Nintendo has opened registration for Nintendo Accounts in a whole range of countries, having initially launched them in Japan in late 2015. At the same time those that have a Nintendo Account - and are in one of 16 applicable countries - can preregister for Miitomo, the first smart device app from Nintendo and DeNA that's due for a March release. In addition, registering for a Nintendo Account prior to the launch of Miitomo will give you a Platinum Coin related to that app - a neat first reward for the My Nintendo rewards programme.
Now, we've seen quite a lot of confusion in people calling My Nintendo an account system, and there's some terminology that's been mixed up a little in recent times. This short and sharp guide is designed to clarify what each of these components are and what you're signing up for now, while we also give you a quick walkthrough on how to setup your new Nintendo Account and register for Miitomo.
What is Nintendo Account, and how does it relate to My Nintendo / Miitomo?
Let's break this down into some bullet points:
- Nintendo Account - This is a brand new account system that'll tie together your information and can be connected to your Nintendo Network ID and / or logins for Twitter, Facebook and Google+. Nintendo has already stated that a Nintendo Account won't be mandatory for Miitomo users that download the app, but by encouraging preregistration with an account it's making it an attractive option. It's also been stated that, at some point in the future, a Nintendo Account will be needed for smart device apps, at the very least.
- My Nintendo - This is effectively the Club Nintendo replacement and will launch in March alongside Miitomo. As an awards programme it aims to go beyond its predecessor to offer a "more comprehensive service that rewards users for interacting with Nintendo products and services in a variety of ways". In addition to discounts and rewards, the service will include the global roll-out of eShop purchases online in a web browser, with those games then automatically downloading on your hardware. You'll need a Nintendo Account to be eligible for the My Nintendo rewards service.
- Miitomo - Miitomo is the first app from Nintendo / DeNA that's due in March, and it's a social communication release that'll utilise Mii characters. It'll be free-to-start but there will be microtransactions through 'Miitomo Coins', an in-app currency that you'll also be able to earn in-game. In order to preregister for it and receive a Platinum Coin reward for the My Nintendo programme - which you'll receive in March - you need a Nintendo Account. After the app is released on iOS and Android, however, new users that download the app will not need a Nintendo Account to use it.
How does the Nintendo Account relate to my Nintendo Network ID?
To be clear, the Nintendo Account - which is required to be included in the My Nintendo rewards programme, remember - is completely separate from the Nintendo Network ID that you have on the Wii U and 3DS. However, by linking the Club Nintendo replacement - My Nintendo - to the new account service the big N is effectively enticing any serious fan (or anyone that likes rewards and discounts) to jump on board. In the setup process it also makes it very easy to link your new Nintendo Account with your existing Nintendo Network ID, and we suspect all Wii U and 3DS owners will be encouraged (or perhaps prompted as a mandatory update, that's not known) to create a new account and link it to their NNID.
Long term - and this isn't confirmed - we think it's likely that the universal Nintendo Account will replace the Nintendo Network ID, making the latter a one generation account used on the Wii U and 3DS. As Nintendo Accounts will be used on smart devices and home computers, with the My Nintendo service including features such as buying eShop games online to have them automatically download to our hardware, this seems like a natural step. In this generation the NNID is being tied into and connected to Nintendo Account and the related My Nintendo services, whereas on smart devices and NX (we believe) the existing NNID will not exist. It'll simply remain on Wii U and 3DS as a conduit to the new account service.
OK, so how do I sign up for a Nintendo Account?
Once again, let's break this down in bullet points:
- Head to the Nintendo Account login page.
- If you don't have a Nintendo Network ID, Twitter, Facebook or Google+ account, simply select 'Create an Account' and start to fill in the rather simple fields. You'll need an email address and will need to create a profile name and password.
- On that first page you'll also see a 'Sign in with' section with logos for those aforementioned existing accounts. We recommend the Nintendo Network ID option simply as it fills in all required details right off the bat - if you're already logged in to your NNID on your PC / laptop / smart device to use Miiverse etc, you won't even need to remember your password. You do need, however, access to your NNID's email address, as you'll be sent a verification pin to input that will then formalise the link between the NNID and newly created Nintendo Account.
