Nintendo of America Offers Free Wii U eShop Credit If You Splash the Cash

I'd like to do this, and I have a 32GB. But honestly that's like no room for anything. I might just use that all for Virtual Console stuff. Can anyone recommend a good external hard drive to use for the Wii U? Thanks.

Why would we get a code for 5 Euros?

And this deal isn't nearly as good as the 30% discount one.

Didn't think this promotion would leave Japan, great news that it is.

Cue the angry responses that say Europe's promotion is better. But if you think about it, this one might be better if you don't want to download Pikmin and W101, but instead enjoy the freedom of buying whatever you want.

I'm in europe going the promo route as wonderful 101 is on my wish list anyway. Tied with the 5 euro essential purchase discount the premium membership offers you can't be fooled there

Well, this is frustrating.

The day Earthbound came out I put $50 in my Wii U eShop account. Shoot...

"Add $50-$99.99 to receive a promotional code for $5
Add $100 or more to receive a promotional code for $10"

So, 10% for $50 or $100, less than that in between? Why not just do a straight 10% like w/ the Premium plan? Silly Nintendo.

I do like the page w/ the 3 games - Pikmin 3, Rayman, W101 across the top. And Game Informer mag has a full 2 page inside cover spread for Pikmin 3. The alarm clocks finally woke up Nintendo's advertising dept.

I just now realized (thanks to this story) that since I have a deluxe set, I can log into the Deluxe Digital site and get discount codes. Derp. Oh well, time to cash in!

I'll use this promotion since I was going to put $50 in anyway. I wanted to snag Puddle and other VC titles I have missed out on so far.

Also, I don't like buying retail games on the eShop. I like buying those in hard copies. Then again, I have about 500 CD's as well. I guess I'm just an old school collector.

I don't do retail downloads, but there are many eShop exclusives coming our way that interest me. This might be a good idea to prepare for the near future.

@ThomasBW84 Glad to hear I'm not the only one, haha. I remember being told about it when I was picking up my Wii U on launch morning at Gamestop, but I just completely forgot about it.

I may do this, but will use the funds for VC titles and eShop only releases - for retail releases I'm physical only as I want to own every Wii U game at some point to have a complete collection.

I wouldnt dream of downloading anything until my purchase is tied to my account and not the console.

@TruenoGT Hope nothing goes wrong with your Wii U in the foreseeable future!

... if it does, you lose everything.

It's that 'Nintendo magic'.

@ThomasBW84 - If you add $50 you get $5, that's 10% back. If you add $100 you get $10, that's 10% back. If you add between $50.01 to $99.99 you get less than 10%. Anybody who added $99.99 would get $5, that's only 5% back. Rather than having that split they should have just said - spend over $50, get 10% back. That's how the Premium digital promotion works. I mean, it's only good for another 5 days anyway, they'll hardly go bankrupt. Plus, anybody who waits to actually buy Pikmin 3 misses out by 2 days. That doesn't seem right.

Either way, it's not as good as buy Pikmin 3 get 30% off W101. Of course the US has about 8% unemployment, I think France and Italy are over 10% and Greece is about 25%, so those countries deserve better deals.
(I'm a big fan of the working man.)

@Yorumi ... but would you prefer to flaff about with Nintendo and their customer services (over the phone or via e-mail) to get ALL of those digital games back, or instantly re-download them off your downloads list within their respective stores on the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360?

Nintendo are still, ridiculously, so far behind with their online infrastructure.

@Moganus Seagate Expansion Desktop drive 2 Tb STBV2000100,has an external power supply.

Cool, thanks. I'll check it out.

@Peek-a-boo I don't know what you're talking about here...in the case of a BROKEN system I've always had them just transfer over the games and ownership anyways (I've replaced 2 3DS's).

You should really adjust your post since the only time which it would be a concern is if you LOST your system or it was STOLEN.

So, 10% back basicly? Mehh, the Deluxe Program is basicly the same I got $5 in credit back for getting Nintendo Land, and they added the $10 extra (takes $50, or 500 points to get $5 credit) to my next $5 credit.

@ThomasBW84 - No, not a bad thing, it's a good thing, they are really trying and I give them credit for that, just seems like for an all DIGITAL promotion they made it more like an old fashioned clipping coupons ad when they've already established the straight 10%.

Ok, enough chit chat, I'm sure you have a an opinion/talking point piece to publish and I need to go pick up my car at the garage. Say hi to the new Prince for me. (Maybe you should hurry up and send him a 3DS before he gets an iPad.)

@SkywardCrowbar I just got reminded by your post too, remind me again where I check for I don't have a clue where. On web browser I presume and on the console itself?!?

@Ernest_The_Crab I do not feel like I need to adjust my post because the subject matter is still the same; you can happily instantly re-download your digital collection on a PS Vita, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, heck even on an iOS or Android phone/tablet!

