Club Nintendo Coming To North America

That Wii-Remote holder looks like an ice bag you'd put a bottle of champagne in...

So you would need nearly 30 DS games to earn enough coins for the G&W collection? Furthermore you probably will need Nintendo published games for the coins, just like in Europe. Jeez, the pricing's absurd as always. I'm glad I just bought my Japanese copy on ebay for cheap.
Still it's nice to see you getting this feature now, too.

Oh, that's really nice - the login button does not work in Firefox. Bravo, Nintendo! What better a way to show your fans that you love them then to force them to use Internet Explorer, the most (insert explicative four letter word here) web browser ever!

The site is running very slowly and some buttons aren't working all the time just yet. I guess it's due to the large amount of traffic the site is currently receiving. Just be patient, it should level out over the next few days. (Hopefully!)

So how many hundreds of dollars do you have to spend before having enough coins for Game and Watch?

Oh well.
It'll be nice to have coins but it'll be years before I have enough to buy anything.

@Alex - I have enough games to get G&WC, but I have to migrate my My Ninty account over, so it'll be a few days before I'm ready to register my software. It takes 16 Wii Disc games to get one copy of G&WC.

I've migrated but the site is so lagged and slow currently I can do little else for the moment bar sling customer services a message asking them to link my copy of World of Goo to my profile.

Well, I just fired up IE7 and logged in with my old My Nintendo username and password, and got redirected back to the login page. I hit the registration link, give them my email, and they tell me to enter my old password to get rewards, I do that, then I give my birthdate and some other info, click the "get rewards" link, and I'm back at the register/login screen - Seems pretty broken to me...

@mayhem: I have had my MyNinento account linked to my Wii ever since I got the system. If you had your accounts linked, then every VC/Wiiware game you ever downloaded should already be registered.

Wow @ the Game & Watch Collection and the Hanafuda Cards. Hopefully we in Europe also get this.

MEH it's only for USA and Canada as usual.

Sorry if this is a stupid question, but what is the Game & Watch Collection???

I'm not sure if australia has club nintendo or not. We can register products such as mario kart wii and wii fit, but so far as I can tell, there is no rewards page or anything like that. I'm baffled.

@Sharecrow, I looked up game & watch on the rewards page of the american nintendo site and all it said was that it lets you 'travel back in time'. So it must be some kind of time machine.

So, if VC games are all worth 10 coins, that means a Wii Points card can earn you more than a DS game.
Now we know why we're getting so many bad NES and SMS games.

@Sharecrow
It's a collection of three Game & Watch games: Donkey Kong, Oil Panic, and Greenhhouse. They are pretty much exact ports. Game & Watch games were Nintendo's (I think) earliest handhelds to come out and featured a very, very basic LCD screen with pre-printed graphics.

As for Club Nintendo, this is awesome considering I have so many games to register. I think 800 coins will be easy to get considering I have bought 40 Wii Shop Channel games and several Wii and DS games (only problem is you have to email Nintendo if you want to register Wii Shop Channel games that were purchased before Club Nintendo launched). I don't think I'll buy the G&W Collection, but hopefully (hopefully!) they'll come out with the Super Mario Galaxy Soundtrack!

How many coins do you guys from VC Reviews have considering you guys have probably bought a ton of Wii Shop Channel games? You guys are probably bathing in coins!

Hope your'e all looking forward to loads of useless ringtones and wallpapers and once a year about 2 copies of a DS game going up and being claimed within 15 seconds.
Seriously don't get your hopes up if this is run anything like the STARS shop that NOE operates.

@ Virus
I don't think they download every single VC game because the reviews come up way too soon for that to be true. They typically just use the original copy of the game for reviewing purposes considering little, if anything, changes in the ports.

Anyways, the site said that my My Nintendo account is now connected to Club Nintendo but I can't log in. Do I have to wait for a confirmation email or something?

What's this news got to do with the Virtual Console btw?

As for nothing changing in the port, maybe in America but in PAL regioins I'm really rather more interested in hearing what has changed (or rather praying something has)

Its great to see some more news articles popping up here. Since WiiWare world, a whole heap of news related articles went to that site instead of this one. And, the more news articles that pop up here, the less moaning I have to read re game x not released yet, or nintendo didnt give me enough stuff

Question: What's the point of needing your address when u sign up?

