Nintendo Is Planning Its Own Loot Crate-Style Subscription Service

Nintendo take all the monies.

I might try it out for a few months. A few t-shirts, a keychain to replace my Auto Assault one (keeping dead MMOs alive, in keychain form!) might be nice. Can always do with more t-shirts.

Yet Nintendo still refuse to sell things like soundtracks and quirky merch of anything other than Mario? I would think there is a big market in unexplored IP's and retro gear.

Depending on price, I would be interested in this

Definately interested, but it depends what kind of stuff is including. I wouldn't, for example, want to recieve a crate including old amiibo that I already own!

Is this where all the CN-exclusive stuff goes that nobody wanted?

I've never been a fan of these boxes, as I'm not really one for clutter, but even I'd be tempted to try out a Nintendo one. Unfortunately the Z-Boxes haven't been well received, and it's the same people that would be putting these together. Hopefully it's not just an excuse to get rid of all those cleaning cloths and keyrings they have left over from Club Nintendo.

Ugh seriously? This better come to America too :T

You've got my interest.

This will be part of the Club Nintendo replacement. Calling it now.

It's probably just a way to get rid of their old stock from Club Nintendo.

Well I'm about to lose my job as of this morning, but even this is too tempting that I may just have to put money I won't have down on it.

What's the point of this? Almost no one in the UK likes Nintendo.

I'm liking this, especially if that ALBW soundtrack is present!

"Meanwhile in America..."

@manu0 It's probably a test to see if it's worth rolling out elsewhere. The UK being small is a good place for such a test that's likely expensive to do.

I thought Zavvi runs the Nintendo UK store anyway. Makes sense really, Zavvi do these mystery boxes and now so do Nintendo UK filled with all the items from the club nintendo europe store that was left i would guess. I'll buy it!

@manu0 @FragRed Actually people in the UK really like buying these mystery boxes. They are rather popular.

@manu0 speak for yourself bud, I'm sure wherever you're from, the PS4 is the highest selling console, COD has sold the most each year for the last 1000000000 years and all your neighbours have played Flappy Bird. The UK is no different or unusual.

I'm jelly my British amiibros! Nintendo really needs better services like this in the US/Can region. We are more than 50% of their global sales yet we don't have an online store like the UK and we have a fraction of the goodies Japan gets. Come on Nintendo, show us some love and take my money! I'd try this out for 3 months to see how it goes for sure.

YESSSSSSSSSS

@MrGawain They do it...only in Japan™

Seriously, if they just made their Fire Emblem soundtracks available, I'd be all over them!
Well, the ones for Path of Radiance, Radiant Dawn, Awakening, and Fates. And Blazing Sword, and Sacred Stones, and Sword of Seals...
I want to stop, but I can't.

Hmmm... Well Zavvi in Glasgow was one of the most poorly run shops I've ever been in so I'm not holding out hope for these.

WHERE DO I SIGN?

This is amazing. I've had a few boxes but I'm always wary of getting stuff I have no interest in, from games I don't play. If it's always Nintendo-themed, I can't be disappointed. YES.

I love my Loot crates and I would LOVE these. Any Nintendo themed merchandise in a crate is always appreciated. But a crate solely based on Nintendo products? Yes please and thank you. I'm not even going to cater to the thought of this service not coming to the States.

I don't really get what a "Loot Crate" is. Is it a box full of T-shirts, keychains and other ambiguous stuff or what?

@nessisonett That's a different zavvi. That company went bankrupt and bought by The Hut Group.

Random Nintendo stuff? Me please.

Meanwhile in Brazil... we don't even have the flippin' Wii U eshop! The eshop of all things! Buying Nintendo stuff (including their games) is an adventure now. A rather expensive one. And don't get me started on the Amiibos! Argh! Sorry for the rant. After all, life should be more than obsessing over games and alike.
@FragRed sorry to hear(read) about your job situation. Hope you can get a new and good one soon. Fingers crossed.

That picture is SO cute!!!!!!!

@FragRed oh man, sorry to hear about your job! Bummer , but don't worry, something better will come up very soon for you.

On these Nintendo loot box things.Yeah I also think it's gonna be part of the new Club Nintendo too. Just hope it doesn't stay in the UK for years while the rest of us in Europe can just watch on with envy.

@juliobrand Thanks, I'm hoping so too.

Maybe this is part of a wider Nintendo plan, to turn all future game purchases into real life adventures based upon Mario worlds!

@juliobrand hi there, I've always wondered. Could you guys in Brazil just buy a WiiU from Europe and have it posted over or would you get stung with import charges an stuff? I hear the prices of consoles are crazy high there that I don't know how people even afford the games let alone a console. What's the most popular system there at the moment?

Of course never will happen in the US. I'm kind of tired of this UK love affair. Ok I get it Nintendo you hate us in NA.

@FragRed Man, I am very sorry to hear that. As someone who has been fired in the past and is experiencing a bit of turbulence in the workplace now, I know how stressful it can get. I really hope you're able to land on your feet soon.

@readyletsgo Thanks! Making me feel better already! 😁

I'm sure this will be something Nintendo worldwide as you said, part of the Club Nintendo replacement but for now they're testing the market with a small nation. So consider us Brits guinea pigs.

