Nintendo Offering Limited Time Gold Point Bonus With Switch Online Memberships (North America)

I'm an American and Nintendo should've done this in October since I (alongside most others) just renewed my Expansion Pack tier then.

Not a bad deal- the usual rate is 10% isnt it?

Glad my renewal is in December so I can benefit from these each year

Lol right after I just renewed. Sigh.

oh cmon, mine JUST renewed. nintendo, do us a favor and make it everyone in the last month at least

My yearly family plan renews every September... Why not let anyone who's already payed for this year just claim the gold coins Nintendo?

@epicgamner : We're sadly past the days where Nintendo cares about customer goodwill (which I can't help but suspect coincided with Iwata-san's untimely demise).

Remember when Nintendo offered early 3DS adopters a whopping 20 games when they dropped the price of the 3DS five months into its lifespan? That Nintendo is either dead or deeply comatose judging by their current behaviour.

I don't understand how much 20% give you 🤔 ?

Booooo. I could've taken advantage of this but now I renew in Feb bc I updated to Expansion Pack when they added GB/GBA games 🙃

Wish you could add time to an existing subscription like with other platforms, I probably would go ahead and pick up an extra year for the $16 back.

@Sisilly_G You mean the Nintendo that was just about to release the Wii U?

Honestly, you should be able to tell now that current Nintendo is better than Wii U era Nintendo.

@sanderev : What part of "customer goodwill" eluded your comprehension?

I wasn't providing commentary regarding all of Nintendo's practices/protocols for the entire company's history.

But since you've mentioned it, for all that has improved from the Wii U days, we have also seen a dramatic drop in the quality of their products, especially Joy-Cons. I have several that drift, and I have not used them long enough or applied any undue pressure on the sticks for it to be my doing or otherwise attributable to expected wear and tear. Meanwhile, I've never had any problems with any of my Wii/Wii U controllers (or consoles) over the years.

Though I have had two New 3DS XLs (out of three) with significant faults (dead pixels, busted speakers, faulty battery, flaking art), and for different reasons (including going overseas just after buying one), it wasn't feasible to send them back for repairs/replacement, which was just my rotten luck.

And I can't think of any Wii U physical release that launched in an incomplete state, while Nintendo themselves now think nothing of releasing unfinished crap to shelves with the hope that they'll patch it up later (if at all) while capitalising on the software while it's still effectively in a beta state, which is also what I would consider a significant quality issue that has put me off from buying certain releases (Switch Sports, Mario Strikers etc.), at least for the time being (as I'm holding out for reprints with everything on the cart).

Not to mention that online multiplayer was previously free, and Nintendo jumped on the paid online bandwagon in order to keep up with the Joneses, and who can blame them when people are so eager to to part with their wealth?

So I wouldn't necessarily say that current Nintendo is necessarily "better", no. They may have a better console and better third-party support, and as much as the Switch is almost everything that I've ever wanted out of a console, Nintendo have also been regressive in other respects, and I would be remiss to ignore them. It's especially ironic that Nintendo were so much more hospitable, generous, and diligent during their humbler days (the early months of the 3DS + the entirety of the Wii U's lifespan) compared to today while they're dominating the market.

@StephenYap3

Nintendo Europe has done something similar in September for the last couple of years, a much better time for it as you suggest!

@Sisilly_G I had multiple issues with my Wii U (with a very untimely death of a GamePad, charging issues with Pro controllers and the overall button layout), I no longer have my launch Switch. (sold it when I got the OLED) but I still have yet to get ANY drift on my Joy-Con, Switch Lite or Pro controller. Only controller I ever had ANY drift on were my PS4 controllers.

Also my first ever Nintendo console/handheld (original gameboy) died on me the day I got it (booted up into a single line on the screen), which was replaced under warrenty. And beyond that I had one DS Lite with a broken R-button. (also fixed by Nintendo)

Honestly, consumer service from Nintendo has always been strong. Because they fix Joy-Con that 'drift' for free.

"And I can't think of any Wii U physical release that launched in an incomplete state"
I can think of many. Mario Maker 1, Splatoon 1, MarioKart 8 (with it's 59fps), and honestly they released around 20% of amount the games on the Switch... so.. yeah.. Also the Mario Sports titles on Wii U were A LOT worse... also Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival wants to talk to you!!!!!!

