Finally, North America Joins the Club
North American gamers are generally spoiled when it comes to release dates, as we always seem to get products first, or close to it. But Nintendo burst that bubble when years went by with no Club Nintendo in our sights. Finally, after Japan, Europe, Australia and even South Africa, Club Nintendo opened its doors to North America.
Most North American gamers probably hadn’t heard of Club Nintendo until somewhat recently, but you should thank the hardcore Nintendo fanatics that constantly begged and pleaded for the service. It really is because of strong fan reaction that we have the service in the first place. Club Nintendo started in Japan as a reward system for those consumers loyal to the Nintendo brand. Members are rewarded “Stars,” in Japan or “Coins” in North America, that you use to purchase “Rewards.”
Before any coins can be earned, you must create a Club Nintendo account on Nintendo.com. Luckily, if you previously had a “My Nintendo” account, you can easily sign in and your information will not need to be reentered. If not, signing up is easy and only takes a few minutes. Once you’re ready, it’s time to beginning earning some coins. Earning coins can be done in three ways:
* Register a Wii or Nintendo DS game and complete a quick survey.
* Indicate your intent to buy a game and you'll earn 10 extra Coins after you buy it, register it and complete the survey.
* Register a Nintendo game and complete a quick survey within 4 weeks of its launch and earn an additional 10 Coins!
Coins are unfortunately not given based on how many products you register, but how many surveys you take based on those products. Luckily these surveys are quick and easy to do. Now you can begin registering some of your Nintendo products, which is simply done by entering the PIN or Serial Number given with your software or hardware.
Once you register the product onto Club Nintendo, a survey will pop up in the “To-Do” section on the main page. By clicking on the survey, you’ll answer less than 10 questions about your purchase. As of now, the surveys are the same exact questions for any product you register. After you have completed the survey, you will see your Current Balance with a newly deposited amount of coins. Members are rewarded coins in different amounts, based on what type of product you registered.
The breakdown is as follows:
* Wii games = 50 Coins
* Nintendo DS games = 30 Coins
* Wii Shop Channel games/Wii Channels = 10 Coins
By filling out surveys, indicating your intent to buy a game, and filling out surveys close to the title’s release date, Club Nintendo gives you plenty of opportunities to increase your Coin Balance. However your Coin Balance isn’t just important for purchasing Rewards. Club Nintendo members can gain “Elite Status” by earning enough coins to hit one of the two benchmarks within a Club Nintendo year. The Club Nintendo year starts on July 1 and ends on June 30. A Gold Status is achieved by having 300 or more coins. A Platinum Status is achieved by having 600 or more coins. Members who hit either of these benchmarks by the end of the Club Nintendo year will be given a special reward. In Japan, such rewards have included a Super Mario Galaxy OST, or a new Super Famicom controller developed for use on the Wii.
At any time, you are able to view what Rewards you can redeem with your coins, but special gift rewards given to Gold and Platinum members are kept secret. Currently, the Rewards selection is small and includes Nintendo themed playing cards for 500 coins, a Nintendo DS Game Rack for 600 coins, and an exclusive Club Nintendo DS title, “Game & Watch Collection,” for 800 coins. Out of the 11 rewards currently available, only 4 are less than 600 points, which is a little surprising. I’m fairly confident however that the Reward section will update several times each Club Nintendo year, with array of great prizes.
The Club Nintendo website is less than a week old, and some kinks are to be expected. However the launch was more of a catastrophe, plagued with login errors, registration trouble, coin misinformation displayed and so on. As of now, the website seems to be running much better, as traffic has inevitably died down since launch, but it’s still not perfect.
I’m still continuously being logged off or told my username/ password isn’t correct. None of my WiiWare or Virtual Console titles had surveys to accompany them, many of which are first-party Nintendo titles. It’s unknown if Nintendo plans to go back and allow users to earn points on other past purchases, or if we are just looking to the future from here on out. It’s also unclear if you lose your Gold or Platinum status if you spend your hard-earned Coins. It would be awful to spend your Coins on a 600-point prize, at the expense of your Platinum status, and not getting that Special Reward at the end of the Club Nintendo year.
The website is setup nicely with tabs clearly indicating where to go to find what you’re looking for. But some information doesn’t seem to fit within those tabs. In order to view products you’ve registered that weren’t accompanied by surveys, you have to click on the “My Account Settings” tab, which seems pretty counter intuitive to the old My Nintendo page.
It’s not logical to review a service based off of a website’s debut. The site can only get better, and I’m sure the bugs are being worked on as we speak. For whatever the website lacks, the service makes up for with its free exclusive Rewards, available just for showing your devotion to Nintendo. As a fan, it is nice to get a little back from a company you give so much to. I’m fairly confident that Club Nintendo will continue to take care of us. As a company Nintendo might be stubborn, but they always come around in the end. So start buying, registering and surveying to get whatever Rewards you so desire. And let us all keep our fingers crossed for the day we might see the Super Famicom controller debut in North America, courtesy of Club Nintendo.
UPDATE: A response about whether your Gold or Platinum status goes away after spending your coins was given by Nintendo of America's Ryan Cardiff:
"Great question. Elite status is based on coins earned within the year, not remaining balance. So as long as you earn 600+ coins within the year, you will be eligible for the special reward. In the meantime, you are free to redeem your coins!"
So there you have it. Thanks Nintendo!