- The other three options work more simply, with the Nintendo Account page seeking access permission from the social network (again, you'll need to be logged in or log in to them on the browser you're using) before linking in. It'll auto-populate some information, but you may need to fill in a few fields.
- Once all is confirmed that's it, you have a Nintendo Account, though you can't do much with it yet.
- It's worth noting that, minus clever workarounds, you're restricted to one Nintendo Account per email address.
Now what?
Now, once setup the login page will take you to a simple profile area where you can change your nickname and basic details (though not your date of birth, oddly. You can see a simple menu on the left and also access the same settings by scrolling down the page.
As you can see in the screen below you can link your social media accounts from this area, and we've done so. When you click to link to one of these accounts you need to login to that social network and it'll tell you about the permissions it's seeking - importantly the Nintendo Account setup will not auto-post or auto-follow on these networks; the only permissions it requests are to view your profile details and friend lists, data which will also be used in Miitomo (though you'll probably be able to opt-in and out of that).
As you can also see in that image, by default we didn't have a Nintendo Account password. When creating your profile or logging in with any of the four external account options (NNID, Facebook, Twitter, Google+), it doesn't automatically ask you to setup a separate password for this new account, which is a slightly odd thing for Nintendo to overlook. If you want to login and use your Nintendo account with your email address and a separate password, you need to click 'change' on that password field. You'll need to generate another verification pin which will be emailed to you, and then you can setup a password.
Beyond that you can edit settings to receive promotional emails from Nintendo or to allow the company to monitor your usage data, and you can even delete your account if you want to go 'off the grid' and live in the mountains.
Cool, so what about Miitomo?
Well, this is easy, as you've already setup a Nintendo Account and done a lot of the hard work.
- Head to this Miitomo website and click on 'Preregister here'.
- You'll be asked to login with your Nintendo Account, and once you do this you're signed up for notification (by email) when Miitomo launches, and you also secure a Platinum Coin for your My Nintendo account which is due to launch the same day as the app.
So what do I do now?
Not much, basically, as both Miitomo and the My Nintendo service are due to launch in March in the following countries - nations not listed will come in the future.
Miitomo - UK, Ireland, France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Luxemborg, Spain, Italy, Netherlands, Russia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, U.S, Canada
My Nintendo - UK, Ireland, France, Belgium. Germany. Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal, Italy, The Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Malta, Greece, Sweden, Estonia, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia, Russia, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, U.S, Canada, Mexico, Brazil
That's it! We now play the waiting game for our shiny new Nintendo Accounts to spring to life in March. If you have any queries in the meantime please let us know in the comments below (tag @ThomasBW84 so your enquiry is seen quicker).
Comments (72)
Brazilian and basically all South America residents are unable to sign up in the new account system using our NNIDs for now. I wonder if we'll miss the pre-sign up advantages or they will compensate us in a near future.
Nintendo Life, guys, come on, there are more words here than there are to set up a My Nintendo account. Think Nintendo, think CONCISE.
Debating whether or not to sign up for the crap that will be Mitomo for a PLatinum coin. Wish I knew if that was worth much. Don't need another social media thing in my life.
The one worrying thing is "My Nintendo points can be redeemed within 6 months of the release of Miitomo."
Otherwise the Nintendo Account sounds good. Miitomo? I couldn't care less about it. I only preregistered to get the Platinum points.
It was so easy to setup. Used my NNID, had the verification code e-mail and all done in less than a minute.
It was so easy to do it with my NNID!
I think if Nintendo is scrapping NNID, it would be more logical because when people who don't own any Nintendo system hear the phrase "Nintendo Network" they will instantly assume it is only for Nintendo consoles. But "My Nintendo" and "Nintendo account" sounds like you don't need a Nintendo system... if you get what I mean? 😂
However, some people are gonna get Nintendo Network ID confused with "Nintendo account"
This is very useful. Thank you guys. I'm all set and can't wait to use miitomo!!
It'd be great if we could somehow 'streetpass' other players
Seems like the best way to sign up is by linking your NNID, as it will show your Mii.
Yay! Platinum loot!
@Captain_Gonru check your junk folder. That's where I found mine.
exciting! woohoo!
Thank you very much for this article! It helped me get through the steps to setup the new account.
So glad this is finally here!
