Nintendo Badge Arcade Launches in North America

3DS Home Menu looking drab?  Nintendo Badge Arcade is here to help.

If you’ve ever wanted to spend real money on sprucing up your 3DS Home Menu with a variety of Nintendo characters and iconography, then go ahead and download the new Nintendo Badge Arcade.  While gamers overseas have been enjoying the title for months, the application is finally available for North American audiences.

The game involves spending real money ($1 for 5 tries) on in-game crane machines that give you a chance to acquire badges- icons to place on your Home Menu.  These range from things like Mario sprites to Happy Home Designer furniture, and there are even replacement icons for packed-in software (a camera icon replacement has Mario leaning against the orange image).

Of course, you start with five free tries to unlock a few Mario sprites, and the Pink Rabbit mascot promises that more free tries will be available down the line (if you pay attention to your notifications), so even if you’re not the type to drop dollars on aesthetic collectibles, then you can still make your menus crowded.

I managed to nab four sprites on my free go, and will probably check in whenever free plays are available, especially when the selection grows to include Splatoon badges (as promised by the game’s title screen).

Nintendo Badge Center is available now for free download.