The first stage of the 3DS Ambassador Programme, Nintendo's compensation to early adopters stung by the system's global price drop, is now live worldwide.
Users who bought their system and connected to the eShop download service before the price drop came into effect on August 12 are now able to download ten NES games for free. The titles in question are Super Mario Bros, Metroid, The Legend Of Zelda, Wrecking Crew, NES Open Tournament Golf, Donkey Kong Jr, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link, and Mario & Yoshi.
Of course, this being Nintendo, downloading the games is a far from straightforward process. First, head to the Settings/Other section, which is all the way to the left in the eShop's main menu. From there, select Titles You've Downloaded, and scroll down past all your previous downloads where the games are listed individually.
Games have to be downloaded one by one, and after they are completed you're dropped back to the main eShop page, requiring that you start the whole process again to get the next game on the list. When all titles are downloaded, they each need to be "unwrapped" on the home screen before they are playable.
All games have an instruction manual accessible from the Home menu, but no support for save states. Nintendo has already confirmed that all ten games will eventually be released on the eShop in updated form, with save state support, and 3DS Ambassadors will be able to downloaded the upgraded versions for free.
This is just the beginning of the Ambassador Programme - early adopters will also be given ten free Game Boy Advance games, including Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare Inc: Minigame Mania and Mario Vs Donkey Kong.
The remaining games are yet to be officially confirmed but reportedly include Kirby & The Amazing Mirror and Super Mario Bros 3: Super Mario Advance 4. Nintendo is yet to confirm when it will make the remaining games available, only saying: "Delivery is scheduled to begin within the year."
Nintendo announced the Ambassador Programme on July 28, at the same time as it revealed plans to reduce the price of the 3DS in Japan by 40 per cent, and in Europe and North America by a third, after just 710,000 systems were sold worldwide in three months.
Company president Satoru Iwata would later write to early adopters, saying: "We are all too keenly aware that those of you who supported us by purchasing the 3DS in the beginning may feel betrayed and criticise this decision. We feel a strong responsibility to develop the 3DS as a platform - to ensure that, in the end, everyone is satisfied - and we will make every effort to do so."
Comments
5I think the 20 games make up for the price cut, especially if I end up getting Mario Bros 3 which I never got around to playing somehow.
Took ages to figure out what was going on, then the bastard wouldn't let me download anything cos my battery was low. Even though it was connected to AC!
I've enjoyed all but one or two games on the actual NES so I'm very happy with this first batch. I'm rustier at NES Open than I used to be. I'm blaming the small screen.
After playing the games last nght, I actually found them to be pretty terrible, it's the GBA games I really want :)
I don't think those 20 games make up for anything. Nintendo is not even trying to be forgiven by early adopters.
A voucher for two 3DS games (carts, not DLC) might have been a sensible offer, with a real commercial value closer to the console's price drop.
Apple sent early iPhone buyers a 100,00USD voucher valid for any purchase on the Apple Store Online. That was a serious effort at not alienating customers.
Giving away 20 emulated games, and forcing people to download those one by one is just cheap. I am very disappointed with Nintendo.
Should the rumors about an updated 3DS be true, I'd demand an official trade-in programme: having to fork out more money after six months can not possibly be the reward for being an early adopter...