Topic: Nintendo is apparently going to stop giving out gold points

A post that was just made on the My Nintendo website says that they are going to stop giving out gold points for game purchases starting on March 24th and that any reaming balance will be valid for a year.

https://my.nintendo.com/news/97495f34d09fb076

The wording makes it sound like there might be a replacement program in the future but that could just be how I read it.

I've made lots of use of gold points so this is really disappointing to see.

This is a shame, as was an extra incentive to buy digital (and a massive one to get their 2 game vouchers that ALSO came with Gold Points). You would think that they would want that? Still, as others have said, I don't think this is the end full stop of getting a little something. I think this will be replaced by some other kind of system as part of Switch 2.

Error now. I think they have taken the page now for a while. Maybe there was a mistake in the copy.

@Novamii I think that's what will happen, that there's a NSO revamp detailed in the next Direct (including whatever the teased expansion pack "excitement" is) and Nintendo accidentally uploaded some stuff early.

Maybe Nintendo is trying to lower digital sales and maximize physical sales so it's worth making them for Switch 2? Honestly I thought it was better for Nintendo if we bought games digitally, but based on this move it doesn't look like they see it this way.

I assume they're going to change the structure of their rewards program. Honestly I've always thought the Gold Points were a bit of a downgrade on a downgrade. Club Nintendo was amazing but then it was shut down in place of My Nintendo. Which to start with was ok, not great but ok. With exclusive digital rewards and Virtual Console titles

But then with the Switch it kinda just became..... wallpapers and discounts on digital purchases. They brought back physical rewards but they were all platinum points and you have to pay shipping. Not really rewards if you're paying shipping for a poster or something is it? It's just you buying a thing

I hope they do something more interesting with it. TBH, when I read this news I was quietly happy about it. Because it could be so much better than what it is

The 1% return on physical purchases was already kind of stingy. Never mind that several physical North American (Murica) releases used code from different regions of the world, so those don't award gold coins at all if you only have a Murican account. In addition to that, Murican releases don't award gold coins beyond a after release. Yadda yadda yadda.

Considering Furukawa is a numbers man, I assume the gold coins won't be replaced with...anything.

Just a slightly higher profit margin for Nintendo, and that makes me a little sad.

@Magician
You're probably right, but I'm still going to hope for the return of something better. Because the gold points thing and vouchers programs were kinda mid as far as rewards programs go. Basically just retail-tier discounts for their digital store. I took advantage of it sure but...... meh.....

I would have liked more notice but honestly there likely isn’t anyone at Nintendo advocating for gold points, and Nintendo is trying to increase profit margins wherever they can.

Definitely a shame they're stopping the Gold Points, but I'm hopeful they'll come back in some form for the Switch 2.

Now I'll make the most of the 40 Mexican Pesos I have acumulated right now.

Maybe they wanna combine both the gold and platinum points into one? I dunno.

Well that kinda sucks to see. I got good usage out of the gold coins I got in the past, those helped me save some money on NSO. I was thinking of getting a pair of game vouchers anyway, with the eShop credit I got for Christmas and my birthday. At least once I use my last batch of gold coins, I don't have to worry about them going away on their own anymore, haha. Hopefully, we'll get something similar when the Switch 2 comes out.

awww man, this is such a bummer to hear! ofc we still got a bit of life in switch 1 for those vouchers, but gold points are sad. i loved spending those points on a smash fighter or a cool indie on a rainy day. hopefully theyll bring them back later on ^_^

I suppose that it's worth remembering that - for all their money-saving potential - Nintendo doesn't offer these schemes out of the goodness of their hearts. Rather, they exist to drive demand and there's something far better for that coming this year in the shape of a new console. People are going to be falling over each other to buy full-priced games so there will be no need for special discounts.

Once things settle down again, I'm sure we'll see some similar schemes return, albeit one that are never quite as good as the ones they're replacing. Everyone remembers Nintendo Selects and the $20 Wii games on the Wii U eShop, right?