much as I love NH, I kind of wish the characters had this much depth. I've noticed there is kind of a lack of variety in talking to villagers. Even in their letters. This may have been the case in past games and I just don't remember it, but, eh, I don't know. I just feel like talking to them doesn't offer what it used to. Seems like they don't visit your house anymore or give tasks either.
This was such a well made video! I really was expecting to just come in here and leave immediately but the great production value and the charming way you genuinely seemed to enjoy talking about this kept me engaged and I ended up staying here through the whole video! It didn't even feel 21 minutes long.
This is such a random video to discuss this on, but Nitro Rad is a rare kind of RUclipsr. All of his stuff is consistently fresh with a formula, laid-back, with lots of moments of really great cinematography and general technical polish. The only other RUclipsr I can think of that is similar to my descriptions is Ahoy.
Thanks for doing this video. I had the e reader and a few packs of cards as a kid. They were gifted to me from a family friend so I didn’t feel any buyer’s remorse. In practice, it was kinda lame but the added functionality to AC was appreciated. I wish I knew where my cards went. I never knew that you could play mini games with the cards. I guess I never had those specific cards.
Honestly I like the videos when you just talk about games you love like Animal Crossing and just share your experiences with it. Just a nice, casual video, and I love it.
Tom The Fish SMA4 kicked ass. It’s the best way to play the best NES Mario game. Plus the e-reader added a tonne of unique levels, extra power ups and enemies from other games; even some new, one-time mechanics.
@Tom The Fish I mean... sure, it's up to you if the exclusive features are worth getting either platform for. Obviously getting an e-reader and every card now is impractical, but most of us have a WiiU at this point or can get one cheaply, so the virtual console alternative is a good one, regardless of what you thought of the WiiU...
I had an eReader as a kid (which I still have to this day along with at least half of the 500+ cards that I amassed for it in the short 2 - 3 years its cards were on the market). My eReader was sold as an EB Games bundle that came with Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Donkey Kong 3, Ice Climber, and Clu Clu Land, while my dad also bought me the enormous powerup/stage expansion packs for Super Mario Advance 4 (Super Mario Bros 3) and a Pokemon Battle-e expansion pack containing over 40 eReader-exclusive trainers (along with over a half dozen exclusive berries) for Pokemon Sapphire. The actual use of the thing was *INSANELY* convoluted and *required that I use a multiplayer cable and connect my GBA to my sister's GBA using the eReader in order to download all this DLC to my SMB3 Advance cartridge.* (I think the method was the same for Pokemon but I can't quite remember) But the end result was super cool because I had special berries and trainers to fight that none of my friends had in R/S/E, and I had powerups and fever-dream levels that none of my friends had in SMB3 Advance.
Thank you so much for this informative video! It's far past time for an informational video on this topic in the fandom, and you killed it! This comment will probably get lost, but one thing I wanted to add: If you send the code to the animal who's featured on the card, you get a *different* card than the one if you sent it to a different one. This means that each card has *three* in-game letters it can send you! (in addition to the cute mini e-reader story)
I had no idea this existed... I love it :D I'd forgotten about this channel (thanks a lot yt notifications), so much great stuff I never watched here, thanks :)
I have to say, Nitro, this video turned out FANTASTIC! You did a spectacular job with the crisp recording, the awesome fade-ins, the solid focuses on all the different items with your voiceover...everything is just so smooth and flows so well, you're really doing a phenomenal job with improving your videos! It's honestly so much fun listening to you talk about Animal Crossing- you really have such a great connection with the game and there's so many memories and interesting factoids you have to say, it's awesome. I really love the idea of the "who-dun-it" game and I REALLY wish that could be incorporated into a future AC/DLC. Honestly I feel like it'd be a fun game to put together with friends and have little prizes to give out for people who can guess a character first! (I'm also a sucker for Detective/mysteries/puzzles---so besides the fact that the mini-game seemed to be the most solid out of the cards you had, I'm also slightly biased-) I know young Nitro may have a bit of regret buying that $40 piece of plastic...but future Nitro was able to give us a really, REALLY awesome video with so much great little tidbits of information. There are a ton of "did you knows" and throw backs to old things, but this one was an excellent and solid choice. I hope we can see more videos like this in the future!
I tried taking a shot every time James scanned something through the eReader, but I gave up for health reasons. In all seriousness though, fantastic video! I completely missed this era because I was getting into video games when I was way older. Love that we can learn about and remember this stuff through these videos though :)
Great video! I love the e-Readers cards. I doubt there's many collections around. Also, I'm curious, how are you capturing your Gamecube and Gameboy gameplay? Would love to know which components you're using. Thanks. I’m hoping to do some AC e-reader card content on my channel. Keep up the great work. Top class video!