"Not to mention that online multiplayer was previously free". Nothing is ever free. You just didn't pay for the online interactions separately from the purchase of the game. But with bandwidth, hosting, servers and game development ALL getting more expensive. You can see why that model isn't viable for the long run. And before you start with "on pc it's free", that is also incorrect. On PC game developers/publishers have to host their own servers. And lots of them have monthly subscriptions.

"It's especially ironic that Nintendo were so much more hospitable, generous, and diligent during their humbler days (the early months of the 3DS + the entirety of the Wii U's lifespan) compared to today while they're dominating the market."
And that's the entire point. If you have only a handful of sales, you are going to work a lot harder for those sales. Then when you have a lot more sales and don't really need to. And every for profit company will do the same. Every one. Because spending money (or time) on something that isn't required is wasted money. And that hurts the bottom line. (Which was very visible during the Wii U days)

This is also why Microsoft is seemingly open to working with Nintendo (and Sony), and Sony is only doing it out of fan outcry. (which will hurt their bottom line if they don't)

Perfect timing for me.

Aaaand of course I already renewed mine in October. 🙃

It’s only $10 anyway, so I guess it’s not that big of a deal.

Because I bought Smash Ultimate around this time back in 2018, this is when the NSO service happens to renew for me. Lucky timing!

It’s also for Canada too. So you should change it to NA, not just the US.

It’s obviously a Black Friday promo considering the timeline of them doing this. Still, I feel the burn.

Our Family expired a few months ago and despite us owning 2 Switch we saw no reason to renew it. For the gold coins back I’ll ask the now adult kids. Might be worth it for the 20% back if I can find it on sale somewhere.🤷🏻‍♂️

This article should note that you need to go onto the Nintendo website and activate the offer before buying a subscription in order to get the gold points.

Bull****. My year subscription doesn't run out until like December 20th. Thanks, Nintendo.

PSA to everyone saying they already renewed: I bought another year of the family plan + expansion pack from Target (on sale 10% off too) which specifically says “for new accounts only”, but was able to redeem the code and extend my membership. Got the $16 in gold coins a few hours later (don’t forget you have to go to the offer page and claim the offer before redeeming the code). You can only have up to 3 years of membership but you CAN extend it despite what some are saying.

Just found out I can't change the Family Plan with my ex-wife on it to an Individual Plan + Expansion until I renew next September. This sucks!!

What happens for those of us who's annual family plans automatically renewed at the beginning of November? I'd like some extra gold coins.

@Pokefanmum82 This website doesn't believe Canada exists (when they do lump us in to pre-order articles, all the links are for US retailers anyway) despite us remaining loyal to the Crown.

@epicgamner I agree. I just renewed mine and my kid's accounts and we got nothing for doing so. I call BS on Nintendo

@Bearzilla823 Make sure you go to the link in the article
(or here) https://www.nintendo.com/us/switch/online/nintendo-switch-online/gold-points-offer/
And opt in for the offer. You won't get the gold coins immediately, but it shouldn't take long. I think I got mine about a day after doing so. I don't think you have to opt in first before the purchase either as I didn't read anything about it.

@DarthFoxMcCloud well i guess we'll put that on the 'cons' list of living in canada, but i think you guys still have the US beat in a LOT of other categories

Mine expired recently and I hadn't renewed it yet, as I wasn't playing much on my Switch - I was busy with Sea Of Stars and Jusant on GanePass on my Xbox. I might wait now and see if this deal comes to Europe.

@yokokazuo So I misread the details of the promotion and renewed my subscription on the console rather than through the site. Have I just screwed myself out of it?

@StephenYap3 same, guess next year I'll wait and not auto renew

@BrazillianCara I think it should be fine to do so through the Switch. But just to confirm, did you go to the provided link and opt in for the offer?

@yokokazuo I did after I had already made the renewal, and it was only now by checking My Nintendo that I could confirm that it indeed work. I guess I got a bit upset over nothing.
Still, thank you!

@BrazillianCara No problem! It’s good to know that it worked! I wasn’t 100% sure if you would get the points if opting in after renewing the subscription.