Nintendo e-Reader


 * See also: Animal Crossing-e

The e-Reader is a gaming peripheral developed by Nintendo. When paired with a compatible portable gaming device (e.g.Game Boy Advance), it can be used to scan e-cards which have specially encoded data printed on them, to perform various functions such as uploading data or unlocking game features. Some cards may also contain game data to play mini-games or even retro titles such as the ports of NES titles, for play on the GBA.

e-Reader cards work using Dot Code Technology developed by with Olympus Optical Co., Ltd. Each card can hold up to two code strips, one long strip holding up to 2.2 kilobytes of information and a shorter strip containing 1.4 kilobytes. The e-Reader peripheral itself uses 64 Mb mask ROM and 1 Mb flash memory.

Use in Animal Crossing
When the e-Reader and Game Boy Advance are connected to a Nintendo GameCube playing, cards from the Animal Crossing-e series can be scanned to affect gameplay, such as obtaining exclusive pattern designs or receiving gifts such as rare NES games. e-Reader functionality is only available in NTSC and Australian PAL versions of the game. The Europe release of the game disables all e-Reader functionality.

Cards
There are 4 different card sets. Once scanned, they can give the following items:


 * The two NES cards can give players the game shown on the card.
 * K.K cards that gives music.
 * A promotional card that comes with the e-reader gives a surprise item.
 * In the Japanese version of Animal Crossing, the player can scan 'Character Cards' that makes the designated character move into the player's town.