Seems that Nintendo is really serious about the online/local multiplayer aspect of this game. I'm jazzed. Can't wait for the end of the month to play.

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.

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:

Okay, 2 thoughts: 

1.  Will anyone buy these when they start going up on ebay for $500 a piece?

2.  I'm in LA, and it says they're having a tournament here next week on the 15th.  BUT the game doesn't come out until the following week on the 23rd.  I don't get it.  Is the tournament going to be a bunch of people who've never played the game, playing it competitively?  I mean, there isn't even a demo or anything out there, so unless you played it at E3 or something (I did not), then what's the point? 

Even if they're region free, they'll be like playing the pokemon card game with japanese cards.  They'll still have japanese text.  I'd also assume that unlike the japanese pokemon cards, they'll probably be LESS valuable than the US counterparts this time around due to availability.

I was totally thinking of going out and buying a binder and collecting them all like baseball/basketball cards, but alas, it seems it will be in vain.

I'll still be collecting them... :(

Boy that was a fun to find.  Couldn't find it with the Forum search.  Had to go to the article -> Go to Kid Icarus page and find the story I was thinking of -> Quote -> Profit

The sad thing is, I was aware of this being a strong possibility for awhile.

I was under the impression, after speaking with some folks, that Nintendo had planned to do this in the US.  It sucks. :(

That is weird to have tournaments before the game is released.  Though I seriously doubt I will ever be able to participate in any simply because even though I live by one of the bigger cities in the South no one comes here.

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!). 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.

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?

GameStop ran Brawl tournaments the night before it came out. At that point, no one had played it yet. I recall just bombing in it because I wanted to try Meta Knight.

I see the PR logic behind the pre-release tournaments. It makes it more exciting and appealing, because it is an unreleased game. Unfortunately, it's a mildly obtuse new game (as opposed to Brawl, which was a sequel to a pre-existing game in the same genre).

If anyone's going to the NYC finale, I'll probably attend. I've got to gets me some cards for either my own machinations or to give out to you fine folks.

Feel free to get me some. :D

Because the purpose of those cards are physical value- they're specifically printed on special material, and often have holograms, etc. to prove their authenticity. These cards, are just for distributing AR images to scanned to unlock bonuses in games. Take a look at the ones that were included with your 3DS, they're printed on cheap, one-sided paper and are clearly intended to be duplicated.

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....

Um, who says they're making them rare collector's items in the first place? The very fact that they can be easily reproduced means they won't be... Not to mention they're distributing them for free. Judging by previous AR cards Nintendo's produced, the cards themselves will be cheap, one-sided paper with no physical value. Sure, they'll be introducing some cards 'exclusively' at these special events, but that's just for PR purposes. The physical paper will be WORTHLESS (unless maybe if you were to get them signed by Nintendo staffers to make them a one-of-a-kind collectable). The only purpose is to get the AR images out out to the public via pseudo viral distribution, basically creating an illusion of exclusivity, even though they're fully intended to be widely circulated via the Internet.

Remember, the e-Reader cards were FOR SALE, and weren't easily reproduced-- comparing these to them is like apples and oranges.

It seriously frightens me how many people aren't figuring out the obvious...

I love how these AR cards will contribute to the downfall of this game. It's a bonus mode!

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?

There's really no need for the snide remarks.

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.

Aside from being fairly easily to figure out, this fact has already been pointed out multiple times in earlier posts this very thread already. So, you're not going to get any apology from me for my "snide remark".

"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:

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?

And, FYI, I wasn't requesting any apology. I simply wished to not be put down for my opinions and have a potentially decent discussion with one I could only hope is of intelligible mindset.

Again, you might want to start reading previous posts in this thread:

Not to mention how many already people use the images from their iPhones instead of the physical cards, printing won't even be necessary.


This distribution method isn't limited at all. It's actually going to be a lot less limited through this method than selling them would ever be.

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.

Thank you! Someone that understands what my point was all along!

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.

Thank you for that input, ejamer. You presented that argument without the least bit of condescension and I appreciate that.

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. I was going by the assumption that they'd be printed the same as any other AR card which out make it pretty much impossible to differentiate from one one would have printed out, unless you got it autographed or something that would make it one of a kind as I said earlier. But I have no way of knowing if they'll be doing anything like that.

The Skylanders figures you mentions are special editions. As would any specially marked cards from Nintendo be. My point was no one would be missing out on the functionality aspects.

I think the AR card aspect of the game is neat. Seems weird that they won't be made widely available in physical form. I hope Bman is correct that a virtual trade will sping up but I still think a more widely avilable physical distribution would be in Nintendo's interest. The under 12 set (and their moms) may not be as hip to the virtual trading aspect as we savvy old internet denizens.

I can see someone doing an iPhone app of all the cards, only for it to be taken down by Nintendo the next day!

I'm pretty sure that www.KidIcarusARcards.com (etc) will become a reality once these cards get into circulation, allowing people to upload scans of cards, add info about their stats etc.

If not, then I may have just given away a million dollar idea!  :D

So I found out that the character cards are quite rare, making it practically impossible to complete the set.

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.

NoA has a relation with a lot of card manufacturers over the years.  I think that would be  not a problem.

Nintendo IS a card manufacturer. I think these cards are actually printed by them.

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).

I thought about pointing that out as well.  Just here in the US they tend to be distributed by someone else.

Nintendo (and their subsidiary The Pokemon Company) distribute the Pokemon TCG, by far the largest trading cards they are involved with.

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. 

Well, according to Wikipedia they took that over in 2003. 

It looks that Enter-Play is responsible for the distribution of the Zelda and Mario Trading Cards.

Alright,

NoA is giving cards to Club Nintendo folks

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.

Considering almost all of what NoA club Nintendo does is really just market research. I would say it is.

I got the sense from the reps that Series 1 is a test, and it's possible that Series 2 could be retail, but that might just be speculation.

Dear NoA Reps.
That's about the ****ing most stupid idea ever.

If Series 1 is impossible to get, no one is going to buy series 2. Those who want the data will get the online scans and those who want the collectability will say **** it because they'll never be able to get a complete set.