It was in late March, a few days more than six months ago, that the My Nintendo program launched as part of the 'Nintendo Account' overhaul. The Nintendo Account seems very likely to be the all-encompassing ID for Nintendo users in the future. With social media login options and its role in web purchases of eShop downloads, as well as its usage in Nintendo's only mobile app released so far - Miitomo - it seems to be the way forward. Nintendo Network IDs may end fully once the Wii U and 3DS have been retired in years to come.
If the Nintendo Account is in its infancy but promising much, My Nintendo is the Club Nintendo successor that's supposed to provide a meaningful loyalty service right now. About a week after it launched - back in the Spring - we did a pros, cons and areas of improvement article for the programme and, actually, not much has changed. There have been brief glimmers of positivity - recently in Europe there have been a few dynamic, smart Rewards beyond the usual discounts. These have included short-term discounts on recent Nintendo Selects releases, and most intriguingly right now there's a discount Reward for a promising game that isn't even out yet, in this case the rather enticing Chase: Cold Case Investigations - Distant Memories. This sort of launch deal for a download-only release is the sort of offering we hope will become more common.
These are recent highlights, and Nintendo also extended the validity period for Gold Points, though it remains a stingy six months for Platinum Points. An argument against validity periods is the limited Reward options, of course. That's something we'll be tackling soon in a Talking Point.
In any case, with My Nintendo now six months old we want to know what you think of it. Based on comments we've read we have an idea of which way this will go, but we're interested to see some poll results anyway. Click some buttons below with your thoughts.
As always, thanks for the votes - by all means debate the merits and flaws of My Nintendo in the comments below; we'll be doing the very same thing this coming weekend.
Comments (206)
yeah its pretty clear that MyNintendo was released before being ready.
I've been very vocal in my disdain of MyNintendo. It's awful. And with the current update in NA, there are NO downloadable games available (except Twilight Princess Picross, which most everybody has). It's just an awful rewards system.
It's no secret that this has been quite the let down. I'm holding out hope that it gets better with the launch of the NX.......whenever that is......
It's actually a good deal worse than Club Nintendo. At least with CN my physical purchases counted as well.
I think it was launched way too early. A bunch of sad discounts for games many people already own that cost way too many coins... it's been pretty miserable so far.
But I think it will beef up when the NX launches. I even hope for code entry from physical games like the old Club Nintendo days since there is a spot on there to "enter codes" that we would presumably get from other places... and I also hope when it kicks up, some physical rewards come along with it. There's also the possibility of it tying into a future in-game achievement system. I think it came out too early, but I do think there is a lot of potential for it when the NX comes out.
I'm hoping the NX comes with full MyNintendo integration. Keep in mind that this system was shoehorned into current gen devices, it wouldn't surprise me if NX games awarded MyNintendo points for doing stuff in them.
Think of Xbox's achievement system, only awarding MyNintendo points instead of gamer score for bragging rights. Sounds pretty good to me, especially if they improve their rewards.
"It's been rubbish" doesn't sufficiently describe how bad this has been. My Nintendo has been so bad they could offer a free download of either Sonic Boom game for 80 gold coins and it would improve their rewards.
I've also only used Miitomo... four times in the last month?
I can not stand buying digital, I like to have my physical copy because I enjoy collecting. My Nintendo doesn't really work for people like me.
@WebHead
Seems to be a common theme with everything Nintendo nowadays...
Used it only to get some free - but not that great - 3DS themes, that's about it.
It's been absolute crap. Stingy discounts, on games most of us already own, costing way too many Platinum and Gold coins. And Club Nintendo was good for physical rewards. This has nothing. The points expire way too quickly. I had to spend about 700 platinum coins at the end of September on 15 Miitomo game tickets as they were about to expire and I'd nothing else to buy. That is awful. Replacing a service(Club Nintendo) is supposed to make things better not worse. Now we get nothing for buying games physically.
I want physical thingies to collect
It's no Nintendo Network Premium. The fact that some purchases will not net you anything in the way of Gold Coins is utterly stupid. NNP was much better in that even smaller purchases would build up towards another £5 eShop code.
My Nintendo is terrible.
:/
They should have called it "MyMiitomo" and said it would be rolled into MyNintnedo once NX launched. As a MyMiitomo webpage collaboration it isn't half bad. But that's really all it is, MyMiitomo, the rest is a giant leap back, even from Digital Deluxe Promotion, they just should have kept that, it worked, just expand it to everyone.
Dang, 6 months already?
My Nintendo was obviously meant to launch with the NX in 2017, but launch a year early for some reason. I mean, it's pretty obvious what Nintendo's plan is.
Does that excuse the poor Rewards? No, but I'm sure that My Nintendo will get better with the NX's release.
I got the discount for The Wind Waker and My Nintendo Picross was fun for a few hours... Other than that, I'm hugely disappointed with My Nintendo. I hope that when the NX comes out Nintendo will offer better deals like physical rewards or discounts on new games. It would also help if you could get Gold coins when you've purchased a game physically.. But right now there's so little My Nintendo has to offer, I've gotten to the point where I bought all the Home Themes, even though I don't use them.
I'm just happy to see I'm not alone in thinking My Nintendo is garbage. And this is from a Nintendo specific site no less, that is way more positive about Nintendo than the general gaming audience.
Its awful. While I couldn't get Club Nintendo's physical rewards since I Iive outside the US, I still could get interesting games for free or wallpapers, midis, and that kind of stuff.
Now, the rewards are pure trash. Only getting a discount for a game you can get already in the discount bin? What were they thinking?!
