The Nintendo Virtual Console's E-Reader: A Piece of Retro Gaming History

In 2004, Nintendo released the E-Reader, a peripheral that allowed users to scan Pokémon cards and unlock exclusive content for their Game Boy Advance. The device used a combination of cameras and software to read the codes on the cards, which were then used to unlock games, characters, and other rewards. The E-Reader was a unique concept at the time, but it's now largely forgotten in the world of retro gaming.

The E-Reader came with a pack of five Pokémon cards, including Pikachu, Charizard, Squirtle, Bulbasaur, and Venusaur. These cards were used to unlock various games, including Donkey Kong Jr. and Excite Bike. The device was simple: users would scan the cards using the E-Reader's camera, and then connect their Game Boy Advance to a computer or another GameCube console. The connection would activate the game, allowing players to access exclusive content.

One of the most interesting aspects of the E-Reader is its ability to play NES games. Yes, you read that right - NES games on a device that was meant for Pokémon and other Nintendo franchises. It's a testament to Nintendo's innovative spirit at the time, and their willingness to experiment with new technologies.

The E-Reader was not without its flaws, however. The process of scanning the cards could be finicky, requiring users to align the camera just so in order to get accurate readings. And while some games were easily unlocked, others required multiple attempts or even a few dozen cards to access. Despite these limitations, the E-Reader remains an interesting piece of retro gaming history.

Today, the E-Reader can be found on eBay and other online marketplaces for sale. Prices vary depending on condition and completeness, but it's not uncommon to see the device selling for under $20. If you're a fan of retro gaming or just looking for a unique addition to your collection, the E-Reader is definitely worth considering.

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of interest in the Nintendo Virtual Console and its various peripherals. The E-Reader is one of the lesser-known devices from this era, but it's still an interesting example of Nintendo's willingness to experiment with new technologies. Whether you're a seasoned retro gamer or just starting out, the E-Reader is definitely worth checking out.

The E-Reader also shows how innovative ideas can sometimes fall by the wayside due to technological limitations. The device's use of cameras and software to read cards was ahead of its time, but it wasn't widely adopted due to the complexity and finickiness of the process. Despite this, the E-Reader remains an important part of Nintendo's history, and a testament to their commitment to innovation.

As I looked at the E-Reader in action, it was clear that it was still capable of producing some impressive results. The device's ability to scan cards quickly and accurately is still impressive today, even if it's not as fast or convenient as modern scanners. It's also worth noting that the E-Reader's use of cameras and software allows for a level of customization and flexibility that modern devices often lack.

Overall, the Nintendo Virtual Console's E-Reader is an interesting piece of retro gaming history that shows how innovative ideas can sometimes fall by the wayside due to technological limitations. While it may not be as widely known or celebrated as some other Nintendo peripherals, it remains an important part of the company's legacy and a testament to their commitment to innovation.

