In a world where useless gaming accessories are for purchase as opposed to actual games, Nintendo has announced their “Badge Arcade” where you collect badges or stamps to decorate your 3DS and 2DS menu screens for free…. Once a day…. You all know how this story goes.
Now keep in mind, this is the same company that was once praised for being one of the few left who developed honest software with no premiums needed to embrace the entire experience and we all felt quite refreshed as consumers that we could rely on them for this. I guess we were wrong to think that way.
Now, I’m not one to bash Nintendo for dipping their toes in the pond of growing trends, but isn’t it a little disheartening to see them go down this path? I’m not saying they’ve ever walked the most earnest path but I honestly can’t remember the last time I enjoyed any gaming experience without having to pay extra for a more complete or enriched experience in the last 14 years (sans Melee and Street Fighter, go ahead call me a hypocrite). I hate that this is becoming more and more of a thing. It feels like I can’t pick up any new game or piece of hardware without having to pay extra for a standard entertainment experience.
I will admit, the badges look kinda cute and fun, but not when they’re gonna end up costing me money because I’m too busy or even lazy to hop on my 3DS every day to get one measly badge for free which might be a duplicate or a badge I didn’t even want.
Can’t there just be a system update of some kind with more of them being updated every month or so? That would be awesome. It would show some support for the users who stay glued to their 3DS systems and also want to customize their menus without resorting to homebrew or whatever else. Its like Apple wanting to charge me to have emojis. Wait… I’ve said too much already.
Nintendo: Please don’t make this something arduous and unreasonable. Just send out an update, give everyone a big batch of badges to play with and with each update, add more to the library. The users will love them and it will just make so much more sense from a consumers perspective. Please stop making digital content more of a tax on me as a consumer because I want to enjoy what you make.
