The incredibly rare McDonald’s DS game eSmart 2.0 has finally been backed up and made available for download online (thanks, Kotaku).
Some context: back in 2010, a number of Nintendo DS’ were distributed to Japanese McDonald’s. They included educational ‘games’ that were solely designed to train employees. The games were never released to the public, as they aren’t really games.
There were two versions of the McDonald’s DS game released, eCrew Development Program, which was made available in 2020. And the other, eSmart 2.0, which has mostly eluded preservationists, has finally been made available online.
Preservationist group Forest of Illusion were the ones who finally managed to track down a copy of the training game. It’s been a struggle for the group to acquire a copy to upload online, as numerous copies have been purchased at auctions by people who were concerned about pirating the game. Forest of Illusion as well as other benefactors were finally able to obtain a copy for a grand total of ¥300,000, or about £1900.
Once the game was checked over and uploaded online, the group sent it to enthusiast Coddy Trentuit. A video showing off eSmart 2.0 was released by Trentuit showing off the glorified training video.
It really isn’t very interesting, as you just go through the various processes you would if you worked at a McDonald’s. But it still is an incredible moment for game preservation history. If you want to know what working at a Japanese McDonald’s was like in 2010, then this is the game for you.
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Featured Image Credit: McDonald’s/ Nintendo