If you're looking for a unique addition to your retro gaming collection, the E-Reader is definitely worth considering. It may not be the most practical or user-friendly device, but its innovative spirit and ability to play NES games make it an interesting piece of history that's still worth exploring today.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys so today I'm here with a review on a pretty interesting and rare piece of technology called the Nintendo e-Reader now the Nintendo e-Reader was an add-on for the Game Boy Advance uh they really didn't actually make that many of them especially in the United States it was fairly popular in Japan but uh they really it just didn't do too well in the United States and I don't even think it was ever sold in Europe uh so what this is all about is it allows you to scan cards such as this one right here as you guys can see um there are various types of cards you actually scan using the e-reader and get various data onto your Game Boy Advance it was actually a really pretty unique idea uh so let me just show you guys how it works here it is just an original Game Boy Advance all you to do is just kind of plug it in you can see here it's got a spot for the Link cable you just plug it in and you're going to be good to go like that uh now as you can see it's pretty unwieldy as you know it's almost double the thickness of the original game boy bands um however that was okay because it was still pretty unique know this also does work for the Game Boy advanced SP and the I believe the DS Light um although you can see here with these others when you plug it in the Link cable does not actually plug in correctly not a big deal really didn't impact anything other than not being able to close it correctly uh so let me just give you guys a quick demo of how it works on the Game Boy Advance SP uh so what this is all about is of course just allowing you to uh scan your various cards in U you get data and all kinds of stuff so you can scan the dot codes which I'll show you guys in a second um you can also communicate so what this was all about was it allows you to scan a various cards such as actually got one right here um so if you actually could scan a card like this um and I'll show you guys how that works in a second but you could scan that through the e-reader then connect your Game Boy Advance over to for example a GameCube and unlock content same thing works for other Game Boy Advance games you could unlock various content like I've actually got a card right here if you scan this card with one Game Boy Advance connect it to another Game Boy Advance and you could unlock uh various things so it was a really interesting design um it was not perhaps the best executed uh it was a little bit un to have to have multiple game boys and connected here and there but it did work uh however one of the cooler things about this is it actually allows you to play um like NES games uh so uh originally what what it comes with is a pack of cards um with has just a few cards in it and then you just scan all the cards and it'll actually unlock a full NES game on the cards so I've actually got one right here it's Donkey Kong Jr and let's just play a little bit I'll show you it actually works just fine cons it's pretty interesting considering that it's actually from a card so see here I've have not played this a long time but uh no you don't o ah I lost already but as you can see guys that's actually a full NES game that you can play uh there were a variety of them I believe there was excite bike actually I think there were about eight or nine NES games that were released for the e-reader uh but that was really cool so let me show you guys uh one more thing about this just had to scan the card so if we restart the uh Game Boy here and put the camera in Focus I go ahead and show you guys how this works um so I will actually collect um most of the cards that you could get were Pokémon cards um however there were various other things for example uh Animal Crossing that was pretty cool you could do that as well uh so let's open this up and scan some codes uh so there were a couple of things I actually have three here I'm going to unlock a mini game for you guys right now so um with these Pokemon cards if you scan the bottom of it then it would be like uh like for example information that kind of stuff but if there you saw any cards with a like a code along the left it will allow you to unlock stuff so let's scan this here uh you just had to do it fairly slowly but it works pretty well there we go that's one so as you guys can see here on the screen it will say you have obviously you have two more so if we scan two more cards which I have right here it will allow us to unlock a mini game okay so we have unlocked this mini game right here so let me just give you guys a little demo of it how it works so we can actually start it uh now most of these mini games were not particularly amazing in fact I did not even remember how to play this one um there we go we need to punch the Rocks I believe there we go um which is pretty cool considering that this was that did not work very well uh but anyway the eer was a very interesting add-on um you know you could do a lot of things with it Nintendo was definitely kind of thinking outside the box I mean even today if something was released like that that would be pretty cool to be able to just scan you know like a card of course these are just like any other card you know there's nothing special about them it's just you know just is able to read uh the you know the little codes on the bottom um but it was very cool it allows you to do a lot of things so anyway guys that's it for my review of the e-reader a very cool piece of old technology um if you're interested in picking one up eBay is probably going to be your best bet uh like I said outside of Japan they were not very popular in fact I got this one when they quit making them I got for super cheap but um if you guys are interested you can check it out very cool piece of old technology uh and it was really Innovative so anyway guys thank thanks for watchinghey guys so today I'm here with a review on a pretty interesting and rare piece of technology called the Nintendo e-Reader now the Nintendo e-Reader was an add-on for the Game Boy Advance uh they really didn't actually make that many of them especially in the United States it was fairly popular in Japan but uh they really it just didn't do too well in the United States and I don't even think it was ever sold in Europe uh so what this is all about is it allows you to scan cards such as this one right here as you guys can see um there are various types of cards you actually scan using the e-reader and get various data onto your Game Boy Advance it was actually a really pretty unique idea uh so let me just show you guys how it works here it is just an original Game Boy Advance all you to do is just kind of plug it in you can see here it's got a spot for the Link cable you just plug it in and you're going to be good to go like that uh now as you can see it's pretty unwieldy as you know it's almost double the thickness of the original game boy bands um however that was okay because it was still pretty unique know this also does work for the Game Boy advanced SP and the I believe the DS Light um although you can see here with these others when you plug it in the Link cable does not actually plug in correctly not a big deal really didn't impact anything other than not being able to close it correctly uh so let me just give you guys a quick demo of how it works on the Game Boy Advance SP uh so what this is all about is of course just allowing you to uh scan your various cards in U you get data and all kinds of stuff so you can scan the dot codes which I'll show you guys in a second um you can also communicate so what this was all about was it allows you to scan a various cards such as actually got one right here um so if you actually could scan a card like this um and I'll show you guys how that works in a second but you could scan that through the e-reader then connect your Game Boy Advance over to for example a GameCube and unlock content same thing works for other Game Boy Advance games you could unlock various content like I've actually got a card right here if you scan this card with one Game Boy Advance connect it to another Game Boy Advance and you could unlock uh various things so it was a really interesting design um it was not perhaps the best executed uh it was a little bit un to have to have multiple game boys and connected here and there but it did work uh however one of the cooler things about this is it actually allows you to play um like NES games uh so uh originally what what it comes with is a pack of cards um with has just a few cards in it and then you just scan all the cards and it'll actually unlock a full NES game on the cards so I've actually got one right here it's Donkey Kong Jr and let's just play a little bit I'll show you it actually works just fine cons it's pretty interesting considering that it's actually from a card so see here I've have not played this a long time but uh no you don't o ah I lost already but as you can see guys that's actually a full NES game that you can play uh there were a variety of them I believe there was excite bike actually I think there were about eight or nine NES games that were released for the e-reader uh but that was really cool so let me show you guys uh one more thing about this just had to scan the card so if we restart the uh Game Boy here and put the camera in Focus I go ahead and show you guys how this works um so I will actually collect um most of the cards that you could get were Pokémon cards um however there were various other things for example uh Animal Crossing that was pretty cool you could do that as well uh so let's open this up and scan some codes uh so there were a couple of things I actually have three here I'm going to unlock a mini game for you guys right now so um with these Pokemon cards if you scan the bottom of it then it would be like uh like for example information that kind of stuff but if there you saw any cards with a like a code along the left it will allow you to unlock stuff so let's scan this here uh you just had to do it fairly slowly but it works pretty well there we go that's one so as you guys can see here on the screen it will say you have obviously you have two more so if we scan two more cards which I have right here it will allow us to unlock a mini game okay so we have unlocked this mini game right here so let me just give you guys a little demo of it how it works so we can actually start it uh now most of these mini games were not particularly amazing in fact I did not even remember how to play this one um there we go we need to punch the Rocks I believe there we go um which is pretty cool considering that this was that did not work very well uh but anyway the eer was a very interesting add-on um you know you could do a lot of things with it Nintendo was definitely kind of thinking outside the box I mean even today if something was released like that that would be pretty cool to be able to just scan you know like a card of course these are just like any other card you know there's nothing special about them it's just you know just is able to read uh the you know the little codes on the bottom um but it was very cool it allows you to do a lot of things so anyway guys that's it for my review of the e-reader a very cool piece of old technology um if you're interested in picking one up eBay is probably going to be your best bet uh like I said outside of Japan they were not very popular in fact I got this one when they quit making them I got for super cheap but um if you guys are interested you can check it out very cool piece of old technology uh and it was really Innovative so anyway guys thank thanks for watching