Saw on Twitter this was your favorite video to work on, it's easy to see why, it's so cool to see you talk about cool niche things you really like in between the bigger games, things like your Yume Nikki video years and years ago are some of my favorite of your content, and now, with the super high quality of your new content, it's so nice to listen to. Keep up the good work!
Dude, this video flew by! I really really enjoyed all the 4K eReader shots. It added a layer of detail to the video that I very much appreciated. Awesome job man!
fun fact: you actually can use character cards at the wishing well to move villagers into your town in doubutsu no mori e+ (and if you know how you can even make your own custom character cards to move your own custom villagers into your town)
One of your best episodes to date. Almost every piece of info you mentioned I did not know. Like Animal Crossing was on N64 initially in Japan? I did not know that.
The ereader was my OBSESSION when I found out about it in middle school... To the point I collected all the cards for Super Mario Bros. 3! (Them level cards tho 😜) Only owned a couple AC cards, and never knew most of these minigames! Anyway, the staggering production value and just good humor without trying too hard like certain Nintendo youtubers is much appreciated and earned you +1 to your sub count ;)
Thank-you so much for making this video! I have wondered for YEARS what it looked like to actually use the e-Reader features in Animal Crossing, so it was awesome that you showed us all the ins and outs of such a weird peripheral. If you ever decide to make more videos about the e-Reader I would absolutely love to see how the Pokemon tcg cards functioned (I remember some ruby & sapphire sets that have those scannable bars on the sides, NO CLUE what those are for).
I'd just like to add that over here in Europe we never had the E-Reader so my copy of AC's post office just had that table like in the N64 and pre-e-reader versions. Sad it was never released over here but we still had the island. Just hook up the GBA with the Gamecube link cable and Kapp'n would be waiting for ye.
you had to use the cards the same way Japanese players did- scan it into an e-reader, get the code, then use that to get the item. They worked indirectly- at least Nintendo of America was smart enough to realize not everyone owned a GBA, so they included the password (remember that message he got on the GBA after scanning it? That was how you got the code to get the item in the Japanese version).
I think the coolest thing about the e-reader to me is all the gen 3 pokemon events tied to it. It makes it possible to legitimately access these events that were released decades ago as long as you have the right e-reader cards.
I liked playing my e-Reader back when I was a kid! The novelty of sliding cards through it wasn't lost on me. I used to scan Pokemon cards through it often, just to see what each card would do. I also liked playing Donkey Kong Jr., Pinball, and Excitebike on it. The idea of being able to swap whatever game I wanted on it was so cool to me. And Super Mario Advance 4, I almost forgot! I liked scanning in new items for myself, especially Cape Feathers! The password system in AC was really cool to me, too. I used to have the 30,000 bell code memorized so I could just get money whenever I wanted something. I wish it was that simple in real life, but maybe I just haven't found the right code to achieve that yet...
Really have to thank you for this video. Here in Europe the e-Reader was never released and all the e-Reader features were removed from the games, like in Animal Crossing. We also had the codes with the key that could be sent to a villager (at least for the NES games), but they were generated on the official Animal Crossing website, where you had to look them up and write them done. But the e-Reader features were always a mystery to me that I never had the chance to see (except if I imported that stuff but that would be kind of expensive for curiosity's sake). So I'm happy that this video kinda solved that mystery for me, at least for Animal Crossing.
I loved my e-reader when I had it, probably because it was a gift and I didn't use my own money on it. The Animal Crossing stuff was cool, but my absolute favorite thing was this platformer minigame you could play by scanning certain Pokemon cards. They came in normal packs of Pokemon tcg cards, but you weren't guaranteed to get one so I begged my parents to keep buying packs until I did
Yo this video had me laughing so fucking hard when you did the digimon e-reader sequence that I felt the need to make my first comment on your videos even though I’ve been watching for years, thank you
I remember reading about the E-Reader Cards in Gaming Magazines, not Nintendo Power but I used to read lots of gaming magazines as a kid. That GameCube Trailer disk is so nostalgic even if I never owned it. I loved Starfox Adventures a lot.
Thank you so much for this video. You are not the only one who was passionate about these cards. I too wanted to see everything this game had to offer. I spent way too much money tracking down every single card to have a complete set. I remember paying $15+ on single character cards just to get my complete set. I am fortunate enough to even have those two NES cards. I feel sad saying this, but my collection feels like my most prized possession, outside of my wedding ring. To this day, I still feel like I'm missing out on things because I didn't send letters for every password. It was just too tedious. Anyway, thank you again. I rarely leave comments on RUclips videos, and this one got me to do it.