After about and hour and a half of trying I've only managed to register one thing, and none of my VC titles are giving me coins. I hope that the technical problems don't take too long to sort out.

@ Nintendork: Uhh, so they can send you the special items you buy? Unless you don't want them of course

And only VC titles released from October onwards give you coins, I believe Digital Champ is the oldest game to give some.

Awww yeah! At last Club Ninty arrives to the states! I quite fancy that G&W collection, the Hanafuda cards, and that DS rack, but it's gonna take ages for me to get enough coins for one of them, let alone all three....

And wait, where's Tingle's Balloon Fight!?!?

@Drake. Your kidding, right?

What's this news got to do with the Virtual Console btw?

Any VC game bought from this point onwards will be worth 10 Coins here.

This sounds really gay. Points to buy crappy cards with Nintendo characters printed on them? Lame.
They give us junk on the VC for weeks at a time and then launch a website that, in essence, gives you nothing. I feel no love from Nintendo for being a loyal fan of the last 20 years. Boo.

blows that the games I already registered don't earn me anything

Thank you VCR for a preview on what Australia could be getting but of those things there i would be getting the Hanafuda cards .

@Drake
So basically what your saying is that there are only five or six VC games that earn coins. Beautiful!

No mexico? > damn

Anyone else having password problems? I transferred my MyNintendo account over to Club Nintendo and after I did that suddenly my old password doesnt work anymore, so I had it reset and it worked for a little bit and then it didn't work again, is someone hackin my stuff up or...?

@ Nintendork: Uhh, so they can send you the special items you buy? Unless you don't want them of course
So I guess that means Americans won't have to enter that in every time they want to get a gift. That said our one used to require that info...

@GodsUncle. The site is overloaded and buggy. It will fix itself in time, just wait a bit.

And only VC titles released from October onwards give you coins, I believe Digital Champ is the oldest game to give some.
D'oh!

It takes 16 Wii Disc games to get one copy of G&WC.
Yeah I expected something like that.
Unfortunately I probably won't buy that many Nintendo games.

This is great having Club Nintendo in America...but...what about EarthBound? Aren't they going to do anything about this situation?

totally worthless

@Alex's 1st post-1 point usually equals $1. So $800. I have 400 points now and would have more but Gamecube games don't count!

So basically what your saying is that there are only five or six VC games that earn coins. Beautiful!
Here's what counts:
-Boogerman
-Digital Champ
-Earthworm Jim
-Enduro Racer
-Forgotten Worlds
-Gradius 2
-Mega Man 3
-Metal Slug 2
-Secret of Mana
-Sonic the Master System Hedgehog 2
-Space Harrier
-Space Invaders
-Street Fighter 2: Special Champion Edition

And anything released from now on.

I have a problem. So I have 50 coins so far, for registering Brawl. I tried registering Crossbow Training. It's own my list of registered games, but I haven't recieved coins for it or a survey, and Excitetruck won't register at all, and I'm pretty sure it's on the acceptable list. Why is this happening? Someone help!

"totally worthless"

Yeah, you're getting Nintendo merchandise for free. Completely worthless.

@Cheezy: Yeah, I had registered Crossbow training and completed the survey, but then it said Whoops the info. you're looking for wasn't found! and now everytime I try to do the survey it says that!

@Shadx I had that same problem, and i got the coins for brawl eventually. I haven't gotten anything from Crossbow Training. Is there some sort of glitch?

As always, just for usa and canada ,
so a quick question:

if I know someone who lives in usa, could I use his address information???

Guys.
Wait till the site works out all the kinks before screwing with your account.

/common sense

I really want the Game and Watch Collection for the DS, but it keeps giving me an "invalid" message everytime I type in a game, even though I get it right.

it keeps giving me an "invalid" message everytime I type in a game, even though I get it right.

Is my post somehow not showing up on your screen?

Well when do you assume the site will work? And how aome everytime I finish a survey it freezes after I hit finish? It went it for Brawl, so that worked, but I'm not sure about Wii Play cuz it won't let me in! Hope this is just part of the glitch.