@burninmylight Thanks, they are certainly tough times when looking for work. I'm just glad to have money saved so I can buy a few games such as Super Mario Maker. Unfortunately, this was due to Government cut backs.

@FragRed ah God, public sector job was it? sucks dude.

Well at least you have a couple quid put by for games, maybe take the opportunity to power through your backlog of games?

Also, I wanna be a guinea pig too! I'm only in Dublin like.

Hm...this would be interesting. But can America not get completely gipped? 'Cause lately it's been feeling like Nintendo kinda hates us.
Edit: Just read the article again. If this doesn't make it here, I will be very disappointed..

Nintendo UK consistently outclasses Nintendo of America now in every department. Club Nintendo, The Nintendo UK Store, special events, and now this. Nintendo actually believes in engaging and growing its British fanbase, which is something I envy greatly.

$$$ ↓

@readyletsgo No, I was human resources for a county wide organisation that receives our income from the government. But either way they screwed me over.

I wish the whole or Ireland would be included. It makes no sense, it's all right next door to us. Only a tiny bit of water separate us.

Nice. I might have try these out if they have good merchandise inside.

Well. take my money. take it all. for what's left of it anyway. I belong to you now, nintendo. I should be a major Shareholder at that point.

@readyletsgo Hey! I'll try to be brief, but there's a lot to cover...
Well, we'd had Nintendo officially around these parts for a while - From the middle of Snes lifespan (we even had 8-bit Nes officially released in the 90's) until N64. So no GameCube support. Nintendo came back here with Wii, problem is they left us again at the end of 2014. If I'm not wrong, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3ds was our swan song. There are still Wii Us and 3ds left in big stores for the ones who still want to join the party though.
However, new releases are a nightmare because now we can only either buy from importers (we have an ebay of sorts here called "Mercado Livre") or some small stores. Price is an issue here as the market competition is not that high. Naturally, we can import ourselves but taxes here are 60% on the final price (game+shipping fees). And from Europe is a kind of a dealbreaker because of the region lock. Our systems are the American ones. We'd better try to save for a trip overseas and buy the games/amiibos ourselves. (Unfortunately, this is not a viable option for everyone).
Finally, I do believe Ps2 is still the king around here closely followed by Xbox 360. Brazil is funny that way. We have lots of people with Ps4s and Xones but they still need time to reach the mentioned (last) last generation systems. Heck, we can still find Master Systems in stores. Not leftovers, mind you. Newly produced ones!
P.s. That wasn´t brief at all. My bad!

@juliobrand Wow that's actually quite cool that you still get newly produced Master Systems. Though I would perhaps question the quality.

I want to get a Master System at some point, remember playing these back in the day. The one we had came with the snail maze game built in.

@FragRed I don't like those wider plans! Give my comfort zone back!

@FragRed These Master Systems are official releases but they don´t have a cartridge slot so they only come with games in their memory (the last model has 132 in it - some Sonic and Alex Kidd ones and other classics but also a lot of shovelware). They're good quality and sort of cheap - give or take $40/£25 each. Good as an introductory old-school console for kids, I suppose.

We have no idea how much Nintendo UK is involved with this, just like we have no idea how much they're involved with the Nintendo UK store. This sounds like it's a promotion that's being run by the store, which is in turn run by Zavvi, so it's not Nintendo themselves. For that reason, it's probably not going to be used as a test for other regions, and you can't really blame NoA for not getting involved.

@FragRed ah I get you now, still sorry to hear!

And yeah, lots of Irish don't understand the whole not sending things to Ireland like on Amazon and stuff it's only and extra pounds or Euro on the price, it's just silly nowadays. I'd imagine the French feel the same with Nintendo.co.uk as the Irish fans do too. Lol, kinda like American and Canada too.

@juliobrand thanks man, now I'm more in the know! 60% charge on imports is crazy high! I can see why ps2 is so popular there as it was the biggest selling system and you can hack it very easily to play all regions very cheaply. Sure so many people in Ireland still stick with their ps2's due to being so many games for it. And I'm not talking about the retro fans either.

Also, you have mint master systems in stores still! How much do they go for? People here would be falling over themselves to get one of those mint in box etc.

Thanks again for your explanation, very clear and informative

When it comes to Nintendo, there's so many bad things I want to say to the UK, and yes it's because I am jealous.

@readyletsgo I'm glad you enjoyed reading it. Thanks!
See, in part, Sega never really left us - their representation here (a company called TecToy) still releases new Master System and Mega Drive console versions (or revisions, if you will). They are are official releases but there's a catch: they don´t come with a cartridge slot anymore - only games in their memory are playable (the last model has 132 in it - with some Sonic, Alex Kidd, other classics and shovelware as wordsearch games). The consoles themselves are sturdy and sort of cheap - they're sold at most $40/£25 but it's often for less than that. They're really easy to find at least where I live. I take it as a good introductory old-school console for kids or some trip down memory lane.