So are the sign in/up links for all regions or are there specific pages for different regions?
@rushiosan Not even Mexico, and it's right there :S...
What do the platinum coins actually do?
@Miles_Edgeworth
You can redeem them for free games, prizes, or discounts.
@Nintendude789 Really? Free games? That sounds very good, gonna go sign up now!
Done, and done. Painless, although I didn't have to sign in for Miitomo pre-registration, which was slightly confusing. Maybe it's linked to the Nintendo Account sign in. Either way, returning to the pre-register page just said I was as such.
Not really looking forward to Miitomo, considering the way Nintendo destroyed Swapnote. Nevertheless, they still taunt us with Nikki badges and whatnot.
What makes them think this social media platform won't be abused by some people either?
@ThomasBW84
I have just registered my New 3DS XL painlessly to a new Nintendo Account using the NNID for that console, and my email address.
I am now trying to register my older 3DS XL (which I still keep running, and which also has it's own NNID) for it's own new Nintendo Account, but the registration website has told me I cannot register using the same email address. Clearly, I expect to use the same email address for both consoles as that is my email address - full stop. There must be loads of families/homes where several consoles will need to be registered to the same email address. It beggars belief that this eventuality has not occurred to Nintendo. Any suggestions?
PS Thanks for the very comprehensive article.
@Ralizah
I agree, and I still really miss Swapnote.
I also think Miitomo will be pretty irrelevant to me as I have a Windows phone, and Nintendo seem to be going purely for the iOS and Android market.
Looking forward to it all. Interested to play Miitomo too
@Mowzle Wow, this is the exact problem I have with the Nintendo accounts. My family owns 2-3DS XLs, 1-"New" 3DS XL, & 1-Wii U, and we have 3 different NNIDs. It was a pain getting them all set up with 3 completely different emails. I was hesitant to sign up for the new account until I found out more info of what is to happen to the existing NNIDs but went and registered anyways.
@dkxcalibur
That's crazy. Nintendo will surely have to address the issue. I'm not about to start creating an extra email account just for a second console used occasionally, but families will have a real problem.
I simply will not register for a new account on that console unless Nintendo sort it out.
So, despite Poland being on the list it's not yet possible to pre-register with polish NNID. Curious.
it's so clear now: miitomo is targetting the female demographic. i thought it would be kids in general, but no way my son will be interested in this now.
@Captain_Gonru
I still had the Nintendo Account tab open, so it sounds like that may be the case.
Ok, what am I doing wrong here? When I try to sign in from my PC using my NNID, I am getting this error:
This Nintendo Network ID cannot be used on non-Nintendo devices like PCs or smartphones. Information on how to change this setting can be viewed using the link below. Please note that you will need to sign in again after making any setting changes.
Normally I would like to know what the benefits, rewards, costs are, and the information required, before I consider signing up for this sort of reward stuff.
The Nintendo 'star' thing was rubbish.
The Game Store has a reward scheme where you get points when you make a purchase. Except that their games are far more expensive than in other outlets.
Tell me what I am getting then ask me to sign up. Saying 'rewards' is to generic.
@Mowzle The annoying thing is that my "New" 3DS is registered to a different NNID then my Wii U account because we bought my oldest son's 3DS a year before we purchased our second 3DS and we didn't realize at the time how the accounts worked. When my son post stuff to Miiverse from his 3DS is shows up on my Wii U Miiverse. We didn't realize what we did until it was too late. By the time we figured it out, both my son and I both had too much saved or accomplished on both systems and were not willing to give them up. We're hoping for a clean start on the NX!
@ThomasBW84
@dkxcalibur
I've just done a bit of digging on Nintendo's website and have found the following information in a FAQ -
Q - I tried to create a Nintendo Account, but I got a message saying ''The email address you have entered is already registered. Registration cannot be completed.''
A - Only a single email address can be linked to one Nintendo Account. If the email address you have entered is already registered, it cannot be used again.
Alternatively, this can occur if you are trying to sign in with a Nintendo Network ID. If you have multiple NNIDs registered to one email address, you will only be able to create a Nintendo Account with one of those NNIDs.
Clearly Nintendo HAVE considered this issue and don't care about it. Doesn't seem very good business practice to me. So they just don't get any additional sales from me on my second NNID from now on. Stupid, or what!
