|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 20, 2007 3:11:51 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Fryguy64 on Feb 20, 2007 4:05:07 GMT -5
Link is down. Please describe in absolute detail ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 20, 2007 14:10:20 GMT -5
Works for me. It should absolutely have been working as of 8am today.
Anyway: I don't know how familiar you are with the E-Reader and the Animal Crossing series, but this appears to have been one of the cards whose stripe had a unique and independant program on it, possibly that somehow worked in conjunction with other character cards. I haven't seen an image of the card, nor read the text on it.
It's card number P15, "Boy," "Who's Dunnit?" In the viewer(Nathanael Wade)-submitted video, there's much text on the screen, and even in the higher-resolution .MOV that he sent to Powet, it's still totally illegible, but you can see the mild-tempered police dog in the lower right of the screen, and you can hear a distinct new version of Totaka's Song, clear as a bell.
I have a vague memory of someone else e-mailing me about an Animal Crossing card, but I blew it off because they were inarticulate. I guess I assumed they'd found a card that gave a recording to a Gamecube file, but this is something far more exciting.
|
|
|
|
Post by kirbychu on Feb 20, 2007 15:44:05 GMT -5
Mm, it works for me now. It wasn't earlier, though.
The song is playing, and Copper appears to be talking... shame it's so blurry, though.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 21, 2007 1:35:25 GMT -5
The card is now successfully eBayed, along with some others I have hunches about. I hope to have them in a week or two.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 21, 2007 3:56:29 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 21, 2007 5:21:22 GMT -5
Okay, now I feel like a colossal idiot, because I've already spent $70 on Animal Crossing cards. Ten minutes ago, though, I just decided I was going to try all of the cards I already have, and I found that I've got one that plays this same version of K.K. Song.
Series 1, SP001, K.K. Slider character card.
Looking at a list of all the Animal Crossing cards: there is only one K.K. character card. Maybe it's rare, but I'm guessing Totaka's song is on more than just these three cards. I'd still estimate that it's pretty uncommon, though. The vast majority of the character cards have versions of the main game theme on them.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 21, 2007 5:40:11 GMT -5
Cripes, I keep finding reasons to turn the computer back on and come back here.
If you press select on the E-Reader title screen, you can see the credits for the device, and Kazumi Totaka is listed as one of three sound designers. It's an odd thing to note since the song is most likely on the card itself rather than stored in the device, but I think one can infer that Totaka's involvement went beyond the E-Reader and affected the development of the programs on the cards.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fryguy64 on Feb 21, 2007 6:01:05 GMT -5
Wow, this information is developing at an alarming rate! ;D
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 21, 2007 14:29:23 GMT -5
Well, other than capturing some clear media, I think I've just about sussed it.
|
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 22, 2007 2:17:53 GMT -5
Much like the thread about the Mariokart glitch, I'm amazed at the lack of enthusiasm here.
Maybe we'd rather debate the feasibility of the storyline in Donkey Kong Jungle Beat?
|
|
|
|
Post by Fryguy64 on Feb 22, 2007 3:46:54 GMT -5
e-Reader never came out over here, so I'm gonna need some hardcore details from yourself before I can write anything up! I'm excited - I guess everyone else is too busy looking for it in Wii Sports!  |
|
|
|
Post by kirbychu on Feb 22, 2007 4:03:00 GMT -5
Much like the thread about the Mariokart glitch, I'm amazed at the lack of enthusiasm here. There isn't really much to be said. I've never even seen an e-Reader. I could gibber incoherently about how awesome Totaka's Song is if it'd make you feel better. |
|
|
|
Post by Phil Bond on Feb 22, 2007 10:40:56 GMT -5
Also baffling to me: how ignored this board is by americans. There's british guys, australian guys, and even a guy in China. That's not to say that America is so great, but there's a gigantic english-speaking population in the U.S. Why aren't more of them interested in connections and secrets and history? It makes me sigh.
Two versions of the e-Reader were released in Japan: a standalone version, and a linkable version almost immediately after. America got only the latter, better version. The operant technology was trading cards with truly microscopic patterns of dots printed on the edges. To look at the actual dot codes, the points of data are smaller than dust. It's hypnotic to think of the amounts of data they can optically encode using bits that are large enough to see with the naked eye. It's cynically tempting to imagine that all these programs are actually in the memory of the reader, and are merely unlocked by the cards, but home-brewers have found ways to convert any NES program into dot codes that can be printed by anyone with a good enough printer.
There is a wide variety of different types of programs to be found on different series of cards. Compatable Pokémon cards all had stripes on the bottom that simply gave stats on the card, but then sometimes there'd be a stripe on the side as well, with data on a secret move, or a coin flipping program, or a segment of a program that required more codes from other cards for completion.
The Animal Crossing series of cards were all designed around the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing. They had dot codes on the sides, and most had alphanumeric codes on the face. Most cards would yield one item if scanned directly into the game, a different item if you used the alphanumeric code, and a third item if you were lucky enough to have the character on the card living in your village, so that you could send the alphanumeric code to them in a letter. The data on the card served only to unlock data in the Gamecube game, but it also contained its own program that would run if scanned while disconnected from the Gamecube. This program usually consisted of a letter from the character.
I used the word "usually" a few times, as that's all pertinent to Character cards, though the alphanumeric codes of course can't be mailed in letters to the characters in instances like K.K. Slider, Pelly and Tortimer. Other cards contain special patterns that can be scanned directly into Mable & Able's shop, or Player cards (like P15 and P13) containing totally non-Gamecube minigames that work by scanning character cards into them.
It was a complex and awesome system.
|
|
|
|
Post by Fryguy64 on Feb 22, 2007 17:13:27 GMT -5
In response to your first point, it's something that baffles me also, and always has. I mean - it's great that there's an international community here. But it's more important to me that everyone has something interesting to say than where they come from.
Maybe that's enough to explain it! ;D
|
|
