The hundreds of cards will be tough to collect.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/29472
AR cards for Kid Icarus: Uprising will have limited distribution, according to a Nintendo representative at GDC.
Most cards will be available only through events, such as GDC, as well as tournaments. Some cards may be packed in with magazines, such as the latest edition of Game Informer, which included a "Power of Flight" card. The game also includes six cards to start with. As of now, Nintendo does not have plans to sell the cards at retail.
The first set of tournaments begins this week, starting at a GameStop in San Francisco on Thursday. The tournament continues in Orlando, Florida on March 11, Los Angeles on March 15, and New York City on March 22. Winners from each regional competition will fly to New York for a final tournament. There is no word on future tournaments, though they will be announced on the Kid Icarus: Uprising website if there are any.
AR cards unlock idols (moving trophies) and hearts (currency) in Kid Icarus: Uprising. In addition to displaying the idol, viewing an individual card shows information about the character or item on the card. Placing two cards head-to-head will pit them against each other in battle, where their stats affect the outcome. The battles are non-interactive.
The limited distribution of cards are meant to encourage trading. The idols are stored in the game's "Vault," so even if players are unwilling to trade, friends can still scan in the cards in an effort to complete their digital collection.
While Nintendo has not been specific as to the total number of cards, noting that there are "hundreds" in "Series 1," the serial numbers found on each card indicate that there are at least 336. The cards appear to cover every character, weapon, item, and ability in Kid Icarus: Uprising, no matter its significance. Starter sets given away at GDC come in random packs of 10. The AR coding allows for up to 14,348,907 different cards, so it won't be easy to generate your own.
Kid Icarus: Uprising launches on March 23 in North America.
If the cards are region-free (and why shouldn't they be!?) the Japan crew might have to start buying/selling the chocolates that come packed with an AR card.
$15 a card sounds reasonable right? :P: : :
I'm not to surprised to hear that. Great Special event. Still don't see the ability to buy the cards in packs.Who are we kidding. The AR Cards are in there for the Japanese market. I bet we won't even see them released in the west beyond the pack ins.Well, the US website says they are planning card meet-ups.
I think it's BS when cards are given out only at events like GDC and E3 because it means the company is giving a big "**** you" to anyone not attending. Same with tournaments. These exclusive cards will cause most people to not have a chance to get them (even with the trading/scanning). At least the ones packed with magazines are more attainable.
I think it's BS when cards are given out only at events like GDC and E3 because it means the company is giving a big "**** you" to anyone not attending. Same with tournaments. These exclusive cards will cause most people to not have a chance to get them (even with the trading/scanning). At least the ones packed with magazines are more attainable.
Um, it's pretty obvious to me why they're doing it this way... Maybe you haven't heard of a thing known as the Internet (you're actually using it right now!). All the cards will become easily attainable to anyone via the web and anyone with a color printer will be able to print them out. Why else do you think they aren't selling them?
I think it's BS when cards are given out only at events like GDC and E3 because it means the company is giving a big "**** you" to anyone not attending. Same with tournaments. These exclusive cards will cause most people to not have a chance to get them (even with the trading/scanning). At least the ones packed with magazines are more attainable.
Um, it's pretty obvious to me why they're doing it this way... Maybe you haven't heard of a thing known as the Internet (you're actually using it right now!). All the cards will become easily attainable to anyone via the web and anyone with a color printer will be able to print them out. Why else do you think they aren't selling them?
You could say that about any trading cards though - why bother selling any of them at retail?
Not sure what to think about this. I really dislike AR gaming, and have been on the fence about Kid Icarus. Not having the actual cards available doesn't much matter to me... but making them rare collector's items (even if it's an item I'm not particularly keen on and that functionally can be replicated by printing out an image from the internet) seems kind of asinine.
Reminds me of the original Animal Crossing cards that had very limited distribution (both location and time) here in North America. Trying to collect them was a pain, and now I've got a small set that will never be complete. At least I have the rare NES unlock for Mario Bros. If Nintendo really wants to impress me, add a decoder feature to the 3DS Animal Crossing that makes the cards worth owning again.
Uh, this sounds like it could be a downfall for the much anticipated title. If the cards aren't purchasable, then that defeats the point of having the AR technology utilized. This would defeat the purpose of purchasing booster packs (or however they would be sold) and the excitement one feels not knowing just exactly what they are going to get. Not everyone can attend special events and whatnot....