I'm 100.01% sure Nintendo is working on the site right now and will have it working sometime soon. Most likely within a couple days, if not tomorrow.

People just need to be patient.
You guys haven't had Club Nintendo for years now, so a couple more days won't kill you.
Especially when messing with your account while the site isn't working might cause problems in the future.

cool idea+prizes, but not completely [of course.] why aren't all the VC titles acceptable? also, adding Club Nintendo™ to the Nintendo Channel [--or something similar on the Wii™/DSi™] would make registration more convenient [probably].

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!
I'm actually as excited as a little kid right now!

What are those Hanafuda Cards?

Lack of Tingle's Balloon Fight was disappointing but not surprising, since we never got Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland; those are the two DS games I've imported.

But that Game and Watch "collection" is SUCH a HORRIBLE deal! If you really want to play some classic Game and Watch games, you're better off dropping as little as $5 (at Gamestop) for Game and Watch Gallery 4 on GBA. Sure, it's not dual-screen authentic, but it's close enough given the insane coin cost for this!

I was wondering what was up with the site...so far, I've registered Animal Crossing City Folk. I had some old codes I haven't used, but I don't know where they went. Sounds like they probably wouldn't work anyway...

Ways to improve coin earning include getting a game within a month of its release (extra 10), or "intending" to purchase a game (when you get it and do your survey, you'll get another extra 10 for that). I got all that info straight off the Club Nintendo site (when it was almost kinda sorta working).

I tried logging in, but it didn't work. I clicked forgot password(also I set it to remember password, and it didn't remember.) and it recognized my account name, but not my email. I had my password sent to my user name so it will appear in my email. That didn't work of course, and I need help. Of course, I've been having problems with my yahoo account and sending passwords recently.

Do you think they'll let me register my R4?
...yuck yuck yuck

Well, we just got confirmation of the expected problem. I tried to sign in again, and got this error message:

"Due to high traffic volumes, the sign in function may not be working properly. If you are sure your username and password are correct, please keep trying."

It's probably just as well that I can't sign in, because when I can, it still won't let me actually register anything. I hope this gets fixed SOON...

@Neo Yor: I doubt it will let you register products bought outside of the US and Canada.

So...what are those Hanafuda Cards?

Theyre the playing cards that Nintendo made when they first started in 1889. The Mario ones are a throwback to those old old old times.

Also the game is listed as Koi-Koi in Clubhouse Games, which is where I learned how to play it. Well a little....

Is it fun? I read the wikipedia page, but it just left more questions than answers.

@ WarioFan63
And thanks, BTW

@Big A2
But the games that are sold here in Chile are the US version. And my games even have the PIN number inside. =/

I can remember at the old Nintendo website there was a text behind every VC game you bought, which said that you will get stars for them in the future, but nothing happened in that way =(.

And now i see that America gets this feature =(.
(I know, just for some games.)

@ Hilanderous: Hanafuda is a great game, especially on Clubhouse Games/42 All-Time Classics, but it is not easy to understand^^.

Well, the site seems to be running quite a bit better now. Not sure if that's because of low traffic (it's only 7:15 am Eastern right now) or the site was fixed. I have a decent 130 coins already, but need to find some other codes I lost in my house...

Exactly, it'll be little to no American traffic to the site. I did all the surveys this morning and they flew through compared to the lag fest of last night.

@Stardust - I guess I should have been more specific. Linked WoG to my account? Yes. Given me my 10 coins for it? No.

Currently accrued 590 coins, so WoG will take me to the magical 600 required for Platinum status. I wonder what free gifts will be offered in June compared to Japan?

NoE doesn't count, Japanese and NA goodies are far better

Time, and availability, will ultimately tell.
In about 5 years of the EU STARS equivilent the only decent thing I ever found to buy was a Legend of Zelda soundtrack. Other than that it was all complete tat or gone in 60 seconds.
I hope you get a better service but I doubt it. The best thing we can spend STARS on now is wiipoints and again they only become available in ludicrously useless amounts like 100 points once in a blue moon.
The Japanese seem to have the only decent service.

"And only VC titles released from October onwards give you coins, I believe Digital Champ is the oldest game to give some."

