4:51AM

The 3DS Ambassador Survival Guide

September 1st marks the start of the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program. The program was set into place after Nintendo dropped the price of the 3DS forty percent and made their loyal fan-base look like a bunch of dopes, but it makes efforts to accommodate early adopters with twenty free games. It seems yet again, however, that Nintendo has dropped the ball, and the program has already started off to a shaky start.

The first half of this Nintendo redemption effort includes ten NES games. A rather odd mix but the choices are surprising. I have to give it to Nintendo, most of the choices have enough appeal to work in a portable format. However, I don’t think any of us really needed to re-experience Wrecking crew, but hey, free games are free games right? Here’s the list so far:

Donkey Kong JR

Super Mario Bros.

Zelda II: The Adventure Of Link

Balloon Fight

Ice Climber

Yoshi

The Legend Of Zelda

Wrecking Crew

NES Open Tournament Golf

Metroid

Yoshi and NES Open Tournament Gold were odd but great choices, being as they give that mix up of nostalgia for some and completely new games for someone like me, so I’m impressed with the list. But man, did Nintendo sure fuck up the distribution process. Because of this, I thought I’d share the steps I learned to everyone who may have the same troubles I did. First off, if you forgot to register your 3DS prior to the price drop and go in panic mode, there’s no need to shit yourself something awful. You can click right here to enter in the console serial number from your 3DS and obtain the qualification you need to get going. So once that’s out of the way you can now start downloading your games…maybe.

 

So after entering the e-Shop, instead of checking out what’s new (a logical assumption mind you) you’ll find nothing pertaining to the ambassador promotion. Where you will, however, find the games is within your “Settings/Other” option, which is to the far right of the main menu options for e-Shop. Once selected, you’ll then need to choose the “Your Downloads” option from that menu, and after you do that you’ll see the list of the NES games available with the option to “redownload” them. Why would Nintendo complicate something as simple a digital voucher? Granted, this approach might be more streamlined for Nintendo since they're able to deposit games based on specific account activity instead of delivering individual codes to millions of owners, but the entire process still feels like an arbitrary mess of yoga if you want to get anywhere. What makes matters worse is how this process isn't a simultaneous sweep for 3DS owners all around, as there are still people out there without games appearing in their “Your Downloads” section.  

If you find yourself without the options then it’s a matter of waiting even longer until they eventually appear. After all the hassle, one can only hope that Nintendo acknowledges any negative feedback from this ordeal and realizes that this is only another sign of their need to adapt to the modern age of online-supported media; if they don’t then Nintendo will only fall even further behind in the arms race we call video games.

PrintView Printer Friendly Version

« Bullet Heaven HD, Episode 40 - Air Zonk | Main | D-Pad Studio Interview »