Club Nintendo Update! Good News!

[c0ldb33r]

I hate April Fools.

Is this true?
Is this fake?

I have to wait til tomorrow to find out!

[megasdkirby]

Well, I still believe it's fake. Also, why is it that Nintendo would wait until today...specifically TODAY...to deliver these so called "goodies"?

I should have gotten it too since I have accumulated over 3,100 points AND do not have Wii Party on my registered list.

So I still smell BS here.

[joshnickerson]

If it is an April Fools joke, it's quite an elaborate one, even going so far as to mock up a fake thank you card for the front.

I'm inclined to think it's real, since the thread these images came from was started on March 30th (unless it's an early April Fools gag, those cunning bastards)
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=425925

[joshnickerson]

This isn't an April Fools Day joke, however. Looks like our days of hoarding surveys may be over...

Update to the Club Nintendo FAQ
"In general, Product Registration surveys expire after 7 days, and Post Play surveys expire 120 days after registration. Please review the date listed next to the survey in your To-Do list to ensure that you take the survey before it expires."

Looks like this only applies to recently registered games, so if you've already got a registered backlog, it's probably safe. As long as you don't input the PIN number, you can hold off on taking a survey, but once you enter that PIN number, you'd better not forget to take those surveys (and earn coins!)

I now await the flood of posts saying how much Club Nintendo sucks. :P

[calistarwind]

They actually started shipping them out two days ago. There is also a post on Nintendo Age about it as well. If you are still not convinced I will gladly take a picture of mine. I don't really know what the reason for it is but I received mine yesterday and it came UPS in a 3 pound box from Nintendo in Kirkland, WA.

[maxlords]

If this is actually true......what is the cutoff number? I have 1750 and I've got 250 worth of stuff to register here...should I get it in?

[xfrumx]

I don't have 2000 points, so that kinda sucks.

[Icarus Moonsight]

We got one and I honestly don't know how. Since they started shipping them, I don't know if bringing your status up now will get you in or not. They could have collected the data, made up the gift boxes and sent them out as a one-shot deal. I seriously do not know.

Searching online yesterday brought up the overall coin totals of 2000 and 2400 or more. It's all speculative at this point.

I should have waited to post this until today... With you guys claiming fake and left wondering if serious, Nintendo pranked your desire to not be pranked through the people who are getting these boxes! That explains the pink ribbon - Misdirection! LOL

[megasdkirby]

Ok, so let's say I believe this. Currently I have 1,500 coins. I spent 800 coins, twice, in the past for two DS games (the Game and Watch ones). That means I have had at least 3,100 coins during my "history". I also do not have Wii Party registered.

Should I be receiving a package? Or do I have to have 2,000+ currently in my account?

[Icarus Moonsight]

Sounds like we have very similar situations, so unless PR shipping through UPS has issues or N simply decides to limit it to certain areas, I'd keep an eye out. Just don't expect to get something no matter what the case is. Because, of course, you might not.

The coin thing was from what recipients had total over their account lifetime. It's not direct or perfect info. I have 900 coins currently. ~3000 overall.

[megasdkirby]

Does your account say that something was shipped?

Also, did you register a 3DS?

[Icarus Moonsight]

No 3DS, also nothing mentioned in order inquiry on my account about this.

[portnoyd]

We have 2400 pts spent and we're hoarding for next year's platinum so we probably have another 1000 locked and laoded... so where's my box of free stuff NOA? :(

[Icarus Moonsight]

I was also a member and had product registered before coins and redemptions... Don't know if that's a relevant factor or not. If anyone else on the boards gets a box, I'd like to compare notes... PM me about it if you rather.

[FxMercenary]

I just hit Platinum Status!

I ordered the star messenger bag, and apparenly I am getting a free Wii Fit messenger bag as well!

[calistarwind]

I only have 870 points available to spend when I received this. How long have you been a member Icarus?

[Icarus Moonsight]

Join date: 1/18/2006

Also haven't registered anything since the day after status reset last year.

[swlovinist]

I am looking at it this way:

If its an April Fools joke: +1 you got me

If its real: Perfect time for my birthday!

[calistarwind]

It seems to be all over the place.
-I joined in 2003.
-I do not have a 3DS.
-I did not register a Wii Play.
-I have earned 2400 points since the beginning.
-I have been a platinum member the past three years.
-No order inquiry about me being sent this box.
-I have registered enough games to reach Platinum this year.

There has to be other people with these boxes. I wonder if this should be a seperate topic to see if there are others.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

To those who are claiming that it's fake: There are quite a few reports of this out there. I doubt that it's some type of isolated hoax/prank for April Fools. It's just unfortunate that the packages started showing up the weekend of or just before.

