Nintendo Badge Arcade
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"Grab all the Nintendo-themed badges you can in this fun-filled crane-machine game. Then arrange them into a custom HOME Menu theme for your Nintendo 3DS™ system! Unleash your creativity with dozens of digital badges to collect, and match them to themed backgrounds. Start your collection today with this free-to-start download on Nintendo eShop!" |
December 17, 2014
November 10, 2015
November 13, 2015N/A
N/A
Nintendo Badge Arcade (バッジとれ〜るセンター?, Badge Torēru Center) was a free-to-start application for the Nintendo 3DS, allowing players to customize their Nintendo 3DS HOME Menu with badges.
The game launched on December 17, 2014 in Japan, November 10, 2015 in North America and on November 13, 2015 in Europe. On May 26, 2017, updates to the service were discontinued due to save data constraints. On March 23, 2023, with the closure of the Nintendo 3DS eShop, it became no longer possible to buy additional plays and themes, nor receive daily free plays outside of the game's Practice Catcher. On April 8, 2024, the game shut down completely due to the discontinuation of online play on Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.
Gameplay
Nintendo Badge Arcade took place in an arcade filled with machines known as Badge Catchers, each containing badges based on various Nintendo franchises such as Super Mario, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, Splatoon and Rhythm Heaven; which were reorganized each day. Similar to real-life UFO catchers, players would use the catcher's claw to try and drop badges off the bottom of the screen. They could accomplish this by simply picking them up, or use other techniques such as pushing them or causing land-slides. Any badges that the player obtained could be added to the HOME Menu, with certain badges able to launch some of the 3DS' built-in applications. Exclusive themes for the HOME Menu could also be unlocked for purchase, with a "Rhythm Heaven"(or "Rhythm Paradise" in Europe) theme once being available.
Each day, players would have begun the game with two free plays, after which they would need to purchase additional plays using real money. Once per day, players could use the Practice Catcher to practice catching dummy badges. Playing through the Practice Catcher could sometimes reward additional free plays.
Rhythm Heaven sets
There are a total of 23 Rhythm Heaven-themed Badge Catchers/sets. All of them feature characters from the series. Most badges are simply pre-existing artwork, though some are newly made for Nintendo Badge Arcade.
In the list below, the names are taken and translated from the Japanese version of Nintendo Badge Arcade, as the English versions refer to each set simply as "Rhythm Heaven set" and "Rhythm Paradise set" respectively, and each badge as "Rhythm Heaven badge" and "Rhythm Paradise badge" respectively. The images from left to right depict each set's Badge Catcher and appearance in the Collection.
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Sets
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Badges
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Captain Tuck and the Flippers Captain
Captain Tuck and the Flippers Member Captain Tuck and the Flippers Member (Flipping) Captain Tuck and the Flippers Member (Miss) | |||
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School Library Pep Squad Archivist
School Library Pep Squad Vocalist School Library Pep Squad Goldfish Caretaker School Library Pep Squad Secretary School Library Pep Squad Communicator School Library Pep Squad Confectioner School Library Pep Squad Accountant School Library Pep Squad Blackboard Duty School Library Pep Squad Choreographer School Library Pep Squad Assistant Director School Library Pep Squad Director School Library Pep Squad Artist | |||
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Space Umpire
Hair Vegetables Onion Hair Vegetables Potato Hair Vegetables Turnip Barista Barista (Playful Pose) | |||
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On August 26, 2016[citation needed], to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Rhythm Tengoku, two special sets of badges were released, bringing the total amount to 25. One is a modified version of the Rhythm Heaven Fever Cheer Readers set depicting the School Library Pep Squad in various outfits, "10 years later", the other being a combined version of the two Rhythm Heaven Series Rhythm Heaven Girls sets with one new badge. While these sets have a separate icon when viewed in the Collection, and are grouped as "Rhythm Heaven Badges 2" (or "Rhythm Paradise Badges 2" in Europe) when placing badges, they are counted towards the "Rhythm Heaven"/"Rhythm Paradise" category in the Collection.
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Sets
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Badges
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School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later
Archivist (Elementary School Teacher) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Vocalist (Voice Actor) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Goldfish Caretaker (Biologist) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Secretary (Hotel Woman) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Communicator (Reporter) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Confectioner (Pastry Chef) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Accountant (Banker) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Blackboard Duty (Curator) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Choreographer (Dancer) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Assistant Director (Tour Conductor) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Director (Housewife) School Library Pep Squad 10 Years Later Artist (Illustrator) | |||
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Official Websites
- ニンテンドー3DS｜バッジとれ～るセンター｜任天堂 (Nintendo 3DS | Badge Collection Center | Nintendo)
- Nintendo Badge Arcade for Nintendo 3DS - Official Site [Archive]
- Nintendo Badge Arcade | Nintendo 3DS download software | Games | Nintendo
Trivia
- While the badge sets were used to promote Rhythm Heaven Megamix by featuring characters that appear in the game, the artwork used for the Hair Vegetables comes from Crop Stomp rather than Rhythm Tweezers.
- During its run, players were able to post their HOME Menu designs on Miiverse, and the best ones would be shown off in the Miiverse Gallery, with special commentary from the arcade bunny. After the Miiverse service was discontinued, the Gallery simply showed the existing posts at random each day. Several of these designs also used Rhythm Heaven badges.
- The exclusive "Rhythm Heaven"/"Rhythm Paradise" theme that could be purchased from this app simply contained a plain background with circular shapes, reminiscent of the boxart for Rhythm Heaven, with a stark yellow color like that of the boxart for Rhythm Tengoku, as well as lacking any special music or effects. This is in contrast to the Rhythm Heaven Megamix Ringside and Rhythm Heaven Megamix Costumed Tebiri themes which feature actual characters, play music and change various sound effects.
Development History
- Main article: Nintendo Badge Arcade/Development
In Other Languages
| Language | Name | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese |
バッジとれ〜るセンター | Badge Collection Center |
| EnglishNOA |
Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
 EnglishNOE |
Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
 French |
Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
 Spanish |
Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
 German |
Nintendo Badge Arcade | |
 Italian |
Nintendo Badge Arcade |