Up in Da Club Nintendo

Greg Johnson / Dec 18th, 2014 No Comments

With the holidays around the corner, and most gifts already purchased, the time has come for gamers to treat themselves with some gifts of their own. While PlayStation fans enjoy PlayStation Plus and Xbox owners take pride in Games for Gold, Nintendo junkies have always had a club to call their own. Club Nintendo is part survey machine, part reward system for brand loyalty.

Gamers who purchased Nintendo products can log into their Club Nintendo account and register a special code found on the packaging. This rewards Nintendo’s loyal customers with points that can be spent to purchase classic games and Nintendo swag.

The True Use of Mario’s Coins

Points in Club Nintendo are represented as coins, which can be redeemed for download codes good for 3DS, Wii and Wii U games, as well as t-shirts, hats and other goodies.

Gamers are able to earn a certain number of coins by registering and filling out a general survey. These surveys are short and basic. Questions mainly consist of “why did you buy our game” and the option to complete follow-up surveys for bonus points. Linking up any Nintendo consoles with a Club Nintendo account will result in higher yields from digital purchases and thus, more opportunities for cashing in coins via Club Nintendo.

Balloon Battle is your past, your present and your future. Accept it.

The selection of items routinely rotates, with new selections coming in mid-month. While most games offered are classic retro titles, some are newer, albeit less well known, releases that still provide great options for redeeming points. Most of the swag consists of clothing items, but posters and house decorations also appear on occasion. Some of the posters are simple ad-like posters, but others are more detailed, awe-inspiring pieces of video game artwork.

Mewtwo Strikes Back

One of the more interesting deals to be offered by Club Nintendo is related to registering both a Wii U and 3DS version of Super Smash Bros. The promotion not only earns players the coinage necessary for both games, but also two free soundtrack CDs that feature songs from the Smash Bros. franchise.

Additionally, players who own both versions of the game will get a code to download Mewtwo as a playable character when he becomes available. While both of these offers can’t be cashed in until early next year, the time to take part of this promotion is now. It expires Jan. 15.

Don’t worry, no tears of unfathomable sadness will be bringing ANYONE back to life.

While a CD and free character seem paltry to some, gamers can take advantage of this promotion and earn Club Nintendo coins for both versions of the game. This inclusion of a cross-platform promotion also bodes well for the future of Club Nintendo as the publisher prepares to release Majora’s Mask for 3DS and the upcoming Zelda game for Wii U.

Also of note are the various 3DS promotions that have existed in the past, relating directly to specific games, such as with the free copy of Pokemon X or Y when registering a Nintendo portable system back in early 2013. One more recently was of course the Mario Kart 8 promotion in which registering gamers were treated to a choice of one game from a list of four, in a very anticipated and well received pseudo “buy 1 get 1 free” style deal.

Nintendo Lassos The Moon

For Nintendo, Club Nintendo is an information-gathering system that polls players to see what marketing strategies are working, what games are selling, and more importantly, why. However, what could simply be a very impersonal survey scheme with “potential” for compensation is instead a fun, interactive experience. It gives parents, kids and all Waluigi admirers a chance to be rewarded by Nintendo and have an opportunity to have their voices heard.

*Cue Nostalgia*

While the 3DS and Wii U both had rocky receptions at launch, Nintendo has found ways to integrate a large fan base in a fun way and give a hat-tip to longtime players. Come this holiday season, whether you enjoy the occasional RPG or are simply in it for the notorious plumbing brothers, dig up all those old boxes and redeem those codes.