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Nintendo DS VIP Pak FAQ FAQ by John Coxon (see Copyright & Credits) Version 0.1 Last updated: 12/02/05 ________ Printing ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ If you want to print this FAQ, it is best to copy it into Microsoft Word or a different word processor and scale down the font. The width of the FAQ means that printing it straight from the internet will render parts unreadable and may lead to one solitary word being put on a line all on its own, thus wasting paper. This FAQ seems to print fine if you're using Mozilla Firefox (available from http://www.mozilla.org/). ___________ 1. Contents ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 1. Contents 2. Revision History 3. Information about the Pak 3.1 The Nintendo DS console 3.2 Super Mario 64 DS 3.3 Metroid Prime: Hunters - First Hunt 3.4 WarioWare: Touched! demo 3.5 Nintendo DS promotional T-shirt 3.6 Nintendo DS promotional sticker and poster 4. Frequently Asked Questions 5. Copyright & Credits ___________________ 2. Revision History ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ 12/02/05 0.1: A lot of speculation and rumours had been flying around GameFAQs about the Nintendo DS VIP Pak, as well as a lot of questions concerning it. I have written this FAQ to try and reduce the amount of questions and rumours on the message boards. ____________________________ 3. Information about the Pak ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ The Nintendo DS VIP Pak was a special offer by Nintendo of Europe at the end of January 2005. It was made available through the Nintendo Stars Catalogue, which is unique to Nintendo of Europe. The Stars Catalogue is a loyalty scheme. A certain line of games in Europe are selected by Nintendo (usually first party products). For each one of these that you buy you receive an amount of stars (typically 250 for a game and 500 for a games console) to redeem online, on the Stars Catalogue. The Nintendo DS VIP Pak was placed on the Nintendo Stars Catalogue at a cost of 1,000 stars plus £129.99 (€189.99 in the res of Europe). As Nintendo of Europe have multiple websites (for different European countries) and also therefore many Stars Catalogues each part of Europe was given a certain amount of Paks, for example the UK and Republic of Ireland were given 3,000 VIP Paks. The VIP Pak consisted of five items: The Nintendo DS console A pre-release version of 'Super Mario 64 DS' 'Metroid Prime: Hunters - First Hunt' A demo of 'WarioWare: Touched!' Nintendo DS promotional T-shirt Nintendo DS promotional sticker and poster ___________________________ 3.1 The Nintendo DS console ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This is, obviously, the main part of the Pak. Posters on the GameFAQs message boards who have received their DS units state that the code on the DS has "EUR" in it - that is to say that the unit is a European unit. Also noted by the gamers on the message boards is that the type of bottom screen (grainy vs. grid) seems to vary randomly. A person from the UK posted to say that theirs was a grid screen (thanks, grey rain cloud) but someone from Sweden (Andy Moogle) has posted to say that his is a grainy screen. So this points to two possible conclusions: either getting either screen is completely random and uncontrollable, or it varies depending on which is your Nintendo of Europe. If you're wondering what the difference is, a post on the GameFAQs message boards or a visit to http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=985&topic=19179298 should point you in the right direction. If you would like to help me find out whether it's random or country-related, please visit http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=985&topic=19239223 _____________________ 3.2 Super Mario 64 DS ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This is a pre-release version of the game, according to Nintendo. What that actually seems to mean is that they've put the USA version of the game (complete with USA stamped on the cartridge) into EUR packaging. This should not affect connectivity - the Nintendo DS is region-free anyway and the game does not require more than one cartridge to play multiplayer. _______________________________________ 3.3 Metroid Prime: Hunters - First Hunt ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This is a demo of 'Metroid Prime: Hunters'. This has been packaged with the first waves of USA DSs and is planned to be included in the European DSs which will be released March 11th. However, the code on the cartridge is USA, and there is a note with the game saying that the game will not work with the final European version. I rang Nintendo UK and asked about this - they said that the USA demo with the Pak (and presumably imports as well) will be fully compatible with the EUR demo in March. The note must therefore mean that the demo will not work with the final 'Metroid Prime: Hunters' which will be released later in 2005. ____________________________ 3.4 WarioWare: Touched! demo ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This demo is an EUR game, but as it does not contain a multiplayer mode, this will not affect anything at all. ___________________________________ 3.5 Nintendo DS promotional T-shirt ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Different people have received different sizes of T-shirt. This may be (like the screen type) random, but also may be age-related. If you have received your Pak, I'd be grateful if you posted shirt size and age at http://boards.gamefaqs.com/gfaqs/genmessage.php?board=985&topic=19239303 to help me find out more about this. ______________________________________________ 3.6 Nintendo DS promotional sticker and poster ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ A poster on the GameFAQs forums (grey rain cloud) has said that their VIP Pak included a sticker and a poster. However, unlike the other bits that they received, this was not mentioned by Nintendo on the list of Pak contents on the Stars Catalogue. I have not seen the sticker or the poster. More details will be posted when I receive my Pak. _____________________________ 4. Frequently Asked Questions ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ Q: Where can I get my VIP Pak from? A: You can't anymore. The limited supply of Paks ran out before the beginning of February. ______________________ 5. Copyright & Credits ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ This FAQ is (c) Copyright 2005 to John Coxon. All contributions by other people are credited next to the text they have written. If there's anything that needs including, typing errors etc. or you just have a question, let me know at john.coxon@gmail.com. You may be able to post this FAQ on your site IF YOU ASK. It should only be at the following sites: - My site, Alpha Centauri ( http://alphacentauri.8k.com/ ) - GameFAQs ( http://www.gamefaqs.com/ ) If this FAQ is being hosted on a different site or if one of the above sites are charging for its use, then please contact me at the e-mail address above. The Nintendo DS and all related stuff is copyright to Nintendo. I am in no way affiliated or friendly with Nintendo, but I do think they rock.