Hiya folks. From a post I made in another thread, I figure it'd be neat to compile all of the GBA E-Reader card expansions released for SMB3 GBA here in the USA...

For some of these groupings, I'm working off memory, and it's been a few years, so...

Initial print-run bonus cards (all stores including Walmart):
- Power-Up Card Item 03 - Super Leaf

- Level Card Mushroom 01 - Wild Ride in the Sky

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Initial print-run bonus cards (Walmart exclusive):
- Power-Up Card Item 01 - Super Mushroom
- Power-Up Card Item 02 - Fire Flower
- Power-Up Card Item 18 - 1-Up Mushroom

- Level Card PR - Airship's Revenge

- Demo Card Game Level - World 4-6 Unlimited 1-Ups Demonstration

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Series 1 cards:
- Power-Up Card Item 04 - Frog Suit
- Power-Up Card Item 06 - Hammer Suit
- Power-Up Card Item 08 - P-Wing
- Power-Up Card Item 11 - 3 Super Leaves
- Power-Up Card Item 12 - 5 Starmen
- Power-Up Card Item 15 - 8-Item Set (all powerups!)
- Power-Up Card Item 17 - 5-Up Mushroom
- Power-Up Card Game / New Level - Orange Switch

- Level Card Star 01 - Classic World 1-1
- Level Card Mushroom 02 - Slidin' the Slopes
- Level Card Mushroom 04 - Doors o' Plenty
- Level Card Mushroom 06 - Magical Note Blocks
- Level Card Mushroom 08 - Piped Full of Plants

- Demo Card Game Level - World 1-1 Speed Stage
- Demo Card Game Level - World 1-2 Unlimited 1-Ups
- Demo Card Game Level - World 2-2 Toad's Hidden House
- Demo Card Game Level - World 5-5 Toad's Hidden House
- Demo Card Game Level - World 7-2 Toad's Hidden House

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Series 2 cards:

- Power-Up Card Item 05 - Tanooki Suit
- Power-Up Card Item 07 - Starman
- Power-Up Card Item 09 - Cape
- Power-Up Card Item 10 - 3 Fire Flowers
- Power-Up Card Item 13 - 4-Item Set
- Power-Up Card Item 14 - 3-Suit Set (all powerups!)
- Power-Up Card Item 16 - 10-Up Mushroom
- Power-Up Card Game Level - Blue-Green Switch

- Level Card Mushroom 03 - Vegetable Volley
- Level Card Mushroom 05 - Bombarded by Bob-ombs
- Level Card Mushroom 07 - The Ol' Switcheroo
- Level Card Mushroom 09 - Swinging Bars of Doom
- Level Card Mushroom 10 - Para-Beetle Challenge

- Demo Card Game Level - World 3-4 Unlimited 1-Ups
- Demo Card Game Level - World 3-8 Toad's Hidden House
- Demo Card Game Level - World 4-2 Toad's Hidden House
- Demo Card Game Level - World 6-7 Toad's Hidden House
- Demo Card Game Level - World 3-2 Star Power

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Series 3 cards:
Announced, delayed, cancelled. Never released by NoA.

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Series 4 cards:
Announced, delayed, cancelled. Never released by NoA.

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As you can imagine, power-up cards grant you items. Level cards add new stages to the game. And demo cards allow you to watch a prerecorded (non-interactive) demonstration. Usually they show you were you can pull off unlimited 1-up tricks, show off speed runs or hidden secrets and easter eggs. Cool beans!

Most of the level cards come with new collectibles (Advance Coins) and difficulty ratings (1-5 stars). The e-reader cards tell you how many Advance Coins there are to be found, and the difficulty rating of that level.

As you can see, SMB3 GBA was greatly expanded with brand new levels never before seen as well as powers, new and old. None of these goodies were "unlockable" in the game itself. The game cart came with memory for storing a set number of the downloads stored on the e-reader cards themselves. A very neat idea, though it fizzled and NoA cancelled future expansions, sadly.

To my dismay, I've barely touched SMA4 (though I intend too, shortly) and haven't really fiddled too much with these cards. (Until today, I never actually opened my Series 1 and 2 packages, and had only briefly fooled around with the 7 bonus cards that came in my game's packaging. But, if anyone has any questions about these cards, I could type up the descriptions provided by the cards themselves.