Yeeeeeah, everybody go and get this fantastic game just for the sake of the points. xD

Well, at least it's something a bit interesting from Big N. The dollars-spent to coins-gained ratio seems to favor $5 VC titles (or the cheap "discount bin" Wii game titles).

The offerings seem a bit thin for rewards so far, with a heavy leaning toward DS users/fans. And 800 coins seems a bit MUCH for the classic Hanafuda cards. Maybe if they were the original MIB sets rather than rerelease.........then maybe 800 coins. But then I'm an admitted cheapskate!

As impressive as the water proof ice chest Wiimote holder is, I think I'll have to sit on what coins I'll have until some better choices for non DS rewards appear. I wonder how useful that gamerack would be for books?

A pity that Game and Watch collection doesn't have a few more classic titles in it. I think it was the Donkey Kong one I had an original G&W of back in the day. I'd love to still have it or some others, but any sort of emulation of them needs to have a bit more to it than just those 3 games. This rewards setup is at least better than the nothing there was before it, and some additional value from the money spent on Wii related stuff is hard to knock.

And folks, the first rule of New Release Websites/Computer Programs/Big-Ticket-Electronics club, give it a few days/weeks/months before charging in........ it's always more satisfying watching people run each other to get in the door, the checkstand, the ticket booth, etc when watching from the sidelines. Less fun watching it from inside the insanity.
I'll sign up for my points in a couple days, but still probably during off hours just to be safer and faster

But it sure is neat to see how elaborate the corporations are getting these days to get people to register their stuff and their personal information. I remember back in MY day all we go was a toaster.

Oh, and thanks for the article Corbie. As said previously, it's a relief to have some articles that don't tend to invoke (justified?) criticism of what Nintendo is up to in relation to the VC.

unfortunately if the EU shop is anything to go by, there'll be nothing left when you've finished watching the rush. I'd get them while you can as in Europe the quality items are gone fast and then not replaced for months.

In a word, whack.

@post 66: If that's true I'm not getting any coins for mega man 3 for some weird reason.

Is it fun?
Yeah I think once you get the hang of it, its pretty fun. Very tricky to understand I thought.

If that's true I'm not getting any coins for mega man 3 for some weird reason.
You may have to fill out the webform. Theres something in the Club Nintendo FAQ about Wii Shop games registered prior to Club Nintendo.

Or they just dont have all the kinks worked out with the compatible Wii Shop games yet.

Well, almost all my games are not nintendo published, except Crossbow training, but thats glitched. I'm not sure how my VC games will hold up though.

I have: Golden Ax 1 and 2, Wrecking Crew, Bubble Bobble, Metroid, Super Castlevania 4, TMNT NES and Krby Crystal Shards.

For WiiWare I only have Defend your Castle and Gyrostarr (don't play them too much).

About time something like this was released. Easily the best thing Nintendo has ever thought of.... other than, ya know..... their game consoles...

Anyways, I've already racked up 480 coins! Already past the halfway mark to getting those hanafuda cards.

I'm at 500 which is nice.
Maybe I'll get that Game & Watch collection sometime soon.

@Shadx
Youre in the dark there! Im afraid none of those are eligible for Club Nintendo coins.

Also as long as were bragging, right now I have 1320 coins. More once I find my stuff for Wii Fit, Mario Sluggers, and the Pokemon Mystery Dungeons.

@ WarioFan63
1320? You magnificent bastard!

@Betagam7: Yeah, that's sounds about right. But if the shop support/stock turns out to be that thin, I'd be fine with not even playing their game. Besides, I'd like to wait for something to be added to the shop I'd feel is worth the high coin count. I'll definitely try to be quick about it when that time comes.

That rack will come in handy, and I definitely have my eyes on that Game & Watch collection. Now to sign up.

Edit: Well, this sucks. As it turns out I need those stupid registration cards that I always throw out, so I was only able to register two games, and I only points for one of them.

Edit again: Alright, I found another game, and this time I was able to get points for it!

Well, major bummer for me since none of my VC or WiiWare games came out after October or I would've had 400 extra points! Oh well.

I see now.

Only 1st party games. No controllers or other N hardware. And the Wii itself doesn't net you any coins either...... (the biggest dollar item a person can buy from them and it nets no coins............and I thought I was a cheapskate)

And did I read their page correctly, I need to send in an email (tech support request form) to get credit for (some?) my PreClubLaunch VC games that I own?

