Sony had a screwy way to get the free games after the PSN mess, Nintendo's got this weirdness, I wonder how it would work if there were anything free on 360?

It's actually kind of understandable. They didn't want to figure out a way to put something in the store that some people could see but others couldn't based on nebulous criteria, so they just added the appropriate titles to every account that existed within the Ambassador period; what Patrick's pictures don't show is that you're "redownloading" games the system says you've already purchased. Essentially, as far as the store is concerned, they don't need to sell these items because everyone (who is entitled to them) has already bought them. It's just up to you to put them on your 3DS. They certainly could have advertised it better, or they could have had them all stacked together in one download. Or if they're going to issue updates for them later anyway, they could have had downloadable "vouchers" that were available for free in the store within the Ambassador period then pulled out when the period ended, which could then be updated into full games when they were (more or less) ready for release on September 1st.

Thanks for the heads up.

Wow, that really is a giant pain in the ass. Gonna send this to all my 3DS-owning buds. 
 
Also:
@OriginalGman said:

Jeff is dead fucking wrong. As biased as I am towards 3D Zelda games, I love the classic ones just fine too. But any game that requires you to stumble through a dark cave BEFORE you find the damn candle that will illuminate it could never best Majora's unique time travel mechanic and crazy-ass characters. "I am error" does not beat a hand sticking out of a toilet asking you for something to wipe with.

People may have had trouble with Majora's Mask the first time they played it, but it still gives you some fucking context about what's going on and what you need to do, and it is totally beatable without a guide. The first Zelda gives you little direction, but you can do the dungeons in any order so long as you have a few items. Zelda II is like a pinata at a birthday party, except you were blindfolded across the street and there's heavy traffic and someone kicked you in the nuts. But hopefully candy will still come out.

It seems like they are up in Europe now too. I just got the 10 games added to my downloaded list.

Zelda 2 is the only "real" Zelda game I´ve never played for a significant time.. guess the sidescroller thing just put me off. Anyway, I can absolutely support any claim that states "X Zelda-title  is waay better than Majora´s Mask", because MM was kinda crappy (I hate games with a time limit).
 
Oh and: Free games. Get em.

So how about that internet eh, Nintendo? Don't think it'll stay forever?

Stop making half-assed services already.

Downloaded them this morning, took about 10 mins tops (even on my slow ass work connection). Are you saying its hard Patrick? I understand that people would rather have a menu in the E-Shop but how do you hide that from users who are not part of the program? People get so wound up over nothing, i bet the same people complaining are the ones who thought the PS3 welcome back thing wasnt clear enough too...

@Katkillad said:

So many crybabies. "Wahhhhh it took 15 extra seconds inbetween each download... of my FREE games, thanks for nothing Nintendo."

Nintendo has never been known for their ease of use for any of their online software so I don't know why anyone is surprised.

Lmfao are you fucking stupid? I paid 50 bucks for these lousy snes games that I already own. I don't even need to explain why :|

That's funny...because I use my Gameboy Micro to play these same games...quickly and easily.

Anyone who said you cannot save your games is an idiot.

@garnsr said:

Sony had a screwy way to get the free games after the PSN mess, Nintendo's got this weirdness, I wonder how it would work if there were anything free on 360?

They made a couple of games free because of XBL downtime before, and it was a simple case of going and downloading them.

I wouldn't say that this is a particularly bad system, but it's not as easy as it should be. It's another reminder of how far behind Nintendo are when it comes to online content.

What a stupid way of doing it

Yoshi is fucking terrible.  Why isn't this Tetris Attack. They should release Tetris Attack again.

It's actually kind of understandable. They didn't want to figure out a way to put something in the store that some people could see but others couldn't based on nebulous criteria, so they just added the appropriate titles to every account that existed within the Ambassador period; what Patrick's pictures don't show is that you're "redownloading" games the system says you've already purchased. Essentially, as far as the store is concerned, they don't need to sell these items because everyone (who is entitled to them) has already bought them. It's just up to you to put them on your 3DS. They certainly could have advertised it better, or they could have had them all stacked together in one download. Or if they're going to issue updates for them later anyway, they could have had downloadable "vouchers" that were available for free in the store within the Ambassador period then pulled out when the period ended, which could then be updated into full games when they were (more or less) ready for release on September 1st.

thank for this

Can't say I found it to be annoying to download. Great ports!

Yay! UK user who didn't log in during the "Ambassador" period but still got my ambassador games :) Good versions of classics for free = Win.

They were not hard to acquire, however after the fact I wonder why I bothered.

They look horrible on the tiny 3DS screen. Waste of time, I'll never play them.

Yes the downloading method is a pain in the ....

Come on Nintendo your better then that.