News Article

Club Nintendo Comes To North America

Posted Tue, 16 Dec 2008 by Corbie Dillard

Club Nintendo is here!

Club Nintendo is here!

Well it's good news for North American Nintendo fans as the company has just announced the North American launch of Club Nintendo. The official Club Nintendo site is now up and you can surf over there to register all of your Nintendo goodies and take part in surveys that will earn you special coins that can be used to purchased various rewards. If you already have a My Nintendo account, you can even transfer all of your previously registered items to your new Club Nintendo account.

Club Nintendo Offers Special Membership for Fans

Starting today, Nintendo welcomes its North American fans to Club Nintendo™, a special club that rewards members for registering Nintendo products and completing surveys. Nintendo fans can sign up by visiting Club.Nintendo.com. After joining, fans can register select Nintendo hardware and Nintendo-published games in exchange for Nintendo Coins, which can then be redeemed for limited-edition Nintendo rewards available only to Club Nintendo members.

“Club Nintendo gives fans what they want – access to exclusive rewards for their loyalty to our brand and our products,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America Inc.’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “We’re offering some unique items as a way to say thanks for their support of Nintendo.”

Once they become Club Nintendo members, Nintendo fans and former My Nintendo members can create a profile and register select Nintendo products on the site by inputting a product serial ID (a list of compatible products is posted on the site). The user is then asked to complete a survey about the product. Coins are awarded once surveys are complete. That’s when the fun begins. Some of the exclusive rewards include the Game & Watch™ Collection for the Nintendo DS™ and a set of traditional Hanafuda cards printed with Nintendo characters.

Customers who purchase a new Wii™ or Nintendo DS™ system can register the product with Club Nintendo and complete a survey to extend the product warranty. Club Nintendo members can reach Gold and Platinum status by collecting a certain amount of Coins each year. Gold and Platinum members will be eligible to receive exclusive rewards. As members, fans can also sign up for personalized newsletters to learn about upcoming products that best match their interests.

ABOUT COINS
There are three easy ways to earn Coins!

1. Register a Wii or Nintendo DS game and complete a quick survey.
Wii games = 50 Coins
Nintendo DS games = 30 Coins
Wii Shop Channel games/Wii Channels = 10 Coins

2. Indicate your intent to buy a game and you'll earn 10 extra Coins after you buy it, register it and complete the survey.

3. Register a Nintendo game and complete a quick survey within 4 weeks of its launch and earn an additional 10 Coins!

The more games you register and surveys you complete, the more Coins you earn! Please note that not all games can be registered and not all registered games will qualify for a survey.

Below is a listing of some of the many rewards that can be earned in Club Nintendo. More prizes are expected to be added all the time.

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Tags: WiiWare, Press Releases.

User Comments

gameking23

1. gameking23 United States 16 Dec 2008, 19:35 GMT

Ya can not wait!

markyvigoroth

2. MarkyVigoroth Puerto Rico 16 Dec 2008, 19:39 GMT

I might as well save up for other things.

slambert215

3. slambert215 United States 16 Dec 2008, 19:47 GMT

WOOT! I'm signing up now!

smaman

4. SmaMan United States 16 Dec 2008, 19:47 GMT

Awesome! So this is what Nintendo said would be replacing the NSider Forums!

wiiloveitonline

5. Wiiloveit United Kingdom 16 Dec 2008, 19:52 GMT

You got the Game & Watch collection? YOU BAST-

OMG and you got hanafuda cards drool

Anyway - who's going to be able to pay for them at that price?

smaman

6. SmaMan United States 16 Dec 2008, 19:54 GMT

Well...I have a whole library of Gamecube games so that means...looks up the page whaa?!?! They don't give coins for Gamecube games?!?! Waaaaaaa!! :((

cheezy

7. Cheezy United States 16 Dec 2008, 19:59 GMT

FINALLY! OK, signed up. I alreasy imported a Club Nintendo Stylus Case, Calender, G&W Collection, and Tingles Balloon Fight.

olimar_91

8. Olimar_91 United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:01 GMT

Just ordered the Game & Watch collection. =)

wiiloveitonline

9. Wiiloveit United Kingdom 16 Dec 2008, 20:08 GMT

@Olimar_91: Damn you...
@SmaMan: Well, we've beaten you there: GBA and GC games all work on the UK 'site.

bboy2970

10. bboy2970 United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:13 GMT

THIS IS SO FRUSTRATING!!! Is anyone else having emense trouble logging in and navigating club nintendo in general. I keep trying to log in and all it does is show the little loading circle but the page NEVER loads. If there is a way to fix this, please let me know.