Uh, this sounds like it could be a downfall for the much anticipated title. If the cards aren't purchasable, then that defeats the point of having the AR technology utilized. This would defeat the purpose of purchasing booster packs (or however they would be sold) and the excitement one feels not knowing just exactly what they are going to get. Not everyone can attend special events and whatnot....
It seriously frightens me how many people aren't figuring out the obvious...
Uh, this sounds like it could be a downfall for the much anticipated title. If the cards aren't purchasable, then that defeats the point of having the AR technology utilized. This would defeat the purpose of purchasing booster packs (or however they would be sold) and the excitement one feels not knowing just exactly what they are going to get. Not everyone can attend special events and whatnot....
It seriously frightens me how many people aren't figuring out the obvious...
Um... What's so obvious? I'm simply stating my opinion about how the AR cards should be distributed and why I think this choice from Nintendo is potentially detrimental to how consumers will appreciate the game. I personally would have found it rather enjoyable to go out and buy little mystery packs of cards at Gamestop or whatever other retail that caters to the gaming community and collected the cards over time. We're talking over 300 cards. I support the trading aspect (which would especially be useful in the event one had multiples of certain cards), but how many people that get the cards from special events are likely to come into contact with others around the country/world whom are seeking the cards?
Uh, this sounds like it could be a downfall for the much anticipated title. If the cards aren't purchasable, then that defeats the point of having the AR technology utilized. This would defeat the purpose of purchasing booster packs (or however they would be sold) and the excitement one feels not knowing just exactly what they are going to get. Not everyone can attend special events and whatnot....
It seriously frightens me how many people aren't figuring out the obvious...
Um... What's so obvious? I'm simply stating my opinion about how the AR cards should be distributed and why I think this choice from Nintendo is potentially detrimental to how consumers will appreciate the game. I personally would have found it rather enjoyable to go out and buy little mystery packs of cards at Gamestop or whatever other retail that caters to the gaming community and collected the cards over time. We're talking over 300 cards. I support the trading aspect (which would especially be useful in the event one had multiples of certain cards), but how many people that get the cards from special events are likely to come into contact with others around the country/world whom are seeking the cards?
Here's the obvious: It's not about the physical cards, it's about the AR images on them which are easily duplicated and shared via digital media. Nintendo is counting on the images circulating around the Internet and that's their distribution plan. They already did the same thing with the QR codes for 3D Pokédex. That's why they're not selling them-- they'll easily be traded across the world for free, and since there will be so many, no one will have them all.
"The AR coding allows for up to 14,348,907 different cards, so it won't be easy to generate your own." So what does this mean then?
Here's the obvious: It's not about the physical cards, it's about the AR images on them which are easily duplicated and shared via digital media. Nintendo is counting on the images circulating around the Internet and that's their distribution plan. They already did the same thing with the QR codes for 3D Pokédex. That's why they're not selling them-- they'll easily be traded across the world for free, and since there will be so many, no one will have them all.
"The AR coding allows for up to 14,348,907 different cards, so it won't be easy to generate your own." So what does this mean then?
It means this:Here's the obvious: It's not about the physical cards, it's about the AR images on them which are easily duplicated and shared via digital media. Nintendo is counting on the images circulating around the Internet and that's their distribution plan. They already did the same thing with the QR codes for 3D Pokédex. That's why they're not selling them-- they'll easily be traded across the world for free, and since there will be so many, no one will have them all.
And this still fails to make sense. Why bother to hype up the cards only to limit their distribution? It seems rather pointless to rely solely on digital media transference for the AR between players. If that were truly the intent, what purpose does it serve to have the cards in the first place? And did it not state that on the official site that the AR cards need to be physically before the 3DS, face to face, to partake in the card battles?
They'll be simply be introduced at these special events, and as soon as they are, they'll become easily attainable to anyone via the web and anyone with a color printer will be able to print them out.Not to mention how many already people use the images from their iPhones instead of the physical cards, printing won't even be necessary.
Hold your horses for a second, Bman.
Everyone understands that images of the cards can be easily and freely distributed online, and gamers can use those images to get the same overall effect. But do you really think the original cards have no value? Protip: that's WRONG.