@Mowzle
Just create alternate emails. I have a main email address, gaming email, gaming #2 email, forums/social media email, and a "trial" email.
I also don't understand why others (no one in particular) are so afraid to use social media services. The one I use for gaming/forums purposes don't include my real name or real info about me.
Easy to set up, but not really an overhaul, more an entrenchment of the existing account system extending to encompass the smartphone side of the business. I wonder if deleting an NNID on a device means it won't be completely lost if it is also linked to Nintendo Account? I doubt it. Was really hoping for fully cloud-based accounts. Ah well, knew that was a longshot and perhaps things will change with whatever the NX is.
Also, surely My Nintendo will include the ability to register multiple systems? Club Nintendo always had provision for families etc. Why is that not the case with Nintendo Account? If it's meant to be overarching, then...
@XCWarrior Pre-registering won't force you to use it!
This is ripe for a humorous Alex video - "Nintendo Network ID, My Nintendo, Nintendo Account, just what in bloody blazes is going on here?".
I'm basically responsible for the 4 NNIDs in our house - mine, wife and 2 kids - so I'll be reading all of this before going ahead. After I track down all of the info, I can never remember which is our NNID and which is our user name. And coming up w/ 10 digit names is going to be the death of me. Need more coffee.
I hope this new account system will allow for registering more than one system of the same kind to the same account.
I have a Wii U, a 3DS XL, a new 3DS and a New 3DS XL. But I could only register one of those three 3DS systems to my main (Wii U) NNID.
Hopefully they do change this and raise the number of to 3 or 5.
@dkxcalibur
Sorry, our posts are leapfrogging one another
Best of luck with your new Nintendo Accounts.
@rjer
You'll need a double shot of espresso to create all those extra email accounts as well
@Mowzle I agree.
This also points out my problem with digital versions of games. I personally love digital versions. If it was up to me, I would probably not buy physical copies any more. I'm not a collector. They take up more space than I'm willing to provide. I don't trade in games like I used to (I now have the means to pay for my games unlike when I was a kid and needed to trade old games in so that I could buy new games). However, the reason I sometimes still buy physical copies is because we have 3 different 3DS systems and I refuse to buy 3 copies of a $39.99 game so that we can play it on all three systems. Instead, we'll share one physical copy. Sometimes that means taking turns or waiting until someone else has played the entire game first. We've made exceptions for Monster Hunter & Pokemon. My hope is that the NX fixes this. If the rumors are true, and it's a combination of dedicated console and portable units, I hope that once a portable unit is linked to the dedicated console, you would only need to purchase 1 copy of a game. That's my hope anyways! It's almost like you get punished for having a family and buying 3 3DS systems!!!!!
this couldn't be any simpler. I don't understand the point of this article. You register your new account using either facebook twitter or your existing nintendo wiiu/3ds id. Then you preregister for miitomo. That's it. Never seen anything simpler.
@Mowzle Nintendo really don't know what they are doing. I have multiple NNIDs for different countries because I have lived in these places. But I can't link them to the same nintendo account. Nintendo missed an opportunity to sort out their mess.
@Mowzle We already each have 3 emails, how many more do we need?
Better than my PS3 though, I have a US account, my wife in a hotel in Tokyo, my 1 son in Hong Kong and my other at Heathrow airport in the UK. I don't spend money on the other accounts but it's great for demos the US doesn't get, which has been a lot over the years.
Seriously... A GUIDE for this???
Though to be fair, there are plenty of people on the other gaming sites complaining about the interface being made for "casuals" instead of gamers.
Well you can't please everyone...
What's the point of a rewards program?? You don't see Sony having one for Playstation owners nor do you see Playstation owners wanting one.
I mean the Xbox One has XBL Rewards (it's practically non existent) and Wii U (Club Nintendo and DDP) had/have reward programs, but yet they are being outsold massively by PS4 which has no rewards program.
There is a clear trend here.
Also why make a successor to Club Nintendo, when Japanese complained about how bad Club Nintendo Japan was, EU folks complained about how bad Club Nintendo EU was, NA folks complained about how bad Club Nintendo NA was, Aussies complained about how bad Club Nintendo AUS was etc...