Here's some video evidence from March 30th.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3wS-NY_Yjg

[Icarus Moonsight]

I considered posting a separate thread, but this one was just hanging around.

Hoax/prank? I got a box with this stuff in it... Or is that to mean the reaction to the reports are the prank? People calling BS and such. That would make Nintendo the greatest prankster I know of this year! They got double bonus score and I played as their Nintendo Mary. At least I got paid well enough. LOL

[Atamos]

Looks like it's just a random choice.
So everyone can get this if you have luck, I think. :|

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Hoax/prank? I got a box with this stuff in it... Or is that to mean the reaction to the reports are the prank? People calling BS and such. That would make Nintendo the greatest prankster I know of this year! They got double bonus score and I played as their Nintendo Mary. At least I got paid well enough. LOL

*sigh*

I was responding to those who are claiming that it's an April Fools joke.

If you haven't been paying attention there are more than a few people calling shenanigans.

Personally I'm satisfied with the evidence I've found external to your post to believe that Nintendo is doing some gurellia marketing for an under-selling title, and if the language I used in my response was unclear or confusing - I've adjusted it.

[maxlords]

Well, I've bumped my coins up to 2010 total now. I'm hoping I get one! I have about 400 more points I could add....but I was saving em for next calendar year... lol

[swlovinist]

I found this on another post. Someone emailed nintendo to find out why their friend got one and they did not even though they were are both club nintendo members. Here was the response:


Hello,



Thank you for your email.



Your friend is very lucky: we only sent out a handful of those gifts to random Club Nintendo members.



Recipients of the gift were chosen at random from our Club Nintendo members. There was no way to qualify for the gift, and unfortunately we don't have enough to go around. It was just a random gift.



While you weren't selected to receive the latest, random gift, we hope you'll continue to participate in Club Nintendo for all of the normal rewards and benefits, as well as a chance to potentially receive a future gift at random--if we decide to do something like that in the future.



We do appreciate your participation in Club Nintendo, and we've forwarded your feedback.



Sincerely,


Nintendo of America Inc.
Greg Wallace

[megasdkirby]

So basically, it was all pot luck.

While I know believe this was real more than ever, it's a shame that there was no actual way to "qualify". Shame, as many of us that should have had a chance will probably not get it.

Oh well, until next time!

[calthaer]

This is interesting to me...I'm a database marketer, so I'm curious as to the methods they chose for sending these things out.

It's easy for us as fans to forget, but Club Nintendo is, first and foremost, a "customer retention" vehicle. They wouldn't be giving out free stuff if they didn't have some way of measuring whether the programs / giveouts increase loyalty to their brand and / or give them invaluable information regarding their target demographic. The data they get from this is absolutely golden, from a marketing perspective...it gives them the ability to statistically estimate an answer to the question: "who is buying and playing our games, and what are they like?"

They ran this thing in Japan for years before they decided to bring it to the rest of us, so they must have some good way of measuring this program's impact on their bottom line. Although they describe this promo as "random," I'm sure that they verified that the sub-sample of Club Nintendo peeps that they selected was roughly representative of the population of Club Nintendo members as a whole, demographically. They probably want to test what effect such a promotion (viz., a free game) has on the purchasing habits of various types of Nintendo-players (or buyers).

I'd love to get my hands on their data sometime; it would be fun to see what their numbers say about Nintendo-users (and I wonder what type of stat programs they use?). The only way to do that, though, would be to apply for a job...

[Icarus Moonsight]

So I should register bomb them to help encourage such behaviors? I have the means, but I was holding for next years status.

Helping read between the lines: I bought quite a bit less last year game-wise (especially from the visibility they received in registrations), most of my status coins were from a DSi and two DSiXL registrations. Barely any games registered last year by comparison to years prior. The other years it was done only through games, so that is a big difference. I know it had to be a selection process based on something real. That was just too much value in stuff to send out randomly.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Since so much of what Nintendo is doing with the club and game registration is about sales/product tracking/metrics it's interesting that so many have decided to hold off on "registering" points and are essentially gaming the system (not in any kind of spurious way ... they're just working the registration codes to their own advantage based on the yearly prizes/expiration restrictions)

This activity MUST be throwing Nintendo's numbers off or creating some level of screwy tracking in terms of when certain games are being sold vs. when they're being registered.

[Icarus Moonsight]

I think they could tell the prevalence of the system gaming occurring just from their server loads. I usually have to wait a few days to get decent connection reliability after the status reset. For two or three days, it's pokey locked-up servers and registration madness! LOL

Their changing of the survey expirations and offering additional bonus coins for registering and taking the survey within the specified launch window is an attempt to give an incentive to register immediately so they do get better and more accurate data. At least, they are aware of the 'exploit' and trying to entice timely registration rather than closing up the data gaps entirely with stringent registration requirements. As in, no coins for registering after it has been out for X days or months or something similar.