As there is a certain symmetry between Series 1 and 2, I imagine that by filling in the blanks in the categories and numbers, we can guess some of what Series 3 and 4 were to contain. *sighs*

I will add that the expansion levels were really fun. Forced diagonal scrolling precision jumping!

The hell? Best Buy had those cards?

Those twizlers! I'm missing those!

In hindsight, it may have been Walmart. IIRC, I had a friend, out of state, buy it for me since NY has no Walmarts, but plenty of Best Buys.

God, what a ripoff that was. "Innovation" FTL.

AdmiralViscen said:

God, what a ripoff that was. "Innovation" FTL.

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How so? It was a great idea, but the eReader just didn't sell. The levels weren't unlocked on the cards; rather, the level data was on the cards themselves. In theory, Nintendo could have released an endless stream of new levels for the game at fairly low prices.

More levels were released in Japan, by the way. Someone released a game save file for SMA4:SMB3 that included almost all the levels... and someone else figured out how to convert the data from the Japanese cards to the USA card, as well as how to print out new eReader cards for scanning.

In THEORY, it should be possible to create your own SMB3/W levels using a combination of these steps.

Oh, I'd love to hear/read more about that, DD. Any links or anything?

AdmiralViscen said:

God, what a ripoff that was. "Innovation" FTL.

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Hate has no place in this thread. It WAS innovative. And the cards were cheap, IIRC.

That would kick ass if we could make our own e-reader cards. I'd track down a e-reader just for that.

Playing Megaman Powered Up really shows how much of a positive effect a level editor can have/

Why not push the release date back 3 months and give us their levels for free? They had a bunch of them available for release, so it's not like they were working on them for months afterward (as is the case with, say, an FPS' downloadable maps). Why require me to get a $35 dollar accessory to access them?

Do people seriously think Nintendo did this for any reason other than to use a beloved game as a cash cow?

I actually own series 1 and 2.....but not the game.



Mario vs DOnkey Kong also supports expansion levels...in Japan anyway. The uS version probably has the code to recognise the cards somewhere.

AdmiralViscen said:

Why not push the release date back 3 months and give us their levels for free? They had a bunch of them available for release, so it's not like they were working on them for months afterward (as is the case with, say, an FPS' downloadable maps). Why require me to get a $35 dollar accessory to access them?

Do people seriously think Nintendo did this for any reason other than to use a beloved game as a cash cow?

Click to expand...

In theory, they could have released a new set every month, thus extended the life of the game endlessly.


"That would kick ass if we could make our own e-reader cards. I'd track down a e-reader just for that.'

I believe some people found out how. Google around for it.

AdmiralViscen said:

Why not push the release date back 3 months and give us their levels for free? They had a bunch of them available for release, so it's not like they were working on them for months afterward (as is the case with, say, an FPS' downloadable maps). Why require me to get a $35 dollar accessory to access them?

Do people seriously think Nintendo did this for any reason other than to use a beloved game as a cash cow?

Click to expand...

Because, idiot, the idea is that they could KEEP RELEASING more items, more suits, more demos, more levels, going forward, through a relatively cheap vehicle. And it wasn't just SMA4. Pokemon Ru/Sa also had a 3 series of expansion cards that added battles, not to mention making the Eon Travel Ticket finally available to those who couldn't get to the download sites at special Nintendo sponsored Pokemon tourneys and events. Animal Crossing GCN also had dozens (IIRC) e-cards available with new patterns, items, music, furniture, etc.

The idea failed, and I think we know why, but that wasn't the point of this thread. So thanks, but enough.

Edit - And, at one point, they were practically giving away the E-Readers at some stores.

Relatively cheap vehicle? Buy a second Game Boy Advance for something like $80, a link cable for $10 or so (I think the MSRP for both at the time was higher, but I'll give a low-end estimate), an eReader for $35 dollars, and cards for $5 a pack (the only thing close to manageable). So, $125 just to get started. Excluding the cost of the game and cards. Ridiculous.

Don't call me an idiot just because I didn't buy into the scheme. Is your affection for Nintendo so great that you'd resort to flaming anyone who's critical of their policies?

They can make GBA carts with sun sensors, rumble, motion sensors, and all kinds of other doodads. Why not produce the SMA4 cart with eReader card scanning ability built-in? Even if the MSRP had to be upped to $40, it would have been a bargain compared to their setup. If they really cared about putting their truly innovative idea into as many happy hands as possible, they would have tried something like this.