cheezy

11. Cheezy United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:20 GMT

I know, it takes for ever, but it loads eventually.

corbie_dillard

12. Corbie United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:25 GMT

It's really goofy right now. I can't count the number of times I had to log in just to transfer my My Nintendo account over. It's SLOW right now but it just launched so that's to be expected.

slambert215

13. slambert215 United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:32 GMT

@Corbie and BBoy

I just got off the phone with customer service, they said wait and try again later, they are ironing out the kinks

clayfrd

14. Clayfrd United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:32 GMT

I already have enough games to register to get G&WC, but I have to sort some things out with Ninty before I can migrate my My Nintendo account over. Ah, well.

starwolf_uk

15. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 16 Dec 2008, 20:32 GMT

Better selection of gifts, easier to earn points* and the gifts are cheaper than Europe (using 10 coins=50 stars which is the best comparison). Looks like you win this round.
*-I mean surveys and the buying within 4 weeks...if Wiiware counts for the latter oh boy...

bboy2970

16. bboy2970 United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:34 GMT

I guess i have to wait then. BTW, does all the wii and ds software that i registered in the past count for coins or not?

slambert215

17. slambert215 United States 16 Dec 2008, 20:55 GMT

IDK, but MY ACCOUNT IS WORKING NOW WOOO!

clayfrd

18. Clayfrd United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:00 GMT

Screw it. I'm just going to make a new account. I won't get credited for my DLed games, but so what? I've already figured out that I have enough eligible games to get G&WC. Fun.

Scratch that. I'll wait. They found out my address has already been used.

shadx

19. Shadx Canada 16 Dec 2008, 21:00 GMT

Neat! I'm signing up right now. It's going pretty fast for me right now. I have an uncle who works with Nintendo, I got a free GCN and Melee because of it (that was before Wii came out, I got my Wii from Air miles).

Wonder If I'll get free coins? Just kidding.

wiiloveitonline

20. Wiiloveit United Kingdom 16 Dec 2008, 21:02 GMT

@Starwolf: We've had a survey in the past (or at least... I did. Got me 50 stars, it did), and WiiWare compatibility is coming to the UK stars catalogue soon as well - providing you linked your Wii Shop Account.

ness1

21. ness Germany 16 Dec 2008, 21:07 GMT

Wow @ the Game & Watch Collection and the Hanafuda Cards. Hopefully we in Europe also get this.

vherub

22. vherub United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:12 GMT

waiting for something awesome like the zelda gamecube disc they had a while back

koto

23. Koto United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:14 GMT

MUST GET HANAFUDA CARDS!!!!

nintendude92

24. Nintendude92 United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:25 GMT

G&W collection is only three classic G&W games.

I have almost all of the keychains. :9

This is great though, I'll just be saving my coins for other things.

shadows262

25. shadows262 United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:56 GMT

GASP
NEED-GAME-AND-WATCH-COLLECTION!!!!!

cheezy

26. Cheezy United States 16 Dec 2008, 21:58 GMT

Wait! Why can't I sign in? IT WON"T LET ME!! GRRR!! Does this have to do with the kinks on the site right now? It let me before.

ferret75

27. Ferret75 United States 16 Dec 2008, 22:00 GMT

Cheezy, it's apparently site traffic.
I had your problem, but after trying 5 times in a row, it let me in.

cheezy

28. Cheezy United States 16 Dec 2008, 22:06 GMT

Ahh, good. I'm relieved now. Thanks. Yeah it works sometimes.

luigison

29. Luigison United States 16 Dec 2008, 22:11 GMT

It'd be nice to see this site or VC Reviews do a run down of the VC/WW games that can get points in Club Nintendo. It'd also be cool to be able to filter games by region and Club Nintendo on the out now page.

kirbycc

30. kirbycc United States 16 Dec 2008, 22:14 GMT

Yeah like Corbie I haven't been able to log in at all even though it said the accounts have transferred.

cheezy

31. Cheezy United States 16 Dec 2008, 22:21 GMT

I'm also having a hard time registering games. It worked once, with Brawl. Bit when I finished the survey it freezed at the end so I have to do it over and it won't work. Some tell me, why?

starwolf_uk

32. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 16 Dec 2008, 22:26 GMT

and WiiWare compatibility is coming to the UK stars catalogue soon as well
It is the same coming soon as the stars for special occasions that were announced just about a year ago. Well all I'll say is at least we have a Club Nintendo. Australaia still doesn't have theirs up and running (it was announced before the American one as well :( )

zbomber

33. ZBomber United States 16 Dec 2008, 23:34 GMT

How to do I link my wii and my nintendo account together? And also will the games I downloaded on VC in the past count towards this? Thanks

EDIT - Registered my wii... but do the games I downloaded still count?

starwolf_uk

34. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 17 Dec 2008, 00:36 GMT

Only a few of the games will count (everything released after October 13th it looks like...why that date, who knows). I think you have to re-download the titles to get them to show up on the Club Nintendo website. Just check the website and if they show up where they should it has worked.