@juliobrand oh I know those, we have them here too. They do sell ones that you can use carts with along with the 100 games on memory. They are great for kids, I nearly bought one on sale here last year for €15, except in reviews it said the controllers weren't great. The better ones you can use original controllers with them.

I'd really like if this would come over to NA. It'd be nice to get a box of goodies once a month.

@readyletsgo The only downside of the "new" Master Systems here is the lack of the cartridge slot. The console itself is well built and their controllers are sturdy constructed and responsive. Plus their cable length is good and slightly longer than most controllers. Too bad the last model revision killed the slot. Here's a picture if you're curious (is it the same one over there?):

I'd give it a try

@juliobrand that looks so cool! I love the colour!

I don't know how to upload a pic on here but here are 3 links to what we can buy here, the prices have gone up since last time I was looking into them, and there used to be more versions too.

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3816789/Trail/searchtext>SEGA.htm

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/9058321/Trail/searchtext>SEGA.htm

And

http://www.argos.ie/static/Product/partNumber/3907526/Trail/searchtext>SEGA.htm

I'd nearly run up to Argos now and pic one up, but I have most of those games in 3d on the 3ds.

@readyletsgo Considering the whole idea of Europe is to be a "one" or a "single entity" when it comes to trade etc, it really doesn't make sense how we still struggle to actually achieve such things. Especially when all my gaming orders on Amazon appear to be dispatched from Amazon.de not the UK warehouse.

@readyletsgo I know, right?
Thanks for the links. It was good to know we aren´t so different in terms of retro gaming availability. I believe only the one in the first link wasn´t made here in Brazil. We had a Guitar He*ahem "Guitar Idol" version. I kid you not:

And if you want to upload pics in the future go with this:
[i m g ]url of the picture on the net[/ i m g] (all of it together, no spaces)

@FragRed yeah I just order everything from Amazon.De or .es now, sure the box art is in Spanish or German, but it's almost always cheaper or free post to Ireland, and with the exchange rate at the moment it's not great. Although, I did just get watch dogs for the WiiU yesterday from Amazon.co.UK for like £9 and on other Amazon's it's €30 to €50, so, bargain!

@Grumblevolcano will the loot crate come to sweden/europe? or only USA?

@juliobrand awesome thanks for that! I'll use that now

Did it work?

EDIT: it totally worked! Thanks!

We've completely hijacked this story on NL lol

@readyletsgo Oh yeah!

Edit: Well, at least it was still about Nintendo as we talked about Master Syste... Oh... right.
Edit 2: This MD looks like an alarm clock!

@juliobrand that guitar hero thing looks so cool! Can you still buy it anywhere? Would look great beside my dreamcast.

@readyletsgo only with scalpers at the moment, I'm afraid. But I'll let you know if anything comes up.

@juliobrand lol it is pretty horrible looking to be fair, but it can play carts so, I guess that's good lol.

I wonder if NL could do a big article on all the different versions of the Megadrive around the world still being made. Love to read up on all the different versions and company's.

Edit: yeah do if you remember, it looks super niffty. Those white controllers! *drool.

At a glance I thought this might be Nintendo's replacement for Club Nintendo. My wallet trembles in fear. =D

@readyletsgo @juliobrand We need to go more old school than that, like this IntellVision console remake http://www.funstock.co.uk/intellivision-flashback-classic-game-console

@readyletsgo good suggestion so here's hoping at @Damo or @ThomasBW84 or/and others from NL staff.

And I'll keep my eyes open for the MD 4.

@FragRed love that site! I get emails from them every Friday of stuff on sale, and Friday is pay day.... Lol.

@juliobrand perfect! Could be an on going article type thingy for old gone systems that are still being made. Fingers crossed!

I would subscribe to this service if it came to North America. I already subscribe to 1-Up Box which is similar.

@readyletsgo I think that would be a great idea, and the wonderful thing about today's gaming generation is that there is a keen interest in all things retro - which is the reason for such a huge amount of old games getting released and retro consoles getting remade.

Funstock is an awesome site, like you I get weekly emails and am always trying to work out how best not to overspend.

Bring it to America damn it

@Kaze_Memaryu Haha, I'm sure there will be some of that for sure.

Doesn't know what the Pagemaster is. Tut tut! (Actually, it was an awful movie!)

@manu0 Erm, not really? Or at least where I live, people love Nintendo.

@manu0 Actually, Nintendo's huge here, in the UK. It's just the retailers that think otherwise. I'm always seeing people with Nintendo merch and buying Nintendo games where they're available as well as hearing people talking about Nintendo and I get a lot of UK Streetpass hits for a city that's not overly popular.

Wonder if Ashens would be interested in this?

I can't wait for this!

Why can't we in here (finland) get anything...
We dont have club nintendo or anything.
Well atleast we have lower prices on almoust every thing, but still i have lots of money so give us cool stuff

@kamifox1 i have got 8 streetpass here in finland in my whole life... When i visited UK i got over 20. Its not fair (i dont actully care about streetpass but still)

Shut up and take ma rupees

Count me in. If it's not too expensive, and it comes out late enough for me to get a proper subscription, and if the loot's good, AND IF IT'S AVAILABLE IN AUSTRALIA, then I'm getting it.