Nintendo's Latest Hanafuda Deck Is Perhaps Its Most Eye-Catching Yet

WANTS!

Definitely want these, but...that packaging makes it look like they're of the same quality as their cheaper Miyako no Hana decks rather than the mid-level quality of their Tengu deck like the old Club Nintendo deck was.
Considering you can get a top-quality Daitouryou set for similar price, I think I'll get this later on.

Must...have

In case you were asking:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n09/mariohanafuda/index.html
a)there is a Yoshi's Island set
b)there is a set with Yoshi, Baby Yoshi and... Birdo! (GCN era, here we come!)
c)the "princesses" are: Peach, Rosalinda, Daisy and ...Toadette?!?!?!?!?!
d)as @NintyMan noticed, there is also a Donkey Kong Country set
e)yes, there is a Luigi's Mansion set!
f)there is also a set with Bowser, Bowser Jr. and the Koopalings (yuppy!)
If you want to know how to play:
http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n09/hana-kabu_games/index.html

Must have em......But not right now.........

While I do love me some Super Mario, I'd love it if other IP's like Kirby, Fire Emblem, Metroid and Star Fox were there as well.

Koi Koi is actually a very easy game to learn. I taught myself in maybe an hour by reading over the rules, printing a list of matching cards, and downloading a free Koi Koi hanafuda game on my phone.

Yeah Hanafude is pretty easy. Just the scoring is a little bit harder.

Luigi's Mansion set has Polterpup
I NEED THESE

@AVahne Well, they have a Napoleon Mario on the box, so perhaps they are aiming at a certain quality, though this might just be a reference to the past of Nintendo

One of my friends and I played after I got the Club Nintendo deck. These are very cool, and even better than the original deck. I haven't played in forever, and do want these, but not now. Maybe at some point though.

They do look pretty.

I like this. The cards have the club nintendo japan exclusive hanafuda 3ds theme design, which I am using right now because it's awesome <3

Also, I never really understood hanafuda either. But enjoyed it playing it on club house games on the DS.

@nintendolife you know you don't have to make your audience sound so stupid. Its not like there aren't dozens of online tutorials on how to play hanafuda, and its not even an incredibly difficult game to learn.

I wonder why they don't even try to sell some of these over in the US. The fact that it has Mario and the gang on them makes me think it would at least do ok.

That's no moon

Now I want a video of the Nintendo Life team attempting to play Koi Koi. Any plans for this in the future, guys?

I hope NOA does add this for Americas catalog. My worry for the new rewards program (for america) is that NOA didn't bother to take notes from club Nintendo when their rewards got more bad over the years in Elite status and the catalog itself . 2009- mario hat....which was amazing. 2010- mario and friends statue,best year for Americas elite status. 2011- pin batch set which I liked but others felt it was a massive downgrade. 2012......3 pieces of paper(posters) or a deck of cards...now I will say the deck of cards looked cool but...its cards. 2013- Majoras mask soundtrack- really good in my opinion but other countries HAD cds being offered on their CN catalog. 2014- ......a download code for a game.....really NOA that's pathetic.
But yeahhh.... NOA I HOPE you took notes from what other countries had to offer... please don't disappoint your fans.

You guys should try and learn to play koi-koi. It's really fun IMO.

So... how exactly do you play with Hanafuda cards? I never really understood their function.

@Damo I'm not Tsuchinoko, but I think it's your tagline and how one interprets what "we" means. If you're including the readers, then there will be people who are offended. If it's just the NL staff, not at all, but perhaps no misunderstanding would arise if it said "If only the staff knew how to play" or something. I guess.

I hope it's tied to their new club, I always wanted one of those sets just for the novelty.

@Mister_Wu
That Napolean outfit is probably just a reference, yeah. The box it comes in is what makes me think it's of lower quality, since it looks like the box the Miyako no Hana decks come in.

@Gridatttack - I don't know about the Japan Club Nintendo 3DS theme, but the recent UK Club Nintendo 3DS theme was based on an older Mario Hanafuda deck.

Similarly, the forthcoming Japanese 3DS cover plate features the "Shy Boo" pampas card from the older deck, rather than the new "Scary Boo" design shown above.

But yes, both deck designs are awesome. And yes, DS Clubhouse Games (aka "42 All-Time Classics" over here) does contain Koi-Koi, complete with illustrated instructions.

Just noticed that this new deck does in fact provide the design for the opposite (ie top) side of the forthcoming Hanafuda 3DS plates.

@ChristopherM The club nintendo one from japan has this more vivid design with mario characters, and the club nintendo logo here and there. Pretty awesome.

Too bad it didn't come out in NOA. I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

Heres a video of it:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8SAOq9qGWk

I think I won't change it, due to how much I like it <3
Not even all the custom themes I have seen.

Gridatttack - Thanks for the video link. Yes that's the same theme that I've downloaded via UK Club Nintendo. I agree with you that it's the best theme around by far.

Although the art styles are similar, the cards in that theme are actually lifted from the old Club Nintendo "Mario" Hanafuda deck, and not the new deck shown above.

Some of the older cards are illustrated at:
http://www.hanafuda.co.uk/2013/04/nintendo-hanafuda-cards/

I just wanted to point out that anybody who wants to buy cards that closely match the Club Nintendo 3DS theme might prefer to track down a copy of the older deck.

(NB - Unlike the new deck, the old deck includes many traditional Hanafuda designs that do not feature Mushroom Kingdom denizens)

@Gridattack @ChristopherM
CStallion at Kotaku posted the full Club Nintendo deck:
https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/1483771455768184976.png
They are more classical, with the Mario characters mainly featuring in the special cards.

Mister_Wu - Thanks. That's the one

@ChristopherM Actaully, if you look carefully ( http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n09/mariohanafuda/index.html in case you missed it before), the designs of the cards of the new deck are still the traditional Hanafuda ones - look at the plants in the background, at the ribbons and at the colors used - only with this deck they went much more creative!

Mister_Wu - Yes, the new deck remains a recognisable Hanafuda deck at heart.

Some might find the older, less adorned deck to be more playable. However, anybody who prefers every card to be customised should certainly be looking at the newer deck (assuming of course that the quality of manufacture is comparable).

For those worried about the quality, I bought the Pokemon hanafuda when I lived there and they are very high quality. The packaging in the picture is the standard packaging for hanafuda. The inner paper package is meant to be tossed and the cards are stored in the plastic case.

As for learning to play, I would suggest koi koi as a starting point. It's fairly easy to learn.

Clubhouse Games for the DS (which can be found at Gamestop for less than $5) has a Koi-Koi game which was my first introduction into the world of Hanafuda. Anyone wanting a crash course on how the game works could do much worse than CHG. (Not to mention, CHG is a terrific title for its download play, packing a TON of replay value if you have a fellow board game lover to play with.)