... with the Wii U, broken or stolen, this simply isn't possible because Nintendo and their online infrastructure is a decade behind everyone else.

You shouldn't have to send your console or handheld away for Nintendo to do this.

It is not 1999 anymore.

For those that have a 32 gb model? I have a terabyte drive, Nintendo devices let you use your own hard drives.

darn it, I added a $50 point card three days ago (brought it seven days ago) bringing my total to 71.27. I guess I can buy 2 $50 point cards before the offer ends.

I may not need it all now but I will later on down the road piece by piece and the extra $10 is better then none at all.

@ULTRA-64 https://p.nintendo.net/deluxe/

Not bad, was just about to load up some funds this week anyway. Was tempted to buy Earthbound right away but glad I waited.

@rodricci @Moganus "Seagate Expansion Desktop drive 2 Tb STBV2000100,has an external power supply."

That's the one I use. It's served me well so far so I second the recommendation.

Perfect.

Might as well add the funds. I'll use them later.

@Yorumi Don't waste your breath. There's no convincing the conspiracy theorists.

@SkywardCrowbar thanks for the tip! I had $40 bucks in codes just sitting there!!

TBH @rjejr already summed up my disdain for this offer.

Surely @ThomasBW84 is playing coy? The tiered offer may be bog standard fare, but when viewed as a dollars to donuts proposition there isn't an incentive until you add WAY more than the first tier. IMHO the consumer should feel rewarded for each and every dollar they put in past $50; tight wadded fists do not engender contented feelings, lol

Anyway perhaps there is some practicality you are considering, I just wanted to establish another viewpoint.

@OptometristLime: I think the 'practicality' being considered is that this is exactly the same sort of promotion retail stores IRL provide — hell, i work at a retail store that does one of those 'for every $50 you spend, get a $10 off coupon blah-blah-blah' things once a month or so. The store chain doesn't do percentages either, and people regularly grab something small on impulse just to hit the tier so they can get their coupon. It's nothing new to the average consumer.

Sure, it'd be great if it was done as a percentage, and yes, it's not good if you only wanted to spend $90 in the eShop or something, but it's an incentive to get people to spend enough to hit those tiers if they hadn't been going to do so anyway where there'd been perhaps no incentive at all before. If you don't like it, no one's forcing you to put down your funds — and for those Pikmin 3 people mentioned earlier, perhaps they can buy the funds a little earlier than they would've otherwise :3

I use a 500GB Western Digital external with my Wii U and it works great. I did purchase a OEM UTStarcom USB Y Adapter Cable for HTC HD2 - YC150B just in case. My external is USB powered so I'm playing it safe. Works flawlessly and it's that pricey (Amazon it). I keep my VC titles on the internal. I use save points and the menu just seems to react a lot quicker if the VC games on ON my Wii U. Besides, they're small. I've yet to purchase any retail downloads aside from the Luigi DLC but have earned a few 5-dollar credits just from regular eShop purchases and such.

Not enticing enough.

@SkywardCrowbar cheers man, sorted =)

Whatever, Club Nintendo still isn't available here in Northern Europe.

@TruenoGT Ditto

@OptometristLime

Don't know about your math, but your "modest" 10% yield can be obtained at $50.
Just throw in a hundred bones and take your free $10. We're all gonna spend that much eventually anyway....

Has it been confirmed that the big games coming out this fall (Wind Waker HD, Donkey Kong, Mario 3D World) will be available on the eShop?

Also any guesses on how many GBs they'll take up? People with 32GB WiiUs...how many retail games can you fit? Thanks!

@daveh30
Another user explained my position with a careful example (@rjejr above) if my post is too bogged down to understand.

@OptometristLime
lol, it's not "bogged down", its just wrong. You're misrepresenting facs because you dont like them. You stated, and I quote, " You will notice that the offer presented requires significant pay in (an astonishing $100) before the consumer can attain a modest 10% yield on their dollar." That is not true. you can add $50 to your account and get an extra $5 credit. thats 10% by any math.

The problem is, you need to forget about percentages because thats not what Nintendo offered you. They offered you a $5 bonus credit if you add $50 to your account, or $10 if you add $100. Period. Not a 10% bonus. Crying because you won't get $7 for adding $70 or $9 if you add $90 is just being stupid . Take whats offered or don't.

Hey, stand down; you're welcome to disagree, but I would encourage you to do so politely.

What I have been trying to express is the some what peculiar situation that befalls those who pay something more than $50, yet less than $100. A percentage based approach would compensate any dollar amount, greater than $50 in this case. Perhaps being slightly more attractive to someone who can afford to put in $60 or $70, but may fall shy of the full amount.