You don't hear Xbox owners complaining about how bad XBL Rewards are, nor do you hear Playstation and Steam owners complain about the lack of a rewards program on their platforms.
@Captain_Gonru You should check your spam, cause mine was sent immediately.
@MrSands
Nintendo is doing nothing wrong in that case.
I mean Apple makes you have a different Apple ID, if you want to use different regions for iTunes and App Stores. They also make you have an @icloud.com ID to use iCloud.
You have to have a different PSN ID, to "use" a different PSN region.
Microsoft makes you use a different XBL ID, if you are going to "use" different regions.
Steam locks your region based on your IP address when you first access Steam store with your Steam ID.
If you want to access a different Steam region, you need to make sure your computer has a IP address in that region.
Steam no longer allows you to change regions and if you are caught trying to change your region, you will banned from Steam.
Google also requires Android owners to have one region per Google Play ID.
Etc...
So yeah companies purposely lock you to one region per ID, mainly due to regulations and currency issues.
@Splatburst
Thanks for the heads up. After it took my ISP 10 minutes to open up access to my webmail account, I have actually created another email address (my advanced age is the reason why this had not yet occurred to me). May providence preserve me from my aging neurons and inefficient mega websites!
@DiscoGentleman Sadly, not that easy on my tablet. It's running low on space, and I'm running out of things to delete because I or my son doesn't use them. Hopefully that program is small.
I signed up on a tablet, and I didn't have any issues. I was able to link other social accounts easy enough, and Miitomo loaded in pretty fast. Overall, I thought the experience went just find.
I find it a little strange that Nintendo is not saying anything about it on the official website. There is no mention of it on the front page. If this is a landmark addition, I would think you would want everyone that visits your website to sign up.
@rjejr all you need to do is sign everyone in with all your NNID and then thats it my Nintendo accounts linked easy squeezy lemoneezy. And since my sons NNID is already linked to my email there was no need to create another...i must say i have no interest in this miitomo but i cant deny im intrigued...or maybe im just a sucker for those platinum coins?
@Mowzle I think the single account be email address makes sense for 99% of the time, and makes things simple for Nintendo. I don't know many people with multiple NNIDs.
Anyway, thanks for the info, I'll add it in somewhere.
Now that's what I call timing! My grandma is just about to give me a new smartphone, so that means I can actually play it! I don't know what to expect, but it reminds me of Tomodachi Life, and I love Tomodachi Life, so I'll give Miitomo a shot. What's there to lose?
I'm excited to see what My Nintendo will bring! I loved Club Nintendo, and I'm sure I'll love this too
@WanderingPB Well that sounds easy. Now all I need to do is FIND all 4 account names.
Miitomo annoys me way more than it should. Nintendo Badge Arcade was the perfect game to port, the rabbit is a great spokesman, and he looks similar to the star of the new Zootopia movie, that's even more advertising. Mii's are so "aughts".
@ThomasBW84
Thanks for the reply. I have actually created an additional email via my present ISP mailbox, which hadn't previously occurred to me (being a bit dim). I can see the logic of one email address per NNID, but judging from some comments here, I was not the only person with the problem.
@DarthNocturnal same here. It through me off, would of been nice if it had said "Thank you for preregistering (insert name)! Please wait for release."
@ThomasBE84
This is for general information only. I have tried to register my second 3DS XL using it's NNID, but the original email address seems to be inextricably linked to it, and while the website says use a different email address there doesn't seem to be any way of linking to a new address. I'm stopping there. If Nintendo want continued custom via that console from March they are going to have to make things a little more user friendly. Thanks.
@Xenocity But with those services I could choose my region no matter where I am in the world and use it with that store. I suppose nintendo's continued region locking practices are what is at fault here.
I signed up quickly using my Gmail account. Only problem was, my country wasn't in the drop down list. So I just picked UK, since that's where I'm originally from. Is that going to bite me in the ass? Undoubtedly, because Nintendo.
People with multiple NNIDS? Maybe more likely than you think - case in point:
Me: "hey little cousin, check out my Wii U. I've got splatoon, and if you like, you can create your own mii, and have your own save file."
Her: 'Sure.'
