Skip to main content

Nintendo Badge Arcade released for free on 3DS

Nintendo announced that it has released Nintendo Badge Arcade for the Nintendo 3DS, a microtransaction-driven app that allows players to outfit their system themes with unique customization items earned via gameplay.

In Nintendo Badge Arcade players pay a small fee to access a claw machine-like minigame that awards digital badges, which can be pasted and arranged on the 3DS’s Home screen for uniquely customizable themes.

Nintendo Badge Arcade currently features several crane games that offer badges inspired by Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, and Animal Crossing franchises. With skilled play, users can unlock multiple badges with a single attempt, upping the stakes for purchased credits.

Collected badges can be combined with Nintendo 3DS system themes in order to create lively and colorful home screen backdrops. An in-game example notes that players can paste Mario Kart 8-themed badges atop a raceway backdrop, simulating the look and feel of the Mario Kart series.

Nintendo Badge Arcade is the latest in a series of free-to-download Nintendo 3DS games to feature content unlocked via micro-transactions. Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball, released in 2014, was among the first 3DS games to divide up its content among several possible in-game purchases. Real Deal Baseball also tied its narrative content to player purchases, progressing its storyline only when additional transactions were logged.

Nintendo followed up on Rusty’s Real Deal Baseball in February with Pokemon Shuffle, a free-to-play puzzler in which players can purchase additional plays via micro-transactions. A mobile adaptation for iOS and Android platforms was released in August.

Nintendo Badge Arcade is available as a free download via the 3DS eShop. Players are given a limited number of free attempts the first time the app is launched, and five additional plays can be purchased for $1.

Editors' Recommendations

Danny Cowan
Danny’s passion for video games was ignited upon his first encounter with Nintendo’s Duck Hunt, and years later, he still…
The 25 best Nintendo 3DS games
Nintendo 3DS close-up.

If you're looking for the best Nintendo 3DS games, there's no shortage of titles to choose from, thanks to the console's long life cycle.

The 3DS has enjoyed several updates over the years, but each was compatible with its predecessor, and that translates to a large and diverse library. It's getting increasingly tough to find a 3DS, especially since Nintendo has officially discontinued the console and no longer supports it to focus on releasing Switch games. Even so, the legacy of the 3DS lives on with a long list of excellent, pocket-sized adventures. Here are our favorite ones.

Read more
Nintendo’s eShop closures are a necessary, but messy move
A Nintendo Wii U gamepad flat on a table.

Nintendo last week announced its intentions to shut down the Wii U and 3DS eShops, the systems' digital storefronts, in March 2023. This decision was disappointing for hardcore fans who stuck with Nintendo during that rocky era and extremely worrying as many of the games available on the platforms won't be preserved.
More significant Wii U games and a handful of 3DS titles were ported to Switch, but many titles are still stuck on those systems and can’t be ported. Once the digital storefront shutdowns, digital-only titles will be gone forever, and physical copies of these titles will get more expensive and harder to experience. Fans and game preservationists have not been pleased by this decision, with the Video Game History Foundation giving the most candid response.
https://twitter.com/GameHistoryOrg/status/1494398068346654720
Following this announcement, Digital Trends spoke to an industry analyst and game preservationists to get a better idea of what exactly caused Nintendo to shut down these stores and to learn how it could do a better job at preserving its legacy.
Why is Nintendo shutting down the 3DS and Wii eShops?
Officially, Nintendo’s FAQ on the eShop closures says “this is part of the natural life cycle for any product line as it becomes less used by consumers over time." The answer doesn’t get into specifics and might confuse those still playing games on the system or fans of games only available on Wii U or 3DS. Omdia Principal Analyst Matthew Bailey explains Nintendo’s user base argument in more detail, highlighting the massive gap between the number of people playing the Switch as opposed to the Wii U.
“While Omdia expects the number of Switch consoles in active use to exceed 90 million on a global basis this year, the Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022,” he explains. “Even when you include the more enduring 3DS family of consoles into the equation, the Switch still comfortably accounts for over 90% of Nintendo’s total active console install base.”
If one is going off just the numbers, it’s sensible that Nintendo would want to focus on the majority of its players. Bailey admits that “Switch users are already reaping the benefits of Nintendo’s singular first-party development focus on one platform.” Still, one might argue that Nintendo should just let the eShops remain up even if it isn’t actively updating or maintaining them.

Unfortunately, Nintendo doesn’t see that as possible due to cost and security issues. Game Over Thrity, a Twitter user with over 20 years of experience working on IT projects and infrastructure, shed some light on what might have influenced Nintendo’s decision-making in a thread.
“As these systems age, they require patches, security, special contracts, updates, and personnel that know how they were built (and maintained),” his Twitter thread explains. “As time goes on, there are security holes, servers, code, infrastructure, etc., that can’t be brought up to modern standards. It becomes a constant struggle between maintaining legacy systems, paying people to do so, and trying to keep up with global regulations. It’s not cheap by any means. They can’t just ‘leave the lights on’ and stop supporting them. What if someone hacked the payment processor?”
With every passing year, the Wii U and 3DS eShops likely became more expensive to maintain and an increased security risk for the video game publisher. Instead of investing the time and resources into pleasing a smaller amount of players, the easier option is to turn everything off entirely. While he isn’t affiliated with Nintendo, Game Over Thirty’s assessment aligns with what we’ve heard from Nintendo and Omdia.
"The Wii U’s global active installed base will drop under one million in 2022."

Read more
Nintendo is ending Wii U and 3DS eShop service
Photos of the 3DS eShops

Nintendo has announced the end of its eShop service for the Wii U console and 3DS handheld. The eShop will stay live on those devices until late March 2023, after which players will no longer be able to purchase games or download eShop apps and services for those devices.

After the closure, players will still be able to redownload games and DLC that they already own, use online play, and download software updates.

Read more