2:05 Moral of the Story, Listen to your mom. Once I almost Traded in my GameCube for a DSi and my mother stopped me from doing so. The DSi Broke 3 months Later But that GameCube is still running to this day.
I really liked the bios on cards because it tells us so much more stuff about the characters we love besides the standard 8 personality types. Any chance we get to learn who the villagers really are, whether be by the furniture the own, the clothes they wear, or how they look, knowing their actual personality even if it's just tidbits is really nice.
You’ve probably seen this, but the RUclipsr Hunter R cracked the e reader codes and not only made printable ones for Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda, but even made a program that creates custom dot codes you can imbed basically any in-game item into. Super cool stuff
I gotta say I think these card's uses are actually way more interesting than the amiibo cards. I get why you don't think so, but I've never liked being able to scan an amiibo card and have that villager move in personally! Great video!
I never even knew the eReader was a commercial failure before this video. I remember actually enjoying it a lot as a kid. Pokemon got a lot of use out of the thing as well. Even still have mine old eReader sitting around in the same case as my GBA. And now I'm tempted to dig it out again and see what cards I still have.
Thanks for making this! I was just about to buy some Ereader cards thinking they worked like the Amiibo cards! I saw this video within the hour I bought them and saved $20! I guess I just have to wait until Twirp decides to move into my village...
Hey that's pretty neat. I've never really thought about the e-cards beyond their existence, but seeing what they actually do is interesting. I like games a lot more like this, looking at them like a piece of history, rather than sitting down and playing them, so this video in particular was really cool as I also like Nintendo and Animal Crossing a lot even if I don't play Nintendo games or Animal Crossing as much as I probably should. Even if it's not every card, you gathered quite the collection and showed off a lot for this video, thanks for the effort in everything you do. I've fallen behind a bit on a lot of RUclipsr's I'm subscribed to, currently caught up with a few of them and I decided I wanted to watch you today. I don't know what I'm talking about anymore, but again, the e-reader is a really interesting piece of technology, and this is a great video for talking about what it does and how it relates to Animal Crossing specifically, ultimately leading up to amiibo cards.
I had actually never knew about these mini games, I thought it was only the Animal Island. I can’t believe after so many years of playing this, I’m still finding info about it!
I remember I wanted an e-reader too back in the day. Pretty much for the same reason: it was something newly unique. Only once I saw one in action irl: some boy who was around 8 was using it with a Pokemon card during recess. (I was born in 1994 too btw) Yeah the Pokemon trading cards had the same dotted code on the left, and the E logo in a corner. The GBA showed information about the pokemon he was using... And idk if there was more since a few seconds later we had to go back to class. But those Pokemon cards were the reminder of that mysterious device during my childhood. And then I stumbled with some info about it a few years ago. Tho I think I never knew what Animal Crossing could do with them, so thanks James.
It’s so weird because I remember having this, having the e reader cards, and playing tons of Animal Crossing, but I remember nothing about actually using it. It must have been really underwhelming for me.
1:18 DUDE...okay so, Tamers was my THING when I was growing up and not only did that hit me with SO much nostalgia but it was so well done. Heck, if Digimon ever went live action(A GOOD live action) then you would totally make a cool American character from that card grab alone. That, or a kick ass Digimon commercial about how everyone, young, old, all over the world can be a tamer.
You had me so invested in what childhood game soundtrack you used for the first part of the video that I had to rewatch the whole thing. I put WAY too many hours into Paper Mario TYD, yo.
Those shots of the cards getting swiped looked amazing! And holy crap my jaw dropped seeing that Digimon gag!!! Nitro Rad, you're so freaking talented!!!
'95 here and I was in the same boat as you. All my family had for a while was an NES and a hand-me-down computer with a bunch of games my Dad played before he got old. I also got the E-Reader when it came out too for some inexplicable reason.
I might be one of the few weirdos that actually collected all of these cards and really played with them. Fun fact: you could invite villagers to your town with the e-reader cards from the Doubutsu no Mori e+ game (the second japanese gamecube version of the game, which had some extra fun features we never got here in the west). The e-reader was actually pretty successful in Japan and was supported for years. Many games that had e-reader features in Japan saw those features removed when they were brought to North America after NOA stopped supporting the e-reader here.
He looks more and more like Rayman every time he wears that jacket.
Wouldn't be surprised if his arms and legs started disappearing.
He should get a green screen and a morph suit.
Next step: rayman hair
@@danielr.7062 He already has the hair, he's been parting his bangs down the middle like a 90's teen heart-throb
The limbs must be prosthetic. He doesn’t want to tell the truth.
What arms and legs?
That Digimon gag is basically how I would have felt if I actually had one of these things.
thats how i pictured itd be having that yu gi oh duel glove thing if u remember that thing lol
Its funny, since my girlfriend keeps getting Billiam and Nitro Rad mixed up. I don't know how, but she does.
*ERROR SOUND*
read error
Funny there actually is a TV digimon, so I can actually see a tamer with a Monitamon (Monitor Monster haha punny) using the Digivice to scan E-reader cards to play Donkey Kong.
DIGIMODIFY!!! Donkey Kong Jr., ACTIVATE!!
The production value in this is really appreciated.
Damn straight! With every swipe close-up and sound effect, I thought "Wow, he put _a ton_ of effort into this!"
He went to film school. So you can actually see he puts what he learned to use
Yeah, it’s not abnoxious, and you can tell a human made it.
I wonder what camera Nitro Rad uses to have high quality film in his videos.
Better than the e-reader
Beyond thrilled to see this video come out: More than happy to have sold those cards and passed the torch after my collecting journey ended with those years ago. It was the start of me joining the internet, as I obtained most of my collection via ACC or NOA's online store selling unsold packs, but those two cards were really tricky to track down. I think Mario Bros came from a Series 4 pack, while Ice Climber was one I got from a trade on ACC. Now they have been bestowed onto you, for I've moved onto collecting limited edition video games instead and have other things in life to deal with.
This was a very enjoyable video all around and while I made a vid on the e-reader itself as an accessory, I didn't go too much into the AC stuff since I aim to do that in the future when I cover the actual game. Still, the e-reader was one fun ride I enjoyed back in the day that I'll always miss. Maybe if there's a hidden trove of unopened packs and they get super common again, i'll join the fun, but for now I'm content with my collection being as-is and those cards heading to you. Thank you so much James for letting me help you out!
And yes, I also treated it like a digimon tamers device as a kid, much to my dismay. Also kinda pretended it was a henshin device of some kind, like the Magna Defender from Power Rangers, but alas, it's too impractical to even use it as a fun prop!
Passing on your great collectable items is sometimes more of a proud moment than collecting them in the first place, especially if it's family
thanks for contributing to this great video, you're a generous person. :)
Oh Im so glad of seeing you ocne again friend and its a loving and touching story! and I am sorry that you wont get to hurt for it but at least being happy that they are out in the hands of such a great and cool and awesome person such as Nitro here!...
Wait..what even is his real name anyway?
Life waster
You know his mom recorded him saying he wished he listened to her
And when we're all living underground and only 1% of the earths population is left from the fourth wave of rona in december it'll be the only thing keeping her hope alive :') will she ever see nitro again? find out next time!
@@khit007 Oh my goddess..D; wasnt it a bit too exagerative my friend?
@@khit007 what?
6:16 On the contrary, the E-Reader was a success in Japan.
Theres so many Gamecube/GBA games with e-reader support from Pikmin to Mario Kart Circuit, DKC, Megaman.exe and more.
To the point that its pretty undiscovered in the west and hardly any info comes out for it.
What made the E-Reader so popular in Japan? From what Nitro Rad was saying, the E-Reader felt annoying to use and expensive to make it work.
Do the Japanese have more tolerance for this type of stuff?
@@thepuzzlemaster64 The Japanese have an uncanny tolerance for monotany. I mean, they're the guys who made Dynasty Warriors popular.
@@nicksrandomreviews What's our excuse with Assassins Creed then?
@@DeadHandtheSurvivor I haven't played it but I'm guessing it's similar to Sly Cooper's popularity
Oh man, I always get exited when someone mentions Megaman.exe
He's starting to look more like Rayman, especially with his hair and jacket!
his goal
Push up, sit up, lot of juice.
That how u do it.
Bruh he is Rayman
Soon he will lose his arms and legs only his legs and hands
Yea'!
You can really tell when the video was made by a person passionate about the topic. This has been a joy to watch and I really learned a lot about the e reader, which I had only heard of online. Thank you for the effort and work it took to make this video, it really paid off!
1:18 that must of been the gag that you said took an entire day on twitter lol
Oh yeah!
1:18 Proof Nitro rad is the radest dude ever.
That was so cool lol
15:31 Wow! The art on those K. K. cards is re-used as art for the albums in New Horizons. I just noticed it when watching.
A few of them even had slight differences. The eReader for DJ KK has the title on it, for example
They used them since New Leaf at least, but the album covers use a bigger segment than the cards. So I guess they just kinda held onto those assets until they had more use for them.
I love how you named that town "Radicola". That brings back memories. ♥
The E-Reader is definitely one of the biggest regrets I have as far as Nintendo-related purchases goes. It wasn't very useful, hard to use, and getting cards in the USA was a lot harder than it was in Japan. The peripheral also wasn't supported long on top of all of that, so it never really went anywhere.
at least now it is labeled as novelty item.
1:19 wasn’t expecting a Tamers reference. Also glad to see that I didn’t miss much with the e Reader since I wasn’t into Animal Crossing. I always saw the cards but never the actual device itself
James talking about the e-Reader? That's a new one.
Such a good and comprehensive video. I never knew how extensive the e-Reader was used for AC
Beeing from europe, seeing all of this its really cool! The e-reader wasn't released in europe, and the post office basically looks like the one in doubutsu no mori 64
That Digimon bit reawakened my younger self absolutely loving Tamers back in the day. Those scan things were always hype.
Nitro Rad James seems to be struggling with completing Frogger: the Great Quest ;)
I have bad memorys with a frogger game for the gba. It was a red cartridge.
Such a bad game
18:10 missed opportunity for "The way nintendo nintended". Also sick vid, didn't even know this existed til now
Not sure if you know, but the promised day has come. Someone figured out the code for the e-reader.
Wow. After that fantastic series retrospective on your Animal Crossing memories, you had a tough act to follow and honestly, this video is just as awesome as the Animal Crossing Memories video. Fantastic presentation, dude!
As much as I love NH, I kind of wish the characters had this much depth. I've noticed there is kind of a lack of variety in talking to villagers. Even in their letters. This may have been the case in past games and I just don't remember it, but, eh, I don't know. I just feel like talking to them doesn't offer what it used to. Seems like they don't visit your house anymore or give tasks either.
1:18 YA *REALLY* WENT ALL OUT ON THAT JOKE DIDN'T YA
i got a good laugh out of it!!
I... how did you make this comment 20 hours ago???
Wait how did you make that comment? ._.
BlanK how the hell did you post 20 hours ago
HOW???
BlanK 20 hours ago, does he release them early on Patreon?
"Yo, Bob's a gamer dude!"
- Nitro Haha
Mad props for that Digimon Tamers bit man
'In my head it looked like THIS' coolest little segment I've seen in a while!
This was such a well made video!
I really was expecting to just come in here and leave immediately but the great production value and the charming way you genuinely seemed to enjoy talking about this kept me engaged and I ended up staying here through the whole video!
It didn't even feel 21 minutes long.
This is such a random video to discuss this on, but Nitro Rad is a rare kind of RUclipsr. All of his stuff is consistently fresh with a formula, laid-back, with lots of moments of really great cinematography and general technical polish. The only other RUclipsr I can think of that is similar to my descriptions is Ahoy.
I really appreciate the time you took to film all of this stuff to such a high standard. I doubt anyone else has done! Nice job!
Thanks for doing this video. I had the e reader and a few packs of cards as a kid. They were gifted to me from a family friend so I didn’t feel any buyer’s remorse. In practice, it was kinda lame but the added functionality to AC was appreciated. I wish I knew where my cards went. I never knew that you could play mini games with the cards. I guess I never had those specific cards.
Dang dude, the effort and dedication it took to make this video is awesome!
Honestly I like the videos when you just talk about games you love like Animal Crossing and just share your experiences with it.
Just a nice, casual video, and I love it.
You are one of the most interesting RUclipsrs Nitro Rad (no joke). Thank you for all the entertainment you give us =) =D. Keep up the good work.
It was really cool when Nintendo put those Mario 3 e-reader levels on the WiiU.
@Tom The Fish What's wrong with Mario 3?
@Tom The Fish what are you trying to say? Are you saying Mario 3 is a bad game or that the WiiU had bad games?
@Tom The Fish But what do you have against Mario 3?
Tom The Fish SMA4 kicked ass. It’s the best way to play the best NES Mario game. Plus the e-reader added a tonne of unique levels, extra power ups and enemies from other games; even some new, one-time mechanics.
@Tom The Fish I mean... sure, it's up to you if the exclusive features are worth getting either platform for. Obviously getting an e-reader and every card now is impractical, but most of us have a WiiU at this point or can get one cheaply, so the virtual console alternative is a good one, regardless of what you thought of the WiiU...
I had an eReader as a kid (which I still have to this day along with at least half of the 500+ cards that I amassed for it in the short 2 - 3 years its cards were on the market). My eReader was sold as an EB Games bundle that came with Donkey Kong, Donkey Kong Jr, Donkey Kong 3, Ice Climber, and Clu Clu Land, while my dad also bought me the enormous powerup/stage expansion packs for Super Mario Advance 4 (Super Mario Bros 3) and a Pokemon Battle-e expansion pack containing over 40 eReader-exclusive trainers (along with over a half dozen exclusive berries) for Pokemon Sapphire.
The actual use of the thing was *INSANELY* convoluted and *required that I use a multiplayer cable and connect my GBA to my sister's GBA using the eReader in order to download all this DLC to my SMB3 Advance cartridge.* (I think the method was the same for Pokemon but I can't quite remember) But the end result was super cool because I had special berries and trainers to fight that none of my friends had in R/S/E, and I had powerups and fever-dream levels that none of my friends had in SMB3 Advance.
Thank you so much for this informative video! It's far past time for an informational video on this topic in the fandom, and you killed it!
This comment will probably get lost, but one thing I wanted to add: If you send the code to the animal who's featured on the card, you get a *different* card than the one if you sent it to a different one. This means that each card has *three* in-game letters it can send you! (in addition to the cute mini e-reader story)
That commercial where Donkey Kong Jr. got imprisoned inside the e-reader card was funny as heck back in the day.
You used Hotel Dusk music that's really cool, I love the OST from that game!
I had no idea this existed... I love it :D
I'd forgotten about this channel (thanks a lot yt notifications), so much great stuff I never watched here, thanks :)
I have to say, Nitro, this video turned out FANTASTIC! You did a spectacular job with the crisp recording, the awesome fade-ins, the solid focuses on all the different items with your voiceover...everything is just so smooth and flows so well, you're really doing a phenomenal job with improving your videos!
It's honestly so much fun listening to you talk about Animal Crossing- you really have such a great connection with the game and there's so many memories and interesting factoids you have to say, it's awesome.
I really love the idea of the "who-dun-it" game and I REALLY wish that could be incorporated into a future AC/DLC. Honestly I feel like it'd be a fun game to put together with friends and have little prizes to give out for people who can guess a character first! (I'm also a sucker for Detective/mysteries/puzzles---so besides the fact that the mini-game seemed to be the most solid out of the cards you had, I'm also slightly biased-)
I know young Nitro may have a bit of regret buying that $40 piece of plastic...but future Nitro was able to give us a really, REALLY awesome video with so much great little tidbits of information. There are a ton of "did you knows" and throw backs to old things, but this one was an excellent and solid choice. I hope we can see more videos like this in the future!
I tried taking a shot every time James scanned something through the eReader, but I gave up for health reasons.
In all seriousness though, fantastic video! I completely missed this era because I was getting into video games when I was way older. Love that we can learn about and remember this stuff through these videos though :)
This is good, but REAL GAMERS play Mario Party e, every single day.
Great video! I love the e-Readers cards. I doubt there's many collections around. Also, I'm curious, how are you capturing your Gamecube and Gameboy gameplay? Would love to know which components you're using. Thanks. I’m hoping to do some AC e-reader card content on my channel. Keep up the great work. Top class video!
Saw on Twitter this was your favorite video to work on, it's easy to see why, it's so cool to see you talk about cool niche things you really like in between the bigger games, things like your Yume Nikki video years and years ago are some of my favorite of your content, and now, with the super high quality of your new content, it's so nice to listen to. Keep up the good work!
Dude, this video flew by! I really really enjoyed all the 4K eReader shots. It added a layer of detail to the video that I very much appreciated. Awesome job man!
fun fact: you actually can use character cards at the wishing well to move villagers into your town in doubutsu no mori e+ (and if you know how you can even make your own custom character cards to move your own custom villagers into your town)
I wanted one so badly as a kid and the more and more I learn about it the happier I am my Mom wouldn't get me one.
I love obscure Nintendo accessories and people really don't talk about this one often, so I'm so glad you made this! It's so interesting
One of your best episodes to date. Almost every piece of info you mentioned I did not know. Like Animal Crossing was on N64 initially in Japan? I did not know that.
The ereader was my OBSESSION when I found out about it in middle school... To the point I collected all the cards for Super Mario Bros. 3! (Them level cards tho 😜) Only owned a couple AC cards, and never knew most of these minigames!
Anyway, the staggering production value and just good humor without trying too hard like certain Nintendo youtubers is much appreciated and earned you +1 to your sub count ;)
i am so glad you spent a whole day on the digimon gag (assuming that's what you were talking about on twitter) cuz the payoff was very worth it
Thank-you so much for making this video! I have wondered for YEARS what it looked like to actually use the e-Reader features in Animal Crossing, so it was awesome that you showed us all the ins and outs of such a weird peripheral. If you ever decide to make more videos about the e-Reader I would absolutely love to see how the Pokemon tcg cards functioned (I remember some ruby & sapphire sets that have those scannable bars on the sides, NO CLUE what those are for).
This was a really good video! Loved that you didn't stick to multiple topics and just focused on how it can be used in a single game.
Can I say how I love just how much effort you put into re-creating Digi-Modify, that was God Damn brilliant!
It's surreal to see someone else with an e-reader not gonna lie.
I'd just like to add that over here in Europe we never had the E-Reader so my copy of AC's post office just had that table like in the N64 and pre-e-reader versions. Sad it was never released over here but we still had the island. Just hook up the GBA with the Gamecube link cable and Kapp'n would be waiting for ye.
you had to use the cards the same way Japanese players did- scan it into an e-reader, get the code, then use that to get the item. They worked indirectly- at least Nintendo of America was smart enough to realize not everyone owned a GBA, so they included the password (remember that message he got on the GBA after scanning it? That was how you got the code to get the item in the Japanese version).
I think the coolest thing about the e-reader to me is all the gen 3 pokemon events tied to it. It makes it possible to legitimately access these events that were released decades ago as long as you have the right e-reader cards.
I liked playing my e-Reader back when I was a kid! The novelty of sliding cards through it wasn't lost on me. I used to scan Pokemon cards through it often, just to see what each card would do. I also liked playing Donkey Kong Jr., Pinball, and Excitebike on it. The idea of being able to swap whatever game I wanted on it was so cool to me. And Super Mario Advance 4, I almost forgot! I liked scanning in new items for myself, especially Cape Feathers!
The password system in AC was really cool to me, too. I used to have the 30,000 bell code memorized so I could just get money whenever I wanted something. I wish it was that simple in real life, but maybe I just haven't found the right code to achieve that yet...
This was really cool. Never got to experience these but it's wonderful to see this. Thanks for making this video man :D
Really have to thank you for this video. Here in Europe the e-Reader was never released and all the e-Reader features were removed from the games, like in Animal Crossing. We also had the codes with the key that could be sent to a villager (at least for the NES games), but they were generated on the official Animal Crossing website, where you had to look them up and write them done. But the e-Reader features were always a mystery to me that I never had the chance to see (except if I imported that stuff but that would be kind of expensive for curiosity's sake). So I'm happy that this video kinda solved that mystery for me, at least for Animal Crossing.
So we’re all in agreement that James’ mom is a friend to all gamers and should be treated with the upmost respect right?
I loved my e-reader when I had it, probably because it was a gift and I didn't use my own money on it. The Animal Crossing stuff was cool, but my absolute favorite thing was this platformer minigame you could play by scanning certain Pokemon cards. They came in normal packs of Pokemon tcg cards, but you weren't guaranteed to get one so I begged my parents to keep buying packs until I did
Yo this video had me laughing so fucking hard when you did the digimon e-reader sequence that I felt the need to make my first comment on your videos even though I’ve been watching for years, thank you
Digging the filming in this video! all those turntable shots and the depth of field shots were really nice!!
I remember reading about the E-Reader Cards in Gaming Magazines, not Nintendo Power but I used to read lots of gaming magazines as a kid. That GameCube Trailer disk is so nostalgic even if I never owned it. I loved Starfox Adventures a lot.
I can take a break from my homework to watch this
Yeah, me too
Jokes on you! I already finished.
You’ve earned it
Thank you so much for this video. You are not the only one who was passionate about these cards. I too wanted to see everything this game had to offer. I spent way too much money tracking down every single card to have a complete set. I remember paying $15+ on single character cards just to get my complete set. I am fortunate enough to even have those two NES cards. I feel sad saying this, but my collection feels like my most prized possession, outside of my wedding ring.
To this day, I still feel like I'm missing out on things because I didn't send letters for every password. It was just too tedious. Anyway, thank you again. I rarely leave comments on RUclips videos, and this one got me to do it.
2:05 Moral of the Story, Listen to your mom. Once I almost Traded in my GameCube for a DSi and my mother stopped me from doing so. The DSi Broke 3 months Later But that GameCube is still running to this day.
How the fuck do you break a DSi in three months? Also you said your mom stopped you from doing it, but you still got the DSi?? The fuck
@Tom The Fish I don't think OP was making any claims about the quality control of those consoles.
You’re forgetting about the e-reader exclusive villagers ;_; that cat is literally one of my favorite designs ever
@FalcorSucks Meow is the name
I gotta tell you man, I admire the extra effort you put into your videos! This one in particular was really interesting!
You went super extra on the Digimon Tamers bit. Totally worth it though, Tamers is my favorite of the series.
I really liked the bios on cards because it tells us so much more stuff about the characters we love besides the standard 8 personality types. Any chance we get to learn who the villagers really are, whether be by the furniture the own, the clothes they wear, or how they look, knowing their actual personality even if it's just tidbits is really nice.
You’ve probably seen this, but the RUclipsr Hunter R cracked the e reader codes and not only made printable ones for Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda, but even made a program that creates custom dot codes you can imbed basically any in-game item into. Super cool stuff
Nitro you didn't have to go so hard for that Digimon joke but i REALLY appreciate you did
High quality stuff! I love these kinds of videos, getting to learn about some of the lesser known parts of gaming is super cool! Keep it up, Nitro!
Love how comprehensive this is and was awesome to watch :) Would love to see more things like this!!
I gotta say I think these card's uses are actually way more interesting than the amiibo cards. I get why you don't think so, but I've never liked being able to scan an amiibo card and have that villager move in personally! Great video!
I never even knew the eReader was a commercial failure before this video. I remember actually enjoying it a lot as a kid. Pokemon got a lot of use out of the thing as well. Even still have mine old eReader sitting around in the same case as my GBA. And now I'm tempted to dig it out again and see what cards I still have.
this really is a ridiculously well produced video, perfect for such a wild concept
1:18 Yeah...more of that, please.
This was awesome to watch! Enjoyed a look back at this.
Only you can make a whole video about e-reader cards this engaging! That Digimon gag for example
That Digimon cinematic was incredible, putting your film education to amazing use
Thanks for making this! I was just about to buy some Ereader cards thinking they worked like the Amiibo cards! I saw this video within the hour I bought them and saved $20! I guess I just have to wait until Twirp decides to move into my village...
Hey that's pretty neat. I've never really thought about the e-cards beyond their existence, but seeing what they actually do is interesting. I like games a lot more like this, looking at them like a piece of history, rather than sitting down and playing them, so this video in particular was really cool as I also like Nintendo and Animal Crossing a lot even if I don't play Nintendo games or Animal Crossing as much as I probably should. Even if it's not every card, you gathered quite the collection and showed off a lot for this video, thanks for the effort in everything you do. I've fallen behind a bit on a lot of RUclipsr's I'm subscribed to, currently caught up with a few of them and I decided I wanted to watch you today. I don't know what I'm talking about anymore, but again, the e-reader is a really interesting piece of technology, and this is a great video for talking about what it does and how it relates to Animal Crossing specifically, ultimately leading up to amiibo cards.
I had actually never knew about these mini games, I thought it was only the Animal Island. I can’t believe after so many years of playing this, I’m still finding info about it!
Holy moley, that cover art for the AC Action Replay box took me waaaay back
Man, the e-reader is definitely a blast from the past. I used to have one as well, but only ever used it for Donkey Kong JR and Balloon Fight.
I remember I wanted an e-reader too back in the day. Pretty much for the same reason: it was something newly unique.
Only once I saw one in action irl: some boy who was around 8 was using it with a Pokemon card during recess. (I was born in 1994 too btw) Yeah the Pokemon trading cards had the same dotted code on the left, and the E logo in a corner. The GBA showed information about the pokemon he was using... And idk if there was more since a few seconds later we had to go back to class.
But those Pokemon cards were the reminder of that mysterious device during my childhood. And then I stumbled with some info about it a few years ago. Tho I think I never knew what Animal Crossing could do with them, so thanks James.
I'm from the future! Someone made a dotcode for Super Mario Bros and Legend of Zelda
That digimon tamers sequence was so enjoyable
It’s so weird because I remember having this, having the e reader cards, and playing tons of Animal Crossing, but I remember nothing about actually using it. It must have been really underwhelming for me.
1:18 DUDE...okay so, Tamers was my THING when I was growing up and not only did that hit me with SO much nostalgia but it was so well done. Heck, if Digimon ever went live action(A GOOD live action) then you would totally make a cool American character from that card grab alone.
That, or a kick ass Digimon commercial about how everyone, young, old, all over the world can be a tamer.
You had me so invested in what childhood game soundtrack you used for the first part of the video that I had to rewatch the whole thing. I put WAY too many hours into Paper Mario TYD, yo.
And that Adventure of Link soundtrack too, takes me back. I also grew up playing my dads NES!
Those shots of the cards getting swiped looked amazing! And holy crap my jaw dropped seeing that Digimon gag!!! Nitro Rad, you're so freaking talented!!!
Excellent camerawork on this one James! Very nice
'95 here and I was in the same boat as you. All my family had for a while was an NES and a hand-me-down computer with a bunch of games my Dad played before he got old. I also got the E-Reader when it came out too for some inexplicable reason.
I might be one of the few weirdos that actually collected all of these cards and really played with them. Fun fact: you could invite villagers to your town with the e-reader cards from the Doubutsu no Mori e+ game (the second japanese gamecube version of the game, which had some extra fun features we never got here in the west). The e-reader was actually pretty successful in Japan and was supported for years. Many games that had e-reader features in Japan saw those features removed when they were brought to North America after NOA stopped supporting the e-reader here.
"Didn't get a lot of use out of it?"
Looks like SOMEbody didn't get an Eon Ticket!