You really had to use two gameboys to work that? Wow that is a ripoff.

AdmiralViscen said:

Relatively cheap vehicle? Buy a second Game Boy Advance for something like $80, a link cable for $10 or so (I think the MSRP for both at the time was higher, but I'll give a low-end estimate), an eReader for $35 dollars, and cards for $5 a pack (the only thing close to manageable). So, $125 just to get started. Excluding the cost of the game and cards. Ridiculous.

Don't call me an idiot just because I didn't buy into the scheme. Is your affection for Nintendo so great that you'd resort to flaming anyone who's critical of their policies?

They can make GBA carts with sun sensors, rumble, motion sensors, and all kinds of other doodads. Why not produce the SMA4 cart with eReader card scanning ability built-in? Even if the MSRP had to be upped to $40, it would have been a bargain compared to their setup. If they really cared about putting their truly innovative idea into as many happy hands as possible, they would have tried something like this.

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No.

You borrow a friends GBA, or use a GBPlayer. You already own a link cable. The card packs were $5 for games, expansion sets were closer to $2.

Why not make a cart with a scanner built in?
:lol

The e-card reader is the size of a GBA. Have you never even seen one?

AdmiralViscen said:

Relatively cheap vehicle? Buy a second Game Boy Advance for something like $80, a link cable for $10 or so (I think the MSRP for both at the time was higher, but I'll give a low-end estimate), an eReader for $35 dollars, and cards for $5 a pack (the only thing close to manageable). So, $125 just to get started. Excluding the cost of the game and cards. Ridiculous.

Don't call me an idiot just because I didn't buy into the scheme. Is your affection for Nintendo so great that you'd resort to flaming anyone who's critical of their policies?

They can make GBA carts with sun sensors, rumble, motion sensors, and all kinds of other doodads. Why not produce the SMA4 cart with eReader card scanning ability built-in? Even if the MSRP had to be upped to $40, it would have been a bargain compared to their setup. If they really cared about putting their truly innovative idea into as many happy hands as possible, they would have tried something like this.

Click to expand...

Holy crap. I don't believe you. You don't have a friend or sibling or acquaintance with a GBA to match yours? My affection for Nintendo? You keep bringing that up. It's irrelevant. This thread is about neat (yet optional) expansions to an awesome and already complete game.

Yet you keep up bringing up lies and misinformation and just ill-humor for no reason. Just leave. Please. If you can't bring yourself to discuss the new levels and whatnot, why even participate in this thread?

Frankly, I don't get how anyone can say that MORE MARIO 3 levels could ever be a bad thing. MARIO 3 > almost anything

Well, the new levels weren't Mario 3 levels. They were mostly new, IIRC. Though, I guess some were adaptations from other games.

I know two people with GBAs, and I've never in my life linked with them. If I was going to hang out with them, it wouldn't be to use their stuff to get myself some bonuses. Different strokes? BTW, how many times did you drive over to your friends house with your link cable to go scan in a Super Mushroom or a Fire Flower? Is that really that convenient or logical?

And yea, I've seen an eReader. If they can put the original GBA's tech into a Micro, they can put the eReader's tech into a goofily-large cart, a la Wario Ware Twisted. Or no? If not, how about making a new eReader that allows games to be plugged into it? Or simply put a slot in the top of the SMA4 cart to insert an eReader into, to keep the cart small enough to be carried around? Like a Game Genie on SNES.





Anything's better than the goofy setup they had. I don't think they would have made all those power-up cards if they didn't expect the user to have two GBAs in their home.

Yet you keep up bringing up lies and misinformation and just ill-humor for no reason. Just leave. Please. If you can't bring yourself to discuss the new levels and whatnot, why even participate in this thread?

Click to expand...

All I did was make an offhanded comment. I never expected it to turn into this huge fanboy war. What lies did I make? None. I described the setup required to get anything out of this.

Didn't realize you could only post here if you were in love with the eReader. I guess I'll go now.

Are you purposefully dense? (Rhetorical, don't answer.)

1.) "Using" friends? Whoever even suggested it?

2.) As for me, I've got a GB Player and like 4 different kinds of GBAs. Aside from that, between friends, school, and the occasional coworkers, I've got plenty of people I could hit up, including those that act as Pokemon partners.