[calthaer]

I know it had to be a selection process based on something real. That was just too much value in stuff to send out randomly.


This activity MUST be throwing Nintendo's numbers off or creating some level of screwy tracking in terms of when certain games are being sold vs. when they're being registered.

Again: all this depends entirely on what Nintendo is trying to do with the system. Many Nintendo games don't come down in price all that much, even a year or two after the game comes out. It's quite likely that they care very little about WHEN you buy the game, so long as you do and tell them about it. They can tell by their own sell-through when the games are selling; what they can't tell is who is buying it (unless the retailers give them this info, which would likely cost them some serious cash to get). Club Nintendo never asks you whether or not you paid full price for the game - they seem to care mainly about who bought it, who primarily plays it (read: who is driving the purchase decision), and what the end-user thinks about it.

It's probably far cheaper for them to get the answer to this "who" question with a bunch of knick-knacks (hanafuda cards, posters, other "collectibles") than it would be by paying any fee that vendors might charge IF (big if) they were to allow Nintendo to peek at data regarding customers who bought Nintendo products. Assuming, of course, that even the retailer has it - which some of them may not, given that a cash transaction can be fairly anonymous.

Games these days seem to take 1.5 - 2 years to come to market - plenty of lag time for Club Nintendo to pick up the average demographics of a game series (Metroid, Pokemon, Mario, whatever), even if you delay registration by a year or so. By the time they're ready to target the marketing for the next entry in the series, they probably have a pretty good idea of where to do their ad buys based on Club Nintendo registrations.

Did the free games they sent out have a Club Nintendo registration code in them? Consider this: if so, it's possible that they sent those things out to see which recipients actually registered the game vs. "saved it" to "bank" points for next year, to see who's doing that. If they send you the game, they know when you "bought" it, and can then see when it gets registered.

Just one possibility; there may be multiple reasons they sent a free game out. I could fully believe that the recipients are "random," because the ultimate point (from Nintendo's perspective) is hardly "rewarding their fans," much as their PR might protest that it is. It's about getting a better grip on their business and driving / predicting sales.

Food for thought...at least, for me. I find the whole thing interesting.

[joshnickerson]

In case nobody saw it... When you purchase and register Ocarina of Time 3D for the 3DS, you'll also get a nifty soundtrack CD, featuring 50+ tracks from the game. Much nicer than the old Nintendo Power soundtrack, that's for sure.

https://club.nintendo.com/ocarina_of_time_3d_soundtrack_offer.do

[thegamezmaster]

Bought a new red wii, sold my white one. Registered it but what bums me out is when I call up any info like previous purchases or downloads it says I don't have any so I can't redownload any of the games I already bought. That sucks. Too bad their not like So ny. My ps3 died. Got another one. Let me transfer all my info to the new one plus it let me redownload all games I already paid for onto my new ps3. Why won't the big N let me do that? Oh well.

[Icarus Moonsight]

Because with digital, you are entitled to re-download only as long as they let you. It's contracted in such a way. I thought Nintendo allowed Wii transfers from your system to another, but it was a call system where you needed the serial numbers and then format the original in the process... I seriously can't recall, but I think I remember something to that effect early on.

Even if not, softmod fixes it and then some.

[Baloo]

Platinum and Gold Status awards are up. Gold is yet ANOTHER Calendar, and Platinum is some junky looking pins in a puzzle-esque box?

Now see why couldn't we get something like those nice 20th Anniversary Mario pins? When they were up I managed to grab one, they were really nice.

[portnoyd]

How nice, we get Japan's bonus from last year. Club Failtendo, herpaderp.

[T]

Looks like a great gift for my daughter.

Thanks Nintendo!

[gillzManiju]

How nice gifts we can throw in the trash.

[calthaer]

Makes me glad I put off registering things until next year. Those rewards are lame. At least they could dole out a controller or something. If I knew it was going to be a controller every year, I'd either get ready to win an eBay auction or go bonkers on Nintendo stuff...but this is just kind of...meh.

[thegamezmaster]

Because with digital, you are entitled to re-download only as long as they let you. It's contracted in such a way. I thought Nintendo allowed Wii transfers from your system to another, but it was a call system where you needed the serial numbers and then format the original in the process... I seriously can't recall, but I think I remember something to that effect early on.

Even if not, softmod fixes it and then some.

How do you do it? Thanks.