How much do those limited edition Skylanders toys sell for on eBay, when ones that are functionally identical (and in my opinion, more interesting in how they are colored) can be purchased for much less? Why are professionally printed cards even being provided as a bonus item or in other regions if NoA's distribution strategy is really just to give everyone access to every "virtual card" online?
Introducing rare, collectible objects changes the way some people view a game -- even if ownership of those objects isn't required to play or to receive the in-game effects. Maybe it doesn't change anything for you, and maybe you are more than happy to print out proxy cards. But other people who dislike the way this is being handled have every right to hold and express their opinions.
That said, I don't consider printing off images of a card I find online nearly as convenient or attractive or as enjoyable as having actual cards to collect and trade with friends. My personal opinion is that NoA is missing the boat on this one, and I think that Skylanders and Pokemon both show that there is a huge potential market for a game that handles this right.
I'm pretty sure that most people here understand both sides of the argument.
I also suspect that most people agree that it's not a "make or break" situation either way because this whole thing is only a small part of the big picture.
Hold your horses for a second, Bman.
Everyone understands that images of the cards can be easily and freely distributed online, and gamers can use those images to get the same overall effect. But do you really think the original cards have no value? Protip: that's WRONG.
How much do those limited edition Skylanders toys sell for on eBay, when ones that are functionally identical (and in my opinion, more interesting in how they are colored) can be purchased for much less? Why are professionally printed cards even being provided as a bonus item or in other regions if NoA's distribution strategy is really just to give everyone access to every "virtual card" online?
Introducing rare, collectible objects changes the way some people view a game -- even if ownership of those objects isn't required to play or to receive the in-game effects. Maybe it doesn't change anything for you, and maybe you are more than happy to print out proxy cards. But other people who dislike the way this is being handled have every right to hold and express their opinions.
That said, I don't consider printing off images of a card I find online nearly as convenient or attractive or as enjoyable as having actual cards to collect and trade with friends. My personal opinion is that NoA is missing the boat on this one, and I think that Skylanders and Pokemon both show that there is a huge potential market for a game that handles this right.
Well, we really have no way of knowing if the cards Nintendo gives out at those events will be printed on any kind of special authenticating material that will....
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NoA has a relation with a lot of card manufacturers over the years. I think that would be not a problem.Well, we really have no way of knowing if the cards Nintendo gives out at those events will be printed on any kind of special authenticating material that will....
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There are a bunch of photos of the cards and packaging available now. It's not as good as seeing the real thing, but should help form an opinion about the quality of cards provided versus what you can make at home.
I wonder if part of the reason NoA doesn't want to sell the cards separately involves distribution headaches? They probably aren't really set up to handle or support sales for that type of product. If so, setting up that infrastructure might be more hassle than it's worth even if there is the potential for a decent return.
Nintendo IS a card manufacturer. I think these cards are actually printed by them.I thought about pointing that out as well. Just here in the US they tend to be distributed by someone else.
Seeing how crazy some people were going over these at GDC, it is strange that they aren't planning to sell them. Hopefully, they will have tons of events (they mentioned retailer events as well as their own).
Nintendo IS a card manufacturer. I think these cards are actually printed by them.I thought about pointing that out as well. Just here in the US they tend to be distributed by someone else.
Seeing how crazy some people were going over these at GDC, it is strange that they aren't planning to sell them. Hopefully, they will have tons of events (they mentioned retailer events as well as their own).
When did they start that? The last time I was involved with Pokemon TCG it was being distributed by Wizard of the Coast. Sees how long its been for me.Nintendo IS a card manufacturer. I think these cards are actually printed by them.I thought about pointing that out as well. Just here in the US they tend to be distributed by someone else.
Seeing how crazy some people were going over these at GDC, it is strange that they aren't planning to sell them. Hopefully, they will have tons of events (they mentioned retailer events as well as their own).
Nintendo (and their subsidiary The Pokemon Company) distribute the Pokemon TCG, by far the largest trading cards they are involved with.
Alright,
NoA is giving cards to Club Nintendo folks (http://kidicarus.nintendo.com/uprising/explore-the-game/arcards.html#giveaway)
Considering almost all of what NoA club Nintendo does is really just market research. I would say it is.Alright,
NoA is giving cards to Club Nintendo folks (http://kidicarus.nintendo.com/uprising/explore-the-game/arcards.html#giveaway)
Very cool, but still kind of frustrating if they don't follow up by making cards generally available somehow. I'm hoping this is a test to gauge consumer interest.