Also "bogged down" was a reference to my own ineptness at expressing a point, rather than some dig at you...

EDIT I've removed the offending post, and am comfortable with TBD's analysis really.

So, guys, Cloudberry Kingdom, Ducktales Remastered and Pokemon Rumble U are all out in August, and EarthBound just dropped on Thursday. Even if you're like me and you only buy games on disc, there's still enough eShop-only stuff coming before Labour Day that $50 shouldn't be too big of a deal.

I'm going to buy the digital version of The Wonderful 101, so I may as well throw $100 on.

At the bottom of the page it reads its only valid for US and Canada, I thought Mexico and Brazil (where eShop and deluxe program are also available, unlike the rest of latin America) would also be elegible since it uses your Nintendo Network ID and email and doesn't looks like it uses club.nintendo. I can just change regions, create an ID in those countries and use an international credit card, but maybe the difference in exchange rates consumes the extra $10, which defeats the purpose of all this hassle.

@ThomasBW84 - "why I'd care about one wealthy baby over all the others is beyond me."

Sorry TW, didn't mean to upset you. I'ld gladly trade you 1 sexting Weiner or Client #9 for baby talk though, so I can see how I could have hit a nerve. No mas anglophilia, I'll stick w/ videogames.

A 5% discount is about as wimpy as you can get. Even Bed Bath and Beyond gives 20% all the time.

No, not enough incentive for me to drop the money before making any purchase. 5% is too little.

@Peek-a-boo Except you'd need to send in your console for repairs anyways. You should still readjust your post.

@theadrock13 @GreatPlayer

Check your math guys. It isn't 5%.

@daveh30 , $5 rebate / $99 spent = 5%
Now admittedly you could spend $50 and the same rebate would then be 10% which begs the question: why wouldn't Nintendo make it a sliding scale rebate to encourage more spending? But IMO, even 10% is a weak rebate. That barely covers most sales tax.

@daveh30 What's the big deal when the eshop titles are usually more expensive than the retail version?

If you actually pay in advance, Nintendo probably thinks that you are more likely to spend it (because what you have already paid is already a suck cost to you). You end up spending more money on buying games than if you do not pay in advance.

@Yorumi is right. You are getting a discount for adding the funds and yet another one after you spend them, in whatever game(s) you want, not any "selection of games". I also liked that Nintendo was kind enough to advertise this via email.

I usually charge $20 at a time by using prepaid cards, so I am not sure I will take advantage of this. I want Code of Princess, though, and this promo only applies for the Wii U eShop.

@GreatPlayer

No one said you need to use it to buy retail games. It's not a discount for a certain game, its bonus cash for depositing to your account. With games like Earthbound, Cloudberry Kingdom, Ducktales, and who knows what else for VC being release, I just really can't take anyone seriously who's gonna complain about free money.

@daveh30 Free money, bonus cash? They are credits that will be earned back by Nintendo. In addition, not everyone will want Earthbound, Ducktales... This so-called free-money is not really free - you need to pay (at least $50) for this so-called free-money.
Logically think.

@GreatPlayer

checks profile Australia, Mate?! So you're complaining about a promotion that isn't available in your area anyway?

@daveh30
Can't I have an US account while being in Australia?

Think before opening your month.

@theadrock13 glad we can agree on this bum deal!

@Moganus Toshiba Canvio Stor.e 2tb. Listed on Nintendo's website as compatible and recommended, I picked one up brand new for around £80 works perfectly, looks aesthetically good as I got te black one to match my Wii U on November 30th at the same time I bought my wii u. Looks, works perfectly and at 2tb I've all the storage I'll ever need, and all came in for less than a PS4 with 4 times as much storage space, 3 games a controller AND of course the game pad. Better graphics with the PS4 and this bundle will set you back £630.

I love how anti-digital peeps love to forget about the disadvantages of physical when trying to justify their decision with "good luck when your system breaks" and "have fun talking to customer service to get your games back." Like I can say "good luck when your disc is scratched and you can't play" or "good luck when you lose your game," etc. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, so let's not pretend. For me, I prefer digital because the pros outweigh the cons and the chances of my Wii U spontaneously combusting are far less than my kids losing or scratching one of our $60 games. And, even if your Wii U breaks, you can get your games back - even if it is currently a broken and annoying system. It'll get better, especially if we support it.

@DESS-M-8 Ha. Thanks for going on our completely irrelevant (and wrong) anti-PS4 rant, buddy.

Why this is not a general thing? I´m from Mexico but i put money in my eshop. I could receive the code in my ddp.nintendo.com like the deluxe offer i have. I always download my $5 code no matters i´m from Mexico, but Nintendo does this promo only for USA and Canada, not for America. It is a lame.

@Moganus
Irrelevant / random and I can't wrap my head around what he's saying at all...

I just received my code for $10!