I never thought I'd say this, but I actually preferred entering those long random codes and completing those repetitive, pointless surveys! At least I got soundtrack CDs and other cool stuff for doing it.
I'm amazed at how poor this supposed replacement to Club Nintendo is. I miss Club Nintendo every time a mention of My Nintendo is present. There were actual, physical rewards as well as downloadable content! What happened to that?! Where's a new Game & Watch Collection??? Why are there TWO currencies now? What about the collectables that could only be obtained through the service? Criminey...
What gets me the most is the bulk of the discounts still don't reduce the price to the cost of the physical games.
Discounts for Platinum points are dismal. They should really offer more themes as I feel they're a fairer reward for Platinum points.
It's not a very good system at present, and the current rewards are even more sad than usual. I thought all the expiring stuff would be replaced and not just removed. Having said that, I did get two free games for my 3DS (although I didn't really care for WarioWare), and some Mario Kart DLC, so it's better than nothing, even if it's inferior to Club Nintendo.
@RyanSilberman I think Nintendo wants to separate the rewards for playing mobile games and buying full, retail games. I assume that Super Mario Run will have some achievements with Platinum coins as a reward.. It pretty useless if you only play the mobile games though, considering the fact that all you can do with Platinum coins is getting discounts for retail games... Or you can of course get those wonderful Miitomo costumes
just to balance the negativity a little ...
I've had Mario 64, Metriod for GBA, Mario Kart SNES, Legend of Zelda Picross, WarioWare ... some themes, maybe more I can't remember ...
not that bad for six months
It's (almost) the season of giving, so if anyone is a Yo Kai Watch fan and is dying to have a theme if it, here's my treat. Enjoy!
B0YF J827 3CC3 N795
I don't mind the service and how it works but I'd like some better rewards. Zelda Picross was great, I got the Bravely Second theme and claimed the Chase Memories discount today but other than those there haven't been anything else even remotely interesting. I'd prefer full games over discounts, make me use more coins but give me the actual game. There have been some VC games that you can get with coins but I already have them. As for physical rewards, I'd really like the option to buy soundtracks. Or if it's too much to ask for physical, a digital option would be fine too as long as the amount of coins needed reflects that.
I'm at least happy there's a service that I can use unlike Club Nintendo. Club Nintendo wasn't available in Finland and many other countries. Though, I did get some digital rewards since with those it didn't matter where I'm from.
@WebHead I don't even think it was released before it was ready, I think it's much worse. I think the entire concept is doesn't really provide any true value.
Zelda picross was the best thing so far. Other than that its a mess. Not really much to choose from. No incentive for me to make that extra purchase in order to get those extra points needed - for what?
I just hope there will be opportunities to make use of those accumulated gold points. Funny thing, as long as that zelda picross had its time limit I thought nintendo would replace it with another free game, well....
I dont really care about platinum points anymore...
I've been long since caring about my Nintendo. All I did was download wario ware
I don't think we can entirely judge My Nintendo till the NX launches, it was meant to be integrated into it. My Nintendo (and the rest of Nintendo) seems to be in a holding pattern until the NX arrives.
@WebHead If that's the case, half a year later, they're still far from ready...
The concept is great, but the execution is lacking, 90% of the new prizes are discounts and pretty low ones, even when many gold coins are required, it's not really tempting ^_^;
Kinda funny anyway how many people wants back phisical rewards, I miss them too, but back in the days of the old Club Nintendo most comments were against them; I guess most people didn't realize how cool they were until they saw how lame the new alternative is XD
I'm sick of nothing but a few mediocre discounts on a few games I already own. At least give us some more VC games, and not the most common ones like the original Super Mario Bros (as good as that game is, everyone owns stuff like that)
@ericwithcheese2
I dont think it was launched too early, it was just launched with poor options. Options dont need time, you can make them on the spot. Sure, free games like zelda picross need time to develope, discounts dont really need that. Same goes for vc games.
I bought the Mario Kart DLC which I thought wa sa great deal and I got the home themes. But the rest eithe rdoesn't interest me or I already own. So it's good but could be better.
Unlike most people on this site apparently, I own barely any of the games on offer. Yet, the discounts are so stingy that I'm not going to spend coins (not even free ones, let alone the ones that you have to pay to get) to get a couple dollars off. I keep saying this but Nintendo is wayyy off if they think people are going to jump on discounts that don't drop a digital game into impulse buy territory. Even if they saw fit to increase the coins required, the discounts should be 50% minimum. It's laughable that they offer anything else.
The lack of any digital content is also pretty disappointing. I don't care about physical rewards, but offering the bare minimum cheapo VC games for gold coins is so out of touch.
Platinum rewards I don't really care about because they're free in every sense of the word. Maybe another Picross offering would be cool, and I don't hate the themes, but free is free.
My experience with mynintendo is this: It launched. It confused me. I immediately gave up on trying to understand it. I don't even remember that it's a thing until I see a story about it on this site. I miss Club Nintendo.
@Whopper744
Didnt know the original mario bros was available
There should be a way for people like myself who buy the physical retail versions of games to get Gold Points without having to download them digitally. That's honestly the biggest flaw, even more so than the subpar rewards, if you ask me.
what i think about mynintendo so far, and especially the last october update on rewards for NoA...:
<insert barfing emote here>
@World
☺
Stingy is the word!
Its totally poor on nintendos side. I trnd to buy my games physical and those are generally cheaper on launch than when they appear on mynintendo. Its just poor. Cheaping out its fans seems to be nintendos policy all the time
On my Japