Nintendo Badge Arcade

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Nintendo Badge Arcade
NBALogo.png
The logo used for the service.
Details
Developer(s) Nintendo SPD
Access Games
Publisher(s) Nintendo
Release date(s) Japan December 17, 2014
North America November 10, 2015
Europe November 13, 2015
Australia November 13, 2015
Platform(s) Nintendo 3DS
Rating(s) ESRB: ESRB E.png - Everyone
PEGI: PEGI 3.png - Ages 3+
CERO: CERO A.png - All ages
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Nintendo Badge Arcade, known in Japanese as Badge Torēru Center (バッジとれ〜るセンター), roughly translating to Collectible Badge Center, is a freemium application developed by Nintendo SPD and Access Games for the Nintendo 3DS that allow players to collect badges, to customize their 3DS home menu. The game launched in Japan in 2014, and in the rest of the world in 2015.

The game, while still available, will close on April 8, 2024 due to the Nintendo Network services shutting down as well, causing the game to be unplayable.

The game itself is a collection of playing arcade crane-like games with badges that can be grabbed by the player. The badges are mostly themed around other Nintendo properties, with a few third-party company badges being available, the badges themselves being based on sprites as well as other images made for the game itself. Once collected, badges could be used in the 3DS' HOME Menu to decorate blank spaces on the menu, serve as alternative launch option for system application such as the Nintendo 3DS Sound application or the parameter application.

While not part of the same series, the game is very closely linked to the Swapnote series, with badges in the games also being usable as decorations when making drawing in Swapdoodle. The Arcade Bunny also state to be a friend of Nikki, the main host of the Swapnote series, with her series and Nintendo Badges Arcade presumably taking place in the same universe.

Gameplay

Nintendo Badge Arcade's setting is an arcade filled with 30 machines regularly reorganized and replaced known as Badge Catchers, claw-machines containing badges based on various Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing and Splatoon, as well as a few third-party franchises such as Yo-Kai Watch from Level-5 and Mega Man from Capcom. Miis are seen wandering in the arcade, doing things like looking at a Badge Catcher and talking to each other.

The arcade's host is a pink anthropomorphic rabbit character called Arcade Bunny. The Arcade Bunny greets the player once connected to the Nintendo Network and entering the arcade, with the role of introducing promotional events and giving free plays to the player occasionally.

The Badge Catchers, similarly to their real-life counterparts, works with a single button that moves the catcher's crane until the button is released, the crane then opening its claw, moving it down and closing it in order to catch badges and to bring them to an holes at the bottom in order to collect them. The Badge Catcher often have layout that demand precise movement that the player must realize in order to collect the badges, such as pushing giant blocks in which the badges are contained or pulling an arrow with badges resting on it. While most of the models of Badge Catcher have a claw, alternate models with other gameplay can also appear, some having the crane replaced by a hammer, with the player having to knocks badges into pits, a bomb, with the player having to use the blast of the bomb to push the badges, or a stick extending to push the badges downward. Any badges that the player obtains can be placed on the Nintendo 3DS's HOME Menu, with certain badges able to launch some of the 3DS's built-in applications.

When launching the game for the first time, players will be offered five free plays, after which they will have to purchase additional one via the Nintendo eShop, with special themes for the HOME Menu and a set of badges based on the Arcade Bunny, being unlocked by purchasing enough plays during certain periods.

Once a day, players can use the Practice Catcher, a Badge Catcher based on real counterpart but with the badges being replaced by dummy badges. However, players can earn a free bonus play for every ten dummy badges collected, with additional plays sometimes hiding behind dummy badges once collected.

Before the stop of updates in 2017, additional plays could be offered to the player through occasional events, but since then, the Arcade Bunny simply gives players two additional plays as a daily bonus. With the closure of the e-shop, those two daily plays also have become unobtainable and the Arcade Bunny now simply greets the player when the game is loaded.

Lifespan of the game

The game first launched in Japan in 2014, and in the rest of the world in 2015. During the lifespan of Nintendo Badge Arcade, new badges were added to promote upcoming games, with the Arcade Bunny welcoming the player and doing acts based on the badges recently released.

In June 2017, due to the size of software save data becoming too heavy, it was announced that updates to the game would no longer happened, although the service itself will still be playable.

Since March 27, 2023, it is no longer possible to buy additional plays or themes, as well as receiving daily free plays due to the Nintendo 3DS eShop being shut down. It is however still possible to receive free plays from the game’s Practice Catcher, and play for a very limited range of badges that are currently still available.

On April 8 2024, the game will no longer be playable, with the whole service shutting down due to the discontinuation of online play on 3DS and Wii U.

Wii series games
Tomodachi series
Swapnote series
Other Mii-centered games
Non-Mii games for the Nintendo DS
Non-Mii games for the Wii
Non-Mii games for the Nintendo 3DS
Non-Mii games for the Wii U
Non-Mii games for the Nintendo Switch
Non-Mii games for other platforms