Quick GBA e-reader review

[krisjohn]

Hi all,

 

I got my Japanese e-reader in the post yesterday, plus assorted cards, so I thought you'd all like a quick review.

 

* The Japanese e-reader only reads Japanese cards and does not read the NES game cards that I purchased at the same time. Therefore I only have Pokemon cards to test with.

 

* The Pokemon cards designed to work with the e-reader have card/critter details on the short strip. They then have applications (games), or parts of ones, on the long strip -- or some have some sort of music thing. Many applications span multiple cards and you'll have to collect all of the right cards to activate the application. You can scan the parts in any order and when you scan one it tells you the card numbers for the rest. The games that you can play are typically very simple and fans of the old Game and Watch games will probably enjoy them quite a bit. There are also such things as a coin flipper and I'm sure there will be other card game related tools.

 

* The Japanese model blocks the comms port. This means I can't use the light I purchased with it. The American version has a pass-through port -- I don't know if a worm light will still work. There are also possibly more upgrades to it. I have ordered a US version, so I might find out soon.

 

* It's light -- really light.

 

* The dot code is so damn fine that you'll need some very expensive equipment to copy it. I might scan a bit at the highest res my scanner will do and post it here. Maybe on the weekend.

 

Now I have to collect all the Japanese Pokemon-e cards, dammit. 3 series plus millions of promos...

 

HTH, Chris J.

[VidGameKing]

Hey! i just bought my E-reader tonight, i havent even opened it up yet becasue I'd rather check e-mail and e-bay, and AA first! it looks very cool.

[sdstuff64]

New e-reader game come on on the 11th,but they don't look too good,maybe I'll buy a few.Maybe.

[Mikau]

the japanese e-reader doesnt have the port on top, but the american one does. however, the only accesory i've seen that fits in it is the GC/GBA connector. my nyko wormlight isnt compatible, because the port is slightly different. but why would i want a wormlight all the way up there anyways? it wouldnt do anything!

[Ze_ro]

Isn't the e-Reader mostly useless without that port? I mean, wasn't GameCube connectivity one of it's selling points? (What do Japanese Animal Crossing players do?)

 

By the way, why would you buy the Japanese version instead of the North American version? Are there Japanese cards that make it worthwhile?

 

--Zero

[Mikau]

Isn't the e-Reader mostly useless without that port? I mean, wasn't GameCube connectivity one of it's selling points? (What do Japanese Animal Crossing players do?)

 

By the way, why would you buy the Japanese version instead of the North American version? Are there Japanese cards that make it worthwhile?

 

--Zero

 

the american e-reader is superior in every way. since the japanese version doesnt have that port, it has no communication with the GC. and i dont know of any japanese cards that they have that we dont have american versions of.

[sdstuff64]

Isn't the e-Reader mostly useless without that port? I mean, wasn't GameCube connectivity one of it's selling points? (What do Japanese Animal Crossing players do?)

 

By the way, why would you buy the Japanese version instead of the North American version? Are there Japanese cards that make it worthwhile?

 

--Zero

 

the american e-reader is superior in every way. since the japanese version doesnt have that port, it has no communication with the GC. and i dont know of any japanese cards that they have that we dont have american versions of.

 

Pokemon cards...

[ashbourn]

I love mine just wish there were more things for it here in the US

[krisjohn]

By the way, why would you buy the Japanese version instead of the North American version? Are there Japanese cards that make it worthwhile?

 

A few reasons:

 

* I didn't realise they were different.

* The description for the US version on the site I ordered from made it look like it didn't come with everything it was supposed to.

* Interestings stuff comes out in Japan first and sometimes never makes it out, at least not officially.

 

Regardless, my US version has arrived now and I can add:

 

The unit does not appear to save games when you turn the power off. Let me just check a big game... Hey, yes it does, but only for the really big (4+ card) NES games. Otherwise, I think it saves the odd high score and so forth.

 

The worm-light will work in the pass-through comms port, but it's too far away from the screen.

 

One final note: The printed numbers on the English (US) pokemon cards don't match the numbers requested when you scan them. That sounds like a stupid oversight. (The US cards were re-ordered from the Japanese release, I'm not sure why.)

[krisjohn]

Here's that scan I promised

 

[krisjohn]

I've done a full review for epinions, though it doesn't cover a lot more than has been written here already.

 

http://www.epinions.com/content_80956722820

 

Enjoy.