Pokemon Snap Station

Description

Starting in the middle of 1999 Nintendo worked in tandem with Blockbuster Video to run the Pokemon Snap Station promotion. The Snap Station was a childheight arcade unit housing a TV monitor, Gemco card reader, Canon photo printer and a modified Nintendo 64 hooked up to a specialized PCB.Colorful cards featuring Pokemon characters Pikachu, Squirtle, Bulbasaur and Jigglypuff could be purchased at the front desk for 3 dollars and were good for one print each.The stations originally shipped with Pokemon Snap, a photography simulator game, but later Nintendo shipped out optional kits that ran Pokemon Stadium instead. Upon inserting a card, players had the option to either insert their copy of Pokemon Snap or Stadium Blockbuster used this to get more rentals and print out photographs of their own Pokemon or to play the game installed in the Station. Stickers are printed in a postagestamp size and there are 12 stickers on each 4x4 page.The machine has a built in 15 minute timer to regulate gameplay. After the allotted time, the game resets. The PCB is programmed to check if the game inserted is Snap or Stadium. If it is not, the machine will not function. Some Blockbusters bypassed this and converted the unit into a common demo unit for new games becoming available for rental. There is no bypass for the card reader, so once the oneuse cards are used up, the machine will no longer function as a printer. Activation of a card could only be done in a Gemco facility and Blockbusters had no way to make them reusable.The promotion ended in late 2000. Nintendo called some units back, but the majority of them were either trashed or converted into demo stations and disposed of after the N64s retirement. Of the 4500 produced units, very few still exist in working condition or with the accessories required to run the unit. Some employees were given the cabinet as a memento, but some kept them intact with extra cards and stickers. One in such condition is rare to run across and will generally cost a small fortune to purchase, if it is even for sale.

Pokemon Snap Station was produced by Nintendo in 1999.

Nintendo released 106 machines in our database under this trade name, starting in 1970. Nintendo was based in Japan.

Other machines made by Nintendo during the time period Pokemon Snap Station was produced include: Super Soccer, Super Mario World, Mario's Open Golf, Dr. Mario - Playchoice, Nintendo Super System, Himshou Goran Pocket Monster, Pokemon, F-Zero AX, Super Mario Fushigi No Korokoro Party 2, and Donkey Kong Banana Kingdom