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All About Animal Crossing e-Cards

In September of 2002, Nintendo released an innovative new accessory called the e-Reader to the gaming world. Designed for the Game Boy Advance, it utilized trading cards to store information, which could be swiped through the e-Reader. The information, stored in thin strips of code called "Dot Codes" on both sides of the trading card, would then be read and displayed on the Game Boy Advance screen. Entire NES games could be fit on these cards, opening up a whole new frontier into retro gaming. Good news for Animal Crossing fans came in the form of a card that was packaged with the e-Reader itself: a card that, when swiped, provided players with a K.K. Slider song--and an exciting array of possibilities as to what the e-Reader could do for the Animal Crossing world.

All that is needed to connect the e-Reader to the Animal Crossing game is a Nintendo Gamecube to Game Boy Advance cable and the cards themselves. Once the Game Boy Advance has been turned on, select "Communication" from the e-Reader's main menu. After that, select "To Nintendo Gamecube". Next, you must direct your character to one of three places: The Post Office, the Town Tune board, or the Able Sisters' shop. At these places there is an option to prepare your e-Reader. Do so, and the program to swipe your Animal Crossing e-Cards will be downloaded to your e-Reader. The entire process takes about a minute, so be patient! Once the download is complete, you can swipe however many Animal Crossing e-Cards you want by visiting the proper place, choosing the option to use an e-Card, and swiping the card slowly and firmly through the e-Reader.

There are several different types of cards in the Animal Crossing e-Card series. The first type is Character cards. These feature a picture of one of the Animal Crossing villagers, a profile with information about that character, a Dot Code on the side, and a code printed on the back of the card. The Dot Codes on the character cards often contain furniture or clothing, so be sure to visit the Post Office and swipe your card! Once you do this, a letter will be sent to your home containing the item and a message from that villager. To get the item from the code printed on the back of the card, simply write a letter to any villager in your town, writing down the code exactly as it appears on the card. Once you've done this, you will receive a letter back within a couple of days with the item attached. Some of the items you receive may be exclusive to the e-Reader cards, so try to collect them all!

The second type of card is the Sibling Card. Similar to the Character Cards, they feature pairs of villagers such as Mr. Resetti and his brother Don, Pelly and Phyllis, and Officers Copper and Booker. Luckily, double the villagers means double the codes. There is a Dot Code featured on each side of the Sibling Cards, each featuring a different item. In addition, there are two passwords to send to the villagers instead of just one. What a sweet deal!

The third type of card, the Design Card, can be used at the Able Sisters' shop. These cards feature a custom design that, when swiped, can be applied to your shirt, umbrella, or anywhere else you can apply one of your own designs. The cool thing about them is they are based on Nintendo's extensive gaming collection, so if you're a Nintendo fan, you'll be sure to appreciate these!

The fourth type of card in the series is the Town Tune card. These cards feature pictures of our favorite musician, K.K. Slider in many different scenarios. To use a Town Tune card, simply visit the Town Tune board outside of your Post Office, swipe the Dot Code on the side of your card, and enjoy your brand new tune! Among the songs in the the Town Tune cards are K.K. Faire, K.K. Ska, and DJ K.K., but there are many more to collect!

The fifth type of card is completely different from the first four. Dubbed "Game Cards", they offer a fun Animal Crossing themed minigame when swiped through the e-Reader. The unique thing about them is that, after swiping the Game Card, you can swipe your Character Cards and watch them compete in the minigame! The idea is to try and find the best combination of Character Cards for each minigame. Some of the Game Card games include Jump Rope and Relay Racing. Try to find the best character team possible!

Now that the types of cards have been covered, only one question remains. Where can they be purchased? Unfortunately, most retail stores that used to carry the cards haven't restocked on them in quite some time. If you're looking for just one particular card, eBay may be the most optimal choice. However, if you want to get the full Animal Crossing e-Card experience, you can buy brand-new, unopened packs from the online Nintendo Store ($3.29 USD). There are four series of Animal Crossing e-Cards just waiting for you to snatch them up; can you collect them all?