3.) Your two images aren't even remotely to scale. The E-Reader is significantly bigger Wario Ware Twisted. Could they make it smaller now? Sure, but the tech's dead, so why bother. Could they have done it before as well? Likely, at an inflated cost no doubt.

4.) The E-Reader functioned on much more than just SMA4, so making an E-Card compatible SMA4 cartridge would have been a needless expense.

5.) As for lies and misinformation:
a.) Your earlier bullshit comments about the E-Reader hardware to begin with.
b.) The "comparison" images posted after that.
c.) Having 7 ecards ready for the game's launch somehow got turned, in your mind, into thinking that they should have delayed the game and incorporated all future (released and unreleased) content into the game. And probably miss the 03 holiday season as well. Brilliant. Nevermind the 36 cards released after launch (series 1 and 2), and the 36 additional cards they had planned for early 2004 (series 3 and 4, unreleased).

6.) E-Reader love is certainly not required to constructively participate in this thread. I bear no love for the damn fool thing. It was clunky and counterintuitive. But I LOVE what it did for SMA4. That's my point and the point of this thread. Before you derailed and trashed it with your idiocy. So yeah, please go now.

To go with what AdmiralViscen is saying but in a more sensible way, I always did think it was silly to not allow a GBA game to plug in through the eReader as if it was a Game Genie.

the problem was that you needed another gba, you are right, why nintendo did not make it like a game genie? I didn't bought it because i only had 1 gba, but, now i regret it. I saw the series 1 and 2 cards, plus the pokemon cards, PLUS the animal crossing series 1 on a bundle on a closing kmart, they costed 10, and i let them slip trhu.

Note that the e-reader was originally designed for standalone games. The japanese version didnt even have the link cable hole on top.

It was for NES games, and the cancelled Game-and-watch cards, and traditional card games (pokemon battles, and mario party board game).

I emailed Nintendo years back about Series 3 and 4 (and the G&W cards). At the time they fully expected to ship the next set but I think things quietly drifted away. I'm hurting for series 3 & 4. Also, Nintendo missed an awesome chance to bring the Pikmin e-cards to the US. I managed to grab most of the Japanese ones, but it would've been nice to also see it come to the US.

It's too bad I only have the Japanese version of SMA4. I even bought a pack of e-Reader cards for the Japanese game in 2004, but the problem is, no Japanese e-Reader.

I always thought the e-Reader was a huge missed opportunity for Nintendo. All they needed to do was release a new version of Pokemon TCG for GBA and a new set of actual Pokemon cards with e-Reader data printed on them. You buy packs of cards to play the card game, but you can also swipe them into your video game version and build up a collection there for playing when your friends aren't around, or if you just want to play without having to deal and shuffle.

Remember the Barcode Battler? Same idea but with Pokemon. It would have been HUGE. But for some reason, they never went with the most obvious idea, and as others have noted in this thread, the design of the e-Reader was hardly convenient for getting card data into a GBA game.

They should bring it back, for the DS. No more inconvenience.

MoxManiac said:

That would kick ass if we could make our own e-reader cards. I'd track down a e-reader just for that.

Click to expand...

Well if I'm not mistaken, some hackers have used the e-reader to make their own homebrew games, though they are quite primitive comparatively speaking.

cvxfreak said:

It's too bad I only have the Japanese version of SMA4. I even bought a pack of e-Reader cards for the Japanese game in 2004, but the problem is, no Japanese e-Reader.

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Wait, they were region sensitive?

evilromero said:

Also, Nintendo missed an awesome chance to bring the Pikmin e-cards to the US. I managed to grab most of the Japanese ones, but it would've been nice to also see it come to the US.

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There were Pikmin e-cards?

FortNinety said:

Well if I'm not mistaken, some hackers have used the e-reader to make their own homebrew games, though they are quite primitive comparatively speaking.



Wait, they were region sensitive?



There were Pikmin e-cards?

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Yeah, region locked for some reason.

I believe the Pikmin cards were for seperate games, not to add things into the GC game.

The only GC game I can think of that supported the e-card reader would be AC.

GBA games I can think of were

Pokemon
Mario 3
Mario vs Donkey Kong

I second the notion that the E-Reader was stupid.

It wasn't so much stupid, the tech was just very flakey, or from what I could tell. Perhaps if the cards weren't paper thin and had more capacity.

FortNinety said:

Perhaps if the cards weren't paper thin

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:lol :lol