North American gamers are generally spoiled when it comes to release dates, as we always seem to get products first, or close to it. But Nintendo burst that bubble when years went by with no Club Nintendo in our sights. Finally, after Japan, Europe, Australia and even South Africa, Club Nintendo opened its doors to North America.Most North American gamers probably hadn’t heard of Club Nintendo until somewhat recently, but you should thank the hardcore Nintendo fanatics that constantly begged and pleaded for the service. It really is because of strong fan reaction that we have the service in the first place. Club Nintendo started in Japan as a reward system for those consumers loyal to the Nintendo brand. Members are rewarded “Stars,” in Japan or “Coins” in North America, that you use to purchase “Rewards.”
Before any coins can be earned, you must create a Club Nintendo account on Nintendo.com. Luckily, if you previously had a “My Nintendo” account, you can easily sign in and your information will not need to be reentered. If not, signing up is easy and only takes a few minutes. Once you’re ready, it’s time to beginning earning some coins. Earning coins can be done in three ways:
* Register a Wii or Nintendo DS game and complete a quick survey.
* Indicate your intent to buy a game and you'll earn 10 extra Coins after you buy it, register it and complete the survey.
* Register a Nintendo game and complete a quick survey within 4 weeks of its launch and earn an additional 10 Coins!
Coins are unfortunately not given based on how many products you register, but how many surveys you take based on those products. Luckily these surveys are quick and easy to do. Now you can begin registering some of your Nintendo products, which is simply done by entering the PIN or Serial Number given with your software or hardware.
Once you register the product onto Club Nintendo, a survey will pop up in the “To-Do” section on the main page. By clicking on the survey, you’ll answer less than 10 questions about your purchase. As of now, the surveys are the same exact questions for any product you register. After you have completed the survey, you will see your Current Balance with a newly deposited amount of coins. Members are rewarded coins in different amounts, based on what type of product you registered.
The breakdown is as follows:
* Wii games = 50 Coins
* Nintendo DS games = 30 Coins
* Wii Shop Channel games/Wii Channels = 10 Coins
By filling out surveys, indicating your intent to buy a game, and filling out surveys close to the title’s release date, Club Nintendo gives you plenty of opportunities to increase your Coin Balance. However your Coin Balance isn’t just important for purchasing Rewards. Club Nintendo members can gain “Elite Status” by earning enough coins to hit one of the two benchmarks within a Club Nintendo year. The Club Nintendo year starts on July 1 and ends on June 30. A Gold Status is achieved by having 300 or more coins. A Platinum Status is achieved by having 600 or more coins. Members who hit either of these benchmarks by the end of the Club Nintendo year will be given a special reward. In Japan, such rewards have included a Super Mario Galaxy OST, or a new Super Famicom controller developed for use on the Wii.
At any time, you are able to view what Rewards you can redeem with your coins, but special gift rewards given to Gold and Platinum members are kept secret. Currently, the Rewards selection is small and includes Nintendo themed playing cards for 500 coins, a Nintendo DS Game Rack for 600 coins, and an exclusive Club Nintendo DS title, “Game & Watch Collection,” for 800 coins. Out of the 11 rewards currently available, only 4 are less than 600 points, which is a little surprising. I’m fairly confident however that the Reward section will update several times each Club Nintendo year, with array of great prizes.
The Club Nintendo website is less than a week old, and some kinks are to be expected. However the launch was more of a catastrophe, plagued with login errors, registration trouble, coin misinformation displayed and so on. As of now, the website seems to be running much better, as traffic has inevitably died down since launch, but it’s still not perfect.
I’m still continuously being logged off or told my username/ password isn’t correct. None of my WiiWare or Virtual Console titles had surveys to accompany them, many of which are first-party Nintendo titles. It’s unknown if Nintendo plans to go back and allow users to earn points on other past purchases, or if we are just looking to the future from here on out. It’s also unclear if you lose your Gold or Platinum status if you spend your hard-earned Coins. It would be awful to spend your Coins on a 600-point prize, at the expense of your Platinum status, and not getting that Special Reward at the end of the Club Nintendo year.
The website is setup nicely with tabs clearly indicating where to go to find what you’re looking for. But some information doesn’t seem to fit within those tabs. In order to view products you’ve registered that weren’t accompanied by surveys, you have to click on the “My Account Settings” tab, which seems pretty counter intuitive to the old My Nintendo page.
It’s not logical to review a service based off of a website’s debut. The site can only get better, and I’m sure the bugs are being worked on as we speak. For whatever the website lacks, the service makes up for with its free exclusive Rewards, available just for showing your devotion to Nintendo. As a fan, it is nice to get a little back from a company you give so much to. I’m fairly confident that Club Nintendo will continue to take care of us. As a company Nintendo might be stubborn, but they always come around in the end. So start buying, registering and surveying to get whatever Rewards you so desire. And let us all keep our fingers crossed for the day we might see the Super Famicom controller debut in North America, courtesy of Club Nintendo.
UPDATE: A response about whether your Gold or Platinum status goes away after spending your coins was given by Nintendo of America's Ryan Cardiff:
"Great question. Elite status is based on coins earned within the year, not remaining balance. So as long as you earn 600+ coins within the year, you will be eligible for the special reward. In the meantime, you are free to redeem your coins!"
So there you have it. Thanks Nintendo!
1 comment:
If I have an actual coin that has the famous nintendo characters on it, and says "Nintendo DS" on it, is it worth anything? Could I sell it? PLZ tell m. my e-mail is set-chan@live.com
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