E-Reader

The e-Reader (Japanese: カードｅリーダー Card e Reader) is a peripheral for the Game Boy Advance that is used to scan special cards in order to unlock new features in existing games, add new features to games that have e-Reader functionality, or to play minigames on the e-Reader itself.
Developed jointly by Creatures, Inc., HAL Laboratory, Inc., and , the original Japanese Card e-Reader lacked the Game Link Cable functionality when it was released in December 2001. A re-release, the Card e Reader+, added a Game Link Cable port, allowing it to connect to a second Game Boy Advance or a Nintendo GameCube using the same Game Link Cables that the Game Boy Advance system alone would use. This version of the e-Reader was the one that was later released in the West as the e-Reader in September 2002.
Though it was popular in Japan, with e-Cards released until the end of the Game Boy Advance's lifespan, the e-Reader proved to be unpopular in North America, leading to its discontinuation in 2004. e-Reader functionality, included in the Japanese versions of , was removed from the English and other translations, as the compatible cards were never planned to be released. Due to this early discontinuation, the e-Reader was only released in North America and Australia, though e-Cards were released in Europe as well.
==Technical specifications==
* "Dot Code Technology" (Optical scanning technology)
* 8 Megabit flash memory
* 64 Megabyte mask ROM
* The long strip on each e-Card holds 2.2 kilobytes of data.
* The short strip holds 1.4 kilobytes of data.
* Passthrough game link port
Vidgame.net: Nintendo E-Reader
==English release==
To promote the e-Reader prior to its English release, kiosks with built-in Game Boy Advance consoles and e-Reader devices used three placeholder e-Cards to demonstrate its functionality: a "Manhole" card along with Pichu (Expedition 58) and Hoppip (Expedition 112). These three cards, which are slightly thicker than usual Pokémon cards and have a glossy finish, were all hole-punched so they could be attached to the device via a cable to prevent loss or theft whilst allowing enough flexibility for the cards to still be swiped.
It's a common misconception that these cards were the same cards handed out at the E3 convention in 2002, which also featured a Kirby e-Card, but the Pokémon cards from that event are regular thickness cards without a glossy finish and have a Japanese back instead of regular English back.
==Pokémon e-Cards==
* The Pokémon Battle e card series
* The demonstration series
* The expansion
* The TCG expansion
* The TCG expansion
* The TCG expansion (Pokédex entries only)
* The TCG expansion (Pokédex entries only)
* The TCG expansion (Pokédex entries only)
* The TCG expansion (Pokédex entries only, select cards only)
* Select and Nintendo promotional cards.
* The (Japan)
* The (Japan)
* The (Japan, select cards only)
* Special cards containing extra features for the Smeargle Paint minigame in 
* Special cards allowing a player to increase the likelihood of special events in 
* Two cards distributed with Pokémon Scoop's Winter 2004 magazine containing the Berry Program Update, fixing the Berry glitch in .
==Trivia==
* The minigame Machop At Work was included with the purchase of an e-Reader in the United States.
* According to Nintendo Power v.169, it would take roughly 62,500 e-Reader cards to equal the data on one GameCube disc.
** However, this is a gross understatement when checked mathematically. Assuming the cards used have two long strips of 2.2KB each (for 4.4KB per card) it would take 331,819 e-Reader cards.
* The device was originally going to be called the "Pokémon Card-e-Reader", and the only mentioned functionality for it was reading Pokémon TCG cards.2001 e3 -- POKéMON CARD-E-READER Fact Sheet
==Images==
Card e Reader.png|The original Japanese Card e Reader
Card e Reader_Plus.png|The Japanese Card e Reader +
E Reader.png|English language e-Reader, based on the Japanese Card e Reader +
==References==
Category:Nintendo
Category:Electronic devices
Category:Peripherals
de:Nintendo e-Reader
es:Nintendo e-Reader
fr:E-Reader
it:E-Reader
ja:カードeリーダー
zh:E卡刷卡器