[Icarus Moonsight]

To cover both possible it's;


Have both the Wii units in question and call up NOA
Google search terms: Wii softmod

[heybtbm]

Platinum reward is kind of lame this year. I wish we would get a new Game & Watch game or something. Still...it's free so I can't complain.

It amazes me that I buy enough Nintendo games to reach Platinum Status every year. It seems like I haven't played my DS in months and the Wii has been turned on about 2 hours tops since I finished Super Mario Galaxy 2 a year ago or so.

[Suikoman444]

So, club nintendo has some new rewards today. A Metroid screensaver a Donkey Kong Poster and a giant AR card. I personally just ordered the AR card.

[joshnickerson]

The DK poster set is pretty cool looking... it'll look great next to my Mario and Zelda sets. I'll get myself the AR card when I have the free funds to get a 3DS. I'll pass on the Other M screensaver.

[Tempest]

How do you all get so many coins? Is it just that you buy a lot of Wii games or is there some other way to getting coins?

Tempest

[joshnickerson]

How do you all get so many coins? Is it just that you buy a lot of Wii games or is there some other way to getting coins?

Tempest

I just buy the games I want to play. But you can earn bonus coins for games by registering your Intent to Buy, registering a game within 4 week of its release, taking the post-play survey, and random surveys Club Nintendo puts out every once in a while.

[joshnickerson]

Noticed this today after I registering Wario Ware... apparently they've updated the site so you can send out a message via Facebook/Twitter/Etc. that you've bought a new game.

[heybtbm]

The 2011 Club Nintendo Elite Platinum award came today...

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1830/cn2011front.jpg

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7865/cn2011back.jpg

It arrived in a bubble mailer, but was completely undamaged because of the clear plastic "container" that the six boxes fit into.

My review: (Shrugs) It was free.

[GameNinja]

The 2011 Club Nintendo Elite Platinum award came today...

http://img685.imageshack.us/img685/1830/cn2011front.jpg

http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/7865/cn2011back.jpg

It arrived in a bubble mailer, but was completely undamaged because of the clear plastic "container" that the six boxes fit into.

My review: (Shrugs) It was free.


Looks pretty sweet and free IS free (even though you technically paid for a bunch of games).

...but excuse my ignorance for a moment...what exactly is it?

[c0ldb33r]

It's a bunch of pins I think.

I expect to receive it shortly. Kinda crappy I think.

Last year's little resin statue was awesome :D

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

I bit the bullet and bought the Game & Watch ball prize on eBay.

Now that there are so many up there from different regions the price has deflated.

I'm still pissed at Nintendo for forcing me to spend all my coin on the previous years platinum, I would've had enough for the G&W otherwise.

I doubt that I'll accrue enough points to hit platinum again in this generation.

[megasdkirby]

Got the pin set in the mail a few days ago.

Honestly, it's not as bad as I thought they were. There are many pins and the packaging is pretty big. Also, I like how the boxes are aligned...it is as though the game is being played from start to finish!

I personally like it. Now to wait for my awesome *sarcasm* calendar...

[mr_nihilism]

I finally decided to join the Club and went through all the Nintendo games (and two 3DS's) that I still had the code for. In one night I made over 800 coins and decided to redeem them for Game & Watch Collection. Not a bad deal for filling in a ton of those online questions.

[Urzu402]

The Club Nintendo site has been down all day, looks like they are updating it with new rewards, just a heads up.

[buzz_n64]

Got the calander, haven't opened it, but I bet it's cool. Hope the new items are awesome.

[DreadIsReal]

http://mynintendonews.com/2011/12/08/club-nintendo-website-lets-you-pay-for-games-with-coins/

If this is true, buying VC games with your coins is a fantastic addition.

[Mayhem]

Looks like one of the Zelda poster set is the same design as offerred at the 25th anniversary concerts. I'd be a bit peeved if I'd paid the price to get it, and now you might be able to acquire it for a lot, lot less. Conversely, I'm glad I managed to sell the spare one I had heh.

[joshnickerson]

http://club.nintendo.jp/images/pop_itemimg_p133.jpg
You mean the one on the bottom right?

Looks like we're also getting a few previously Japan-only prizes as well, such as notebooks and pencil/Wiimote cases. And apparently the download games you can buy with Coins will be replaced with new titles monthly, based on member feedback? That's actually quite cool.

Also got in my Platinum reward today. It's pretty rad, actually, a nice little display piece. Though I don't think anything would top last year's awesome Mario statue (well, aside from maybe that groovy SFC controller)

[treismac]

http://mynintendonews.com/2011/12/08/club-nintendo-website-lets-you-pay-for-games-with-coins/

If this is true, buying VC games with your coins is a fantastic addition.