If they still don't show up after re-download give it a few hours or a day to update.

clayfrd

35. Clayfrd United States 17 Dec 2008, 00:37 GMT

@Zbomber - They should if you linked your accounts properly. I can't link mine because my My Nintendo account is registered under an email address I no longer have access to.

kawaiipikachu

36. Kawaiipikachu Australia 17 Dec 2008, 00:37 GMT

Just can't wait till Club Nintendo launches here .
As i said in Virtual Console Reviews I would be getting the Hanafuda cards .

supermarioman

37. Supermarioman United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:02 GMT

Bad: Only Nintendo Published games can be registered!!!!Darn!!!!

happydab

38. Happydab United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:08 GMT

Only a select amount of wiiware games wiil give you coins which sucks for me since I have spent over 400 dollars on wiiware games

happydab

39. Happydab United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:09 GMT

Exact list
Wii Shop Channel games and Wii Channels
Alien Crush Returns
Art Style: Cubello
Art Style: Rotohex
Big Kahuna Party
Boingz
Boogerman: A Pick and Flick Adventure
Brain Challenge
Bruiser and Scratch
Digital Champ Battle Boxing
Earthworm Jim
Enduro Racer
Forgotten Worlds
Gradius II Gofer No Yabou
Hockey Allstar Shootout
Home Sweet Home
Mega Man 3
Metal Slug 2
Pit Crew Panic!
Secret of Mana
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Space Harrier
Space Invaders Get Even
Space Invaders: The Original Game
Street Fighter II: Special Champion Edition
Strong Bad Episode 3: Baddest of the Bands
Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3
Strong Bad Episode 5: 8-bit is Enough
Sudoku Challenge!
Target Toss Pro: Bags
Tetris Party
The Incredible Maze
World of Goo
Yummy Yummy Cooking Jam

objection_blaster

40. Objection_Blaster United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:18 GMT

The site is very slow right now but I've worked up to 400 points. I really wish Gamecube games counted. Anyone else think that the pts are set way too high? I know it's free, but when it takes $800 to get G&W...

xsupermariox

41. AlexSays United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:19 GMT

Bad: Only Nintendo Published games can be registered!!!!Darn!!!!

So you want Nintendo to give you stuff for buying games they didn't make?

zbomber

42. ZBomber United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:22 GMT

Thanks. That sucks... I have over 16 games I downloaded and all of them were before that cut off date. Too bad...

phantom58001

43. Phantom5800 United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:25 GMT

Damn I hope they fix this issue. I can't log in because of some stupid error even though it should all be working fine.

kawaiipikachu

44. Kawaiipikachu Australia 17 Dec 2008, 01:33 GMT

Sounds like you got problems .
Hopefully when Club Nintendo launch here it goes a bit smoother .

charlie_the_unicorn

45. Charlie The Unicorn United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:37 GMT

Would Wii Sports count towards coins?

supermarioman

46. Supermarioman United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:52 GMT

No Charlie it dosen't, yes Alexsays definately Nintendo makes everything "Better" for themselves.

zbomber

47. ZBomber United States 17 Dec 2008, 01:53 GMT

Wii sports does not count toward coins. The only games that work are the ones with the registration cards inside the box... for example, for games I have that don't work: Force Unleashed and Guitar Hero III because they arent made by Nintendo and don't have register cards inside.

clayfrd

48. Clayfrd United States 17 Dec 2008, 03:26 GMT

@Supermarioman - What Alex is saying is that Nintendo can't afford to give you free stuff for buying games they don't turn much of a profit on (i.e. third party games). They'd lose too much money.

breaderer

49. breaderer United States 17 Dec 2008, 03:49 GMT

It was working fine for me....Then after I had finished my survey for Paper Mario, it crashed on me. and whenever I put my info in, it wont let me log in!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

nintendo87

50. nintendo87 United States 17 Dec 2008, 04:12 GMT

yea it dont give me my coins it always crashs,on me

mr_cheez

51. Ricardo91 United States 17 Dec 2008, 04:19 GMT

After hearing about all these crash reports, I think I'm just gonna wait until the kinks get worked out. I have 4 weeks after all. lol.

clayfrd

52. Clayfrd United States 17 Dec 2008, 04:31 GMT

@breaderer- Same here, but usually after I retry, it lets me log back in. I've still had no luck with that SPM survey...

hilanderous

53. Hilanderous United States 17 Dec 2008, 05:44 GMT

What are those Hanafuda Cards?

ness1

54. ness Germany 17 Dec 2008, 09:24 GMT

I can remember at the old Nintendo website there was a text behind every VC game you bought, which said that you will get stars for them in the future, but nothing happened in that way =(.

