Club Nintendo is No More

[Steven Bogos]

Club Nintendo is No More

There's still no word on what Nintendo intends to replace the now-defunct rewards program with.

Earlier in the year, Nintendo surprised its loyal fans by announcing that Club Nintendo, it's long-standing rewards program, would be officially closed its doors [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/139531-Nintendo-To-End-Club-Nintendo-Loyalty-Program], all Club Nintendo accounts have been deleted, and all unspent stars have returned to whence they came.

What's a little bit disappointing is despite the closure, there is still no word on what will be replacing it. Back when Nintendo first announced the end of Club Nintendo, it stated that something else would be coming along, and we had all assumed that that "something else" would be ready by the time Club Nintendo closed its doors.

"Our heartfelt thanks to our members for your support over the years. Please stay tuned for more information on our new loyalty program," wrote Nintendo on the official Club Nintendo [https://club.nintendo.com//] website.

It also reminded fans that all download codes redeemed from Club Nintendo will expire on July 31, 2015, so please be sure to download your game from the Nintendo eShop before that date, and that all physical rewards will be shipped out by the end of September.

It's a shame to see the club go. While the rewards were not exactly spectacular, it was always nice to get some little trinket as a reward for buying a bunch of games.

Source: Nintendo [https://club.nintendo.com//]

Permalink

 

[Aerosteam]

As someone who lives in the UK, nothing of value was lost.

[small](Jesus fuck the UK store sucked.)[/small]

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Funny thing was, I was about to sign up for it right when the end was announced...

 

[KaosuHamoni]

As someone who lives in the UK, nothing of value was lost.

[small](Jesus fuck the UK store sucked.)[/small]

The UK store still exists, and will do until September 30th

Still shit though.

 

[Elementary - Dear Watson]

As someone who lives in the UK, nothing of value was lost.

[small](Jesus fuck the UK store sucked.)[/small]

The UK store still exists, and will do until September 30th

Still shit though.

Agree with you two. When I got my DS I was always sticking my points in... gathered a load, looked at the prizes...

Dafuq? Rubbish! Who want's that stuff?

 

[JayRPG]

I have no idea why the UK store has such high prices.

We basically get the exact same rewards in Australia as the UK (you may say they are shit, but it's the things that 'sell out' quick that you really want, the stuff that is always there is always there for a reason) but they are at least 150% of the cost.

Take the recently added Captain Toad figurine lamp, it's 4000 stars on the AU catalogue, 6000 stars on the UK one. In some cases the prices are more than double, there are kirby triple deluxe soundtracks on the UK store at the moment for 2000 stars - they were only 800 stars when they went up on the Aus catalogue a few months ago.

The only reason I can think of is because you get more stars per code in the UK (all of Europe actually), it's 250 stars per game/code, where as in Australia we only get 200 stars per code but that still doesn't explain why there is such a huge inflation, you are after all only getting 25% more stars but are paying 50%-150% for rewards.

On a tangent, I've got some awesome stuff from club Nintendo, Majora's Mask lamp, Mario Kart 8 badge/pin set, Mario Golf Balls, a couple of soundtracks, a yoshi egg backpack - and there is a lot more to come before it closes down, I got an email about a month ago listing the things that were returning due to popular demand and a bunch of brand new stuff:

Mario baddies eco shopping bag (already added)
Captain toad lamp (already added)
Mario coaster set
Mario kart cup trophies
Luigi's mansion 2 diorama
Legend of Zelda carry case
Club Nintendo game card case (2nd edition)
Kirby's dream blanket
Mario card matching game
Mario kart 8 soundtrack
Club nintendo goodbye coin

 

[Kaimax]

As someone who lives in the UK, nothing of value was lost.

[small](Jesus fuck the UK store sucked.)[/small]

The UK store still exists, and will do until September 30th

Still shit though.

Agree with you two. When I got my DS I was always sticking my points in... gathered a load, looked at the prizes...

Dafuq? Rubbish! Who want's that stuff?

The Games are also "shit", in which the same game gets rotated constantly rather than adding newer games for the Virtual console. The times I've waited for something not Zelda and Metroid (which I already have)

 

[The Great JT]

Should have kept it as the Nintendo Fun Club.

No but seriously, ah well. All good things must come to an end, I suppose.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I gather what points I had (I came in soo LATE into the reward scheme and I wish I did this from the start) and grap what meanger rewards I got from them (a 3DS pouch, a Mario CD and some retro game). Wish the stuff were cooler and had lesser point to gather.

 

[ccggenius12]

I used the program ending as an excuse to impulse buy some games to flesh out my collection. Slammed everything up and once, and got a Majora's Mask bag. Looked like a mailer bag on the site, it's more like a tote bag that closes with velcro and has a flap that goes over all of that for some reason. Meh, beats posters and post cards.
Mostly I'm just sad that all of the cool digital titles are on the Wii U and not the 3DS. I'm having a hard time believing that Super Nintendo games are too graphics intensive to work on the handheld.

 

[FPLOON]

Well, it's a good think my 3DS case from Club Nintendo came in so that I have something to remember them by...

Other than that, the rest of the coins went into Super Mario Land... That game's shorter than I thought...

 

[Grabehn]

I was VERY confused with the title of this one, since "Club Nintendo" is the name of the Nintendo magazine here, which is still going and pretty strong to date, so I thought it had suddenly died.

The service was never available here, so it's actually the first time I hear about it.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

I was VERY confused with the title of this one, since "Club Nintendo" is the name of the Nintendo magazine here, which is still going and pretty strong to date

I only ever had access to Nintendo Power, which has been discontinued for some time...

 

[Jake Martinez]

I have no idea why the UK store has such high prices.

We basically get the exact same rewards in Australia as the UK (you may say they are shit, but it's the things that 'sell out' quick that you really want, the stuff that is always there is always there for a reason) but they are at least 150% of the cost.

Take the recently added Captain Toad figurine lamp, it's 4000 stars on the AU catalogue, 6000 stars on the UK one. In some cases the prices are more than double, there are kirby triple deluxe soundtracks on the UK store at the moment for 2000 stars - they were only 800 stars when they went up on the Aus catalogue a few months ago.

The only reason I can think of is because you get more stars per code in the UK (all of Europe actually), it's 250 stars per game/code, where as in Australia we only get 200 stars per code but that still doesn't explain why there is such a huge inflation, you are after all only getting 25% more stars but are paying 50%-150% for rewards.

Maybe it's because the EU has no free trade agreement with Japan (they are currently negotiating one) but Australia has a free trade agreement with Japan?

What does this mean? No free trade agreement means your Club Nintendo stuff is subject to import duty taxes and vat taxes. If they aren't charging you separately for this, then it's being hidden in the redemption stars. So basically, it's the EU's fault, not Nintendo.

That being said, import taxes and the such shouldn't represent an additional 50% in cost. It could also be shipping/distribution.

Games also cost more in Australia than they do in the UK, so maybe they are pro-rating the cost based on the dollars spent instead of adjusting the stars being granted to reflect this?

Anyway, just some speculation

 

[Hero of Lime]

Why is Toad so happy while Mario mourns?!

I'll miss Club Nintendo, it gave me many great posters, several of which I have on my wall right now. Plus I got Animal Crossing New Leaf for free in the final sale, that was pretty awesome.

While the rewards were good in the US compared to Europe looking at the comments here, Japan's rewards always trumped everyone else by a huge margin.