Let us hope that it is indeed true.

[RPG_Fanatic]

Nintendo's club page is back up and nothing new.

[frogofdeath]

Let us hope that it is indeed true.
Received an email earlier today, checked the website, turns out to be true.

Four games are now available for "purchase" using your points, with promises of monthly updates to the choices available.

[old_skoolin_jim]

Received an email earlier today, checked the website, turns out to be true.

Four games are now available for "purchase" using your points, with promises of monthly updates to the choices available.

I'm willing to bet my DS that EarthBound will show up in here sooner or later...

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

Gah, I'm just a few points shy of that neat 8-Bit Mario shirt.

Hopefully they do a few coins for post-play on the GBA Ambassador titles.

[treismac]

I'm willing to bet my DS that EarthBound will show up in here sooner or later...

While it would be great if Earthbound did show up, I'd bet my DS that it won't. If Nintendo releases Earthbound, it will be done the same way they re-released Super Mario All-Stars for the Wii as an a physical disc game with no real update or upgrade to justify the choice. There is NO way they will sell that game for a mere $8. It will be packaged with a guidebook and extra material to justify a $50ish purchase price. This is, of course, assuming that Nintendo would ever be bothered to re-release this niche title. Hell, now that I think about it, there might not be enough prospective Earthbound fans foaming at the mouth to buy it to justify physically releasing the game outside of the Virtual Console arena. Here's hoping though.

[Baloo]

I wish they would put the site back up already, I saw one small preview of it before they took it down, and it hasn't been back up for what, a week now?

[frogofdeath]

I'm willing to bet my DS that EarthBound will show up in here sooner or later...
Not so sure, as all the games are titles that are already available.
I wish they would put the site back up already, I saw one small preview of it before they took it down, and it hasn't been back up for what, a week now?
You still can't see the site? I was able to see the update yesterday and am currently logged in now. There's not much change, just a new layout and the addition of 2 Wii and 2 DSi games available with points (and some new physical rewards as well).

*Edit: The Club Nintendo site is running relatively slow, but still accessible.

[Baloo]

Deleted my Club Nintendo cookie and the site loaded up, but it's running rather slow now. Guess it's better than nothing.

[heybtbm]

I'm willing to bet my DS that EarthBound will show up in here sooner or later...


Nope...

http://www.destructoid.com/the-reason-earthbound-is-not-coming-to-the-virtual-console-132150.phtml

http://www.gamesradar.com/soundtracks-you-didnt-know-were-stolen/

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

BTW - the POST-PLAY surveys for the GBA Ambassador Games are up. (If you downloaded them on day 1)

That's 100 coins total!

[dgdgagdae]

I noticed that today. That'll give me just enough points to get the second game and watch collection for DS!

[NE146]

hey wow I have 1200 coins now.. enough for a G&W Ball repro! And I was about to just bite the bullet and buy one on ebay (which is actually the cheaper way to go). But I guess I'll get a new one directly from Nintendo now. :D

[Lady Jaye]

Nintendo has updated its Club Nintendo downloadable game offering. Here are the current games, available till Jan. 31st:

3DS:
Kirby's Dream Land (Game Boy) (100 points)
Dr. Mario Express (150 points)

Wii:
Dr. Mario Online Rx (100 ponits)
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask (N64) (150 points)

Since I already have the GameCube Zelda compilation, I was wondering if the version of Majora's Mask on the Wii has fixed all issues found on the GameCube version. According to a Wiki on Zelda, it is the case. Therefore, Majora's Mask may be an interesting choice for those of us who don't own a N64 and hadn't bought it yet on the Virtual Console.

[Rickstilwell1]

You should realize not a lot of people care about / use the codes on their Wii, DS and 3DS games or want to waste time joining club nintendo. A lot of used games are out there with their codes unused. Yeah it's a gamble but more often than not the codes probably arent used because the casual gamers don't bother with them.

[Lady Jaye]

Yeah, so? People who do use their codes on Club Nintendo usually like to be informed of new rewards, be it downloadable games or physical products. Besides, the downloadable game deals are available only for a short time, so people who may not visit their Club Nintendo home page often may miss out on them. And if you have spare unused codes that you don't want, feel free to send them my way.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

hey wow I have 1200 coins now.. enough for a G&W Ball repro! And I was about to just bite the bullet and buy one on ebay (which is actually the cheaper way to go). But I guess I'll get a new one directly from Nintendo now. :D

Go for it!

As a G&W collector I give that thing high marks for quality.

It's such a nice repro and the packaging, stand and instructions that it comes with are collector-grade stuff worth having.