The pertinent paragraph reads:

To have Virtual Console games that were downloaded prior to creating the Wii Shop Channel/Club Nintendo link added to your list of registered products, please contact us via email by clicking here. You will need to provide us with all pertinent information (name, email address used when setting up your Club Nintendo account, Wii serial number, etc.). Not providing all of the pertinent information will increase the time it takes to find a solution and receive a reply. You can also call us at 1-800-255-3700. Representatives are available from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m., Pacific Time, 7 days a week.

Is there hope for our older VC game puchases, albeit a bit clunky? (Of course the subset of VC titles that qualify for surveys is still limited......)

Yes, already downloaded VC and Wiiware games that qualify for coins can be exchanged for them.

I already have 460 coins, I just got to register 5 more of my DS games. Then I can get a whopping 610 coins!

It took me a while yesterday to log-in and connect my My Nintendo account with my Club Nintendo account. I think Nintendo's servers were just overwhelmed initially with everyone trying to access it at the same time.
...
(edit) That website is buggy as heck. I'll wait a few days and then try again.

I finally managed to take all the surveys for my previously registered games and the total came out to 720 coins. Not bad considering they are not yet offering surveys for downloads as of yet which should then bring me to a respectable 750 coins. I'm at platinum status already, though. I'm waiting for an american version of the SNES classic controller before I spend any of those coins.

Registered stuff till I got to 800 and ordered G&W. I want to ask how long does it take for wiiware/vc purchases to be synced with my registered games list, because they didn't show up after I registered my wii.

@Rashoodeus
It takes a few days. I only have 1 VC/WiiWare game and it just came on today

BTW CLUB NINTY PWNS! I can't wait to get my hands on this stuff. It makes me want to go to the store and buy cheap ninty games to get more coins lol

Man, they need to fix their login system. I have yet to succeed.

@Adamant: Thanks for the confirm. I guess I'll jump through the hoop and see where I land (or more appropriately, where my VC purchases land).

I'm glad to see this finally made it to the U.S. I wish it would have been available when the NES first came out.

The site's been running smoothly for me every time I checked since yesterday morning. I'm still waiting for the coins from my old online purchases, as well as one I made yesterday. Turns out you're supposed to expect download game coins to take a couple days to show up (or for the surveys to get the coins to show up, whichever applies).

I'd REALLY like to know how some of you guys managed to have such a huge stockpile of codes just lying around, though. I mean COME ON, hundreds, even over a THOUSAND coins? That's CRAZY! I'm in Mickeymac's boat here, having thrown away a lot of my cards already, back when they weren't really worth much. I still think there's a few lying around in my room, but I can't find them...

I'd go and do it, but....is the Game and Watch collection...the only thing I'd even care about, even worth registering about 20 of my games? Plus, am I guaranteed that a few months from now, after I register all these games, they won't put up something better?

Guys if you're skeptical and think that maybe something better will come along check the japanese store, because the same items that were offered there are offered on the american store, and the ones that haven't been brought ove yet are likely to at a future date. Noteworthy stuff include: Exclamation warriors (voice controlled ds game), Tingle's balloon fight DS (I have this, it's balloon fight with tingle as the character), SNES wii controller, wii tv remote, and a puzzle toy by gunpei yokoi

EDIT: Btw to those who ordered anything, check your account. They're preparing the items to be shipped

@Captain_Konami
I don't believe Adamant is right because I emailed Nintendo and their response was less than enjoyable. While it was a general reply, it hinted that earlier VC and WiiWare games would not net you coins (although this contradicts what their site says). I am hesitant to say we'll never get coins for our past games, but seeing that my account now says I have registered my VC games but hasn't given me coins, I don't see me getting any.

Yeah Virus, that actually was more what I was originally anticipating. Everything about this setup says "Hey, we're here to make you happy, now please don't bother us."

If that is actually the case, GEE I guess it sure is a good thing I have one single registration code from my Wii Play.

All I can say is that it better start racking up points on my future VC purchases (the enthusiasm for such getting slimmer and slimmer all the time), else I'll then also have to blame Big N for wasting my time.

