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Late last year Nintendo released Collectible Badge Centre in Japan, an app / game for the 3DS that allows you to 'win' badges that you can then pin and arrange on your HOME screen. It's rather like an addition to themes, and we shared our impressions at the time; it's now confirmed to be heading to Europe on 13th November, with the new name of Nintendo Badge Arcade.

Though free to download, this app makes its money by tempting you to pay for plays of its simple crane game, in which you try and grab the badges you want across various branded sets; you also try and win a theme to match the badges. Each day you get five free tries of a Practice game in which you may be able to win plays in the real thing, but otherwise you need to pay £0.90 / €1.00 for five plays of the crane.

We're just hopeful the crane isn't like those dodgy versions found in real life arcades, conveniently dropping items just before the pay-out...

We're sure it won't be that cynical, though not all will readily embrace the free-to-play model. Plenty of 3DS owners might, however, and the option to spruce up HOME screens further is certainly tempting.

You can see a trailer below, and we'll keep an eye out for a North American release date.