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Club Nintendo is officially a thing of the past as the My Nintendo era began this past Thursday. It’s a welcome addition for Nintendo fans who had grown used to being rewarded for their loyalty as customers, but this new service, though certainly easy on the eyes, is still going to take a little getting used to. In an effort to make the transition as smooth as possible, we here at Nintendojo have put together a primer for you, dear readers, to peruse and learn the basics of My Nintendo!
Missions are what Nintendo is tasking its customers with completing in order to earn Gold and Platinum Points, which in turn are the new currency system attached to the My Nintendo service. Missions for Gold and Platinum Points are markedly different, however. Gold Points are earned by purchasing digital copies of Nintendo software. These points are useful for those who wants to get discounts on other Nintendo games, especially as My Nintendo will generate a list of titles that are geared toward specific users based on their purchasing history. Some discounts can hit as high as 40 percent, which is pretty nice. Beyond that, though, these Gold Points can also be used to obtain actual games! Titles like Super Mario 64 and Metroid Fusion are available, and more besides. Both the discounts and software are all available to be redeemed through the My Nintendo Rewards section.
Platinum Point Missions are a bit different. These can be earned through in-game accomplishments in Nintendo’s new mobile game Miitomo (and eventually other titles), as well as non-game accomplishments. For an example of the former, getting a certain number of compliments from friends in Miitomo in a given day is one way to earn Platinum Points, while linking the game to a Facebook account is an example of the latter. Some Platinum Point Missions are able to be completed more than once; logging into Miiverse, for instance, can be done weekly and provides users with 30 points a pop! Others are one-time opportunities, like linking Mittomo to certain social media services, but they tend to reward larger sums of points. These Platinum Points can then be used to get Rewards that unlock things in Miitomo, or smaller discounts on software up to 20 percent. There are some themes that can be earned for the 3DS Home Menu, as well, but perhaps most interesting to fans will be that certain games are available for earning Platinum Points, too!
My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and WarioWare: Touched! can be redeemed for 1,000 points each. Though clearly Nintendo is prioritizing Gold Points for game rewards because they’re more expensive to earn, it’s very nice to know that software isn’t being excluded from the more economically-obtained Platinum Points. There is a caveat to keep in mind (it wouldn’t be Nintendo otherwise!) in that all points have an expiration date. Whether Gold or Platinum, Points expire after six months. This isn’t as problematic for Platinum Points as they tend to be accumulated much more quickly, but Gold Points are attached to pricier eShop downloads, which will likely accumulate at a slower pace for the average consumer. Whether that will be enough to alter how a person makes his eShop purchases in the future will probably vary, but it’s something to definitely keep in mind!
So, not too confusing, eh? Nintendo plans to keep tweaking My Nintendo in the coming months based on user feedback, and hopes to incorporate physical goods at some point down the road.
Are you excited to see Nintendo implement its new loyalty program? Have you registered yet? Let us know what you think in the comments!