No kidding. Oh well, for now, I'm not pissed at Club Nintendo because none of its products interest me. GW Collection, however cool it is, is not worth 800 dollars. Heh, there's a reason Nintendo uses "coins" instead of dollars.

I wonder if the American Club Nintendo would have soundtrack CD's as rewards just like the japanese Club Nintendo does.

That being said, how good are those Hanafuda cards?

I have 570, but some of the games I've registered that require surveys haven't given me surveys or coins. What's up with that, now?

@Cheezy

Only certain games give you coins. Here's the list.

Looks like a great site. Shame it doesn't effing work.

100th COMMENT!
Sorry, that just came out. =]

@Virus: I said VC/WW games that were eligible for coins could get registerd if you mailed Nintendo. A large amount of them are not so.

That being said, how good are those Hanafuda cards?
http://hdrlying.com/2007/06/24/design-works-special-super-mario-hanafuda-from-club-nintendo/

@STarwolf or anyone else-So is there a game or something for Hanafuda cards? Or are they merely collectibles? And how many are in the CN set?

Club Nintendo is awsome!
It brings me back to the days when Nintendo Power was new and for thoes of you who are old enough ..Nintnedo Fun Club.
I think the point system is cool espically for kids and it gives you something to work towards. They actually have pretty cool things like the Nintendo DS game card holder with the Super Mario Bros. theme. And the DS game rack. And for thoes of you who are whining...KNOCK IT OFF!! ...what do you expect? its free stuff. And the Hanafuda cards are similar to the cards that Nintendo Power put in special issues years ago, there just collectables. I think its a great idea and very cool.

I think people who tell other people to "KNOCK IT OFF!!" need to knock it off. People need to stop acting like......... and let other people speak their minds without others trying to beat them down.

Sorry, off topic, but I think it's important. It's still the Net, and people verbally abusing other people won't go away, but hopefully some of those that would, might find just enough maturity to skip doing so if reminded that it reflects badly on themselves more than accomplishing anything else.

Only certain Ninty games give you coins? God, that sucks! Now I see why I didn't get anything for Excitetruck...

So far I registered 2 Wii games and have 100 coins. If anyone's still posting here, I would like to know how you register VC or Wiiware games? How do you get the PIN number for those!?

Mr.Cheez, in my post #80 I copy/pasted the text from the FAQ page on the Club website that addresses registering VC games purchased prior to linking your Wii Shop account to your Club account.

If you go to the actual FAQ page on the Club website, and scroll down to right near the bottom, you'll find that text and a link in the text that will take you to a general Customer Support Form page to fill in and send in to Nintendo requesting registration of your VC games.

Just to inform people as much as possible, this is the response I got to my initial use of the form to ask about registering my VC games:

Hello,

Virtual Console and WiiWare games downloaded before you linked your Wii Shop Channel Account to your My Nintendo or Club Nintendo accounts will not be registered. In order for me to register them in your Club Nintendo account I need you to reply to this email with the following information:

Name

Home address

Email address

Wii console serial number

Game titles

Please make sure to include your original email as well as this response when you reply.

One more thing: It’s important to note that not all WiiWare and Virtual Console games are eligible for surveys to earn coins. More importantly, those surveys will not appear until four weeks after the game is registered. You can find a complete list of qualifying titles at our Club Nintendo FAQ. I’ve put a direct link to the FAQ below:

http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/club/en/faq.jsp#register_all

Sincerely,

T. J. Geise
Nintendo of America Inc.

Hope this is of help to folks.

It's disappointing that Club Nintendo was launched before the US and we STILL don't have our Stars Catalogue!

"Club Nintendo is currently unavailable due to site maintenance" Lame!

Yeah, and does anybody know why and for how long?

No, but I'm guessing it might be as long as after New Years. Most offices are either not staffed or partially staffed this last week and next week. They probably just got overwhelmed and want to wait until most of the problems are solved before relaunching it (for the third time).

That long!?! Oh my god that sucks, I thought it was just for a day, then I waited another day, then another day.

I know! I wanna register some games over here!

^All I have yet to get my coins from is 1 Wiiware title, but I am also disappointed that the site is just...down.

Great news! It's back up WOOHOO!!

YAY!!!!!

I got a silver DS lite case, it's nice!