**mii creation time passes, we start up splatoon**
Splatoon: "ONLINE SERVICES NOT AVAILABLE WITHOUT FIRST REGISTERING A NNID"
Because Nintendo.
The Polygon article today was quite funny. They basically said 'Nintendo account now live - register now! But don't go getting your hopes up, because Nintendo."
Done. I wonder what that Platinum Point can earn you with My Nintendo. Still, Miitomo doesn't seems especially interesting.
I have registered and preregistered for Miitomo
All registered. Thanks for the heads-up. Registration code arrived almost instantaneously.
Still waiting for my verification code... The struggle is real xD
MAN it sucks to live on a nintendo ignored country !
Registered with no trouble. Thanks for the helpful guide!
@ThomasBW84 Lies! Brazilian gamers and probably all of south america cannot register to my nintendo as cannot register to miitomo or anything.
@DeathUriel The list of countries was from Nintendo's press release, Brazil was listed for My Nintendo. Hm, I can ask about it but won't hold my breath for a response!
@ThomasBW84 Yeah, I know. I kinda had my hopes up that nintendo for once would remember brazil exists. As this time we actually were in the above mentioned list, I do believe this time we will get something (even if late). I just hope this doesn't end up like NID, for 3DS it worked, and then they just decided to not give a damn on wii U. Still waiting for my Wii U e-shop access. For this and much other situations many brazilians use other countries for their accounts. Never got anything good by having an account with the right country... =(
@Nintendude789 @Miles_Edgeworth
That's a little misleading there Miles...
The PLATINUM points give you access to (most likely) free mii costumes, 3DS themes and other things that they'll announce in the future.
The GOLD points are the ones used to get discount coupons so that you can get digital games for cheap or even free (depending on how many points you have I'm sure).
My guess is that they are rewarding those who pre-register with platinum points to encourage them to use the point in Miitomo (in hope that you'll want more), but they will last 6 months so maybe we'll get the chance to use them on the other Nintendo smartphone games or 3DS themes.
Scroll down to the Points-Based Reward Program on this link:
https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library/events/160203/05.html
@TsukiDeity Oh right gotcha, thanks for your help! Still happy with the platinum point!
So is it worth it to sign up to Miitomo just to get that Platinum Coin thingy?
@WanderingPB Well sort of have it done.
NA
My account - no problems.
youngest son - had changed his email address since singing up for NNID, so had to change that, but think I got it working
oldest son - seems ok
wife - couldn't remember her password and got froze out after trying 3 times
Miitomo
Me - ok
youngest and oldest sons had to use NNID to register as neither NA would let me in
didn't bother w/ wife since NA isn't set up yet
So about 60% OK
@MrSands
You get to choose your region, but are locked to that region with that ID.
If you wanted to access a different region, you have to create a new ID and be signed in as that user ID.
So every time you want to play content from the other region, you need to log out of your existing PSN ID and into that PSN ID to access the content.
You have to do this each time you want to use your other account.
You cannot access the content unless you are signed in on that PSN ID. Two PSN IDs cannot be logged in at once.
Also if you create a PSN ID via PSN Store on PS4 and Vita, you're region will be set to the region of your IP address.
You need create new PSN ID via the PSN website to get a different region.
That includes PS4, PS3, PSP and PSV
Vita on the other hand locks memory cards to region and PSN ID.
Technically Apple lets you have an Apple ID for a different region, but you can only download foreign movies, music and books.
Though you are required to have a real foreign address to do it.
You cannot access a foreign Mac App Store and the foreign iOS App Store
Steam is literally locks your region to your IP address the first time you access Steam, with no way for the user to change it.
Valve implemented this back in Fall of 2015, to prevent Steam users from taking advantage of currency exchange rates and evading local content laws.
Nintendo is just doing what Valve does with Steam now.
Very few people complain about Steam's new region locking.
@Xenocity You can change the region of your steam library. I had to change it from Japanese to British. I had to scan in some ID to prove my nationality and they changed it abut a week later.
I wonder at what time today are we allowed to login and create the Nintendo Account with our NNID?
It's 6:30 in Finland now in the morning, not allowed yet...
One thing I don't get by the way is that you can login and link your Google+ account, but there is no Platinum award for that? Wth?
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