And now i see that America gets this feature =(.
(I know, just for some games.)

@ Hilanderous: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanafuda

A great game, especially on Clubhouse Games/42 All-Time Classics, but it is not easy to understand^^.

thomas

55. Thomas United States 17 Dec 2008, 10:36 GMT

I'm still having difficulty logging in. According to Nintendo, my information has been, in fact, transfered over to their new system. Still though, it's not letting me log in. I'll give it some time and let the system settle down.

tingle

56. Auntman Finland 17 Dec 2008, 13:00 GMT

Some €Beans are still waiting... cough cough

zbomber

57. ZBomber United States 17 Dec 2008, 16:38 GMT

It took me a whole day to register 5 games. :p Whenever I tried to do the Wii Play survey it brought me to the "Whoops!" error page. It seems to be loading a little faster today.

smaman

58. SmaMan United States 17 Dec 2008, 19:34 GMT

It's not working for me! I imported my My Nintendo account to it and whenever I try to log in it keeps telling me to import my account again!

starwolf_uk

59. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 18 Dec 2008, 11:14 GMT

^-Leave it a while or call Nintendo. The system is still getting the kinks kicked out.

@Supermarioman - What Alex is saying is that Nintendo can't afford to give you free stuff for buying games they don't turn much of a profit on (i.e. third party games). They'd lose too much money.
Nintendo does turn a profit on 3rd party games. The publishing liscence costs (I think its about 40% now though it used to be 60%...and they wondered why 3rd parties left in droves with that and expensive media...). In Japan every game comes with the slips.

My guessing behinid reasoning for America is they don't want people having too many coins and claiming too much goods (the Japanese system the points decay in value and a booming second hand market means you probably won't buy new copies).

breaderer

60. breaderer United States 18 Dec 2008, 13:17 GMT

well, its gotten a lot better better for me. I was able to register my whole game collection

ness1

61. ness Germany 18 Dec 2008, 15:18 GMT

@ Starwolf_UK: How can you give a guess about the license costs? Did Nintendo or a 3rd-Party developer say something about it in the past?

mojo25

62. mojo25 United States 18 Dec 2008, 21:31 GMT

I wish you could get Wii Points from this....even 500 would be nice...or even 100 T~T

This is probably because I don't have a Nintendo DS.

starwolf_uk

63. Starwolf_UK United Kingdom 18 Dec 2008, 22:25 GMT

How can you give a guess about the license costs? Did Nintendo or a 3rd-Party developer say something about it in the past?
Nothing official has ever been said but there are unofficial grumblings, like back in the N64 era developers saying they prefered Sony due to lower liscence costs and media costs.

ballkirby1

64. ballkirby1 United States 19 Dec 2008, 12:53 GMT

This thing is really ticking me off. I should have 930 coins but yet I only got 580 coins because it didn't give me any for some games I typed in. and that isn't even counting the Wii Shop channel games I have which I linked to and it didn't work. I have at least 400 coins out of that too.

jangonov

65. jangonov United States 19 Dec 2008, 17:33 GMT

(@ ballkirby1) UGH! YES I know. I have 40 vc and ww games and only a select few worked. I called nintendo and they said that they might make surveys for them in the future. Im out 350 coins becuase of this!

jangonov

66. jangonov United States 19 Dec 2008, 17:39 GMT

And the worst part is, Im 100 pts short of a platinum membership.

cheezy

67. Cheezy United States 20 Dec 2008, 03:06 GMT

OMG jangonov that's the exact same for me. Some games didn't work. I only have 570 when I should have more. WHY!?!?!

jangonov

68. jangonov United States 20 Dec 2008, 20:35 GMT

good news cheezy, I called nintendo today and they said this is all due to higher than expected traffic on the site. They said that their technicians are working on it and it should be solved soon. Im sure that by the time June comes (when the year for nintendo ends and they give away the rewards for the gold and platinum members) this will be fixed

cheezy

69. Cheezy United States 26 Dec 2008, 02:33 GMT

Really? But I already submitted the games. Would they be on the To-Do list later? Hmmmm....

thevortex099

70. Thevortex099 United Kingdom 17 Jan 2009, 10:14 GMT

With Club Nintendo being with the UK for a long time now, I fail to see why we haven't got that Game & Watch collection. Need....now....

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