ambassador-program
Latest
Metroid coming to Japan's 3DS eShop on Feb. 29
Japan's 3DS eShop is getting the NES classic, Metroid, next week on February 29. Metroid is one of many free NES titles available to qualifying 3DS Ambassador Program participants (i.e. early 3DS adopters). Everyone else will have to hand over ¥500 ($6) to navigate the deadly wilds of the planet Zebes once again.
Legend of Zelda is Japan's first NES release for 3DS Virtual Console, Ambassadors get free update
Quietly, and very much in Japanese, Nintendo released the original NES game, The Legend of Zelda, on its eShop Virtual Console section. Zelda marks the first of the 10 NES "Ambassador Program" games to arrive on the eShop for sale, replete with save states and a price tag: ¥500 (approximately $6). Those of you who already have the game downloaded via Nintendo's early adopter Ambassador Program are able to snag the updated VC version of the game for free as well. And for those of you who really wanted a virtual copy of the game's instruction manual, Nintendo's got that covered as well! Hot dog!
Nintendo's Game Boy Advance thank you package rolls out to 3DS early adopters this Friday
Following August's dramatic price drop for the 3DS, Nintendo has announced that, come Friday, members of its Ambassador Program will finally be able to download the ten Game Boy Advance games they were promised. The complimentary titles in question are F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Kirby & the Amazing Mirror, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Metroid Fusion, Wario Land 4 and WarioWare, Inc.: Mega Microgames, each of which will be automatically added to your purchase history. In other news, Nintendo expects you to receive your bouquet of three dozen long-stemmed roses and promises that "It'll never happen again" by this afternoon.
GBA Ambassador games out in UK and Japan this Friday, full list revealed
Japanese and UK 3DS owners have received SpotPass alerts notifying them that the long-awaited Game Boy Advance games for 3DS "Ambassadors" will arrive this Friday. Ten games will be delivered for free to anyone who visited the eShop before the 3DS price drop -- the same people who got ten NES games earlier this year. The full list of GBA games being handed out December 16 includes the following (newly revealed games in bold): Super Mario Advance 3: Yoshi's Island, Mario Kart: Super Circuit, Metroid Fusion, WarioWare Inc. Mega Microgames, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Wario Land 4, Kirby & The Amazing Mirror, Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, and F-Zero: Maximum Velocity. Both the date and the list of games are identical in both territories, so we expect to hear similar news for North America soon.
Nintendo's 3DS Ambassador Program line-up revealed, games available September 1st
Early 3DS adopters, your smorgasbord of throwback make-goods is now only a day away. Nintendo recently announced via its Twitter account the full line-up of ten Famicom / NES virtual console games headed for the company's Ambassador Program. Owners of the 3D handheld in Japan and North America can look forward to re-acquainting themselves with such 8-bit classics like Metroid, Super Mario Bros., Ice Climber, The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II : The Adventure of Link, Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong Jr., NES Open Tournament Golf, Wrecking Crew and Yoshi. Those golden games of yore will be available to download from the eShop tomorrow, but gamers looking for the GBA goods will have to wait until later this year. Update: Turns out the games are available to download now.
PSA: the 3DS Ambassador game download process is ... complicated
Keep in mind that we're talking about the process by which you receive 20 free games (and thus temper your rage), but you're kind of not going to believe the process through which qualified 3DS owners will acquire the "Ambassador Program" games starting September 1. Nintendo posted a how-to on its support page, and ... a lot of people are going to need it. In order to get your free games, you'll have to open up the eShop (cool so far), then ... go into the "Settings/Other" menu there, scroll to "Your Downloads," and then click to "redownload" each game, even though you're actually downloading them for the first time. Sounds kind of crazy, but our guess is that Nintendo has opted to add the games to everyone's accounts as already having been purchased, rather than generate codes for specific games. We're not even sure it's possible to distribute a download code for a 3DS game. But it gets crazier! In order to keep up with news related to the program, Nintendo will offer the "Ambassador Certificate" for download -- which is actually a video. You'll be able to tap icons during the video for updates about when games will be available. Alternatively, read Joystiq!
Japan's 3DS Ambassador games include Metroid, Zelda 2 [update: North America too]
Two days before the arrival of the 3DS Ambassador Program games, Nintendo of Japan has revealed the full list of ten NES (Famicom) games being released there. This could be the exact same list of games we get in North America and Europe -- all we know is that the initial five games were consistent worldwide. The five games revealed today include Metroid, Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link, Yoshi's Egg, Mario Open Golf, and Wrecking Crew. In addition to those, Super Mario Bros., Balloon Fight, The Legend of Zelda, Donkey Kong Jr., and Ice Climber will be available for free, to anyone who qualified for the Ambassador Program by taking their 3DS to the eShop on time. And, of course, these will be followed by ten GBA games. [Update: Nintendo of America tweeted the rest of the NES games coming to North America ... and it's exactly the same games!]
Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program: now you can find out if you made the cut
Remember the Nintendo "Ambassador Program" for 3DS owners with the price drop blues? Early adopters were offered 20 free games if they signed in to the Nintendo eShop before August 11th, but the software didn't confirm if they'd successfully joined or not. Now they can check for themselves by heading to Nintendo's support page via our easy-to-click source link, enter their 11 digit serial number and see if they're due some freebies courtesy of delicious corporate guilt.
Verify your Ambassadorship with Nintendo's eligibility checker
As one of the first 4 millionish people to buy Nintendo's 3DS prior to its dramatic price drop earlier this month, you've no doubt assumed the role of Ambassador with pride, dignity, and a frantic, ever-present anticipation for all of the dope swag in your near future. We get the feeling that you already know whether or not you successfully connected to the Nintendo eShop before the deadline, but just to make super double sure, Nintendo has launched an Ambassador eligibility verification tool on its support site. Our eagle-eyed tipsters have informed us that including the last digit of your serial numer (the one in the box) may return a false ineligibility error, so 3DS owners looking for absolute peace of mind regarding their free games should be sure to try the tool both ways. [Thanks, Sonny!]
3DS NES Ambassador Program games will add multiplayer, other features
Nintendo really wants to make it up to those of you who already shelled out $250 for the 3DS, in light of the looming $80 price drop. You probably already knew that you'd be getting a pile of free NES games on September 1st, but you can also expect them to be updated and improved going forward. These aren't going to be half-hearted ports that get pushed out to early adopters, riddled with bugs, and forgotten. Sometime later this year, they'll be offered as payed versions through the eShop with features like multiplayer simultaneous play. The best part? Those eligible for the Ambassador Program will get free upgrades to retail version. One feature we can tell you wont be added though, is 3D -- the classic titles like Legend of Zelda and Super Mario Bros. will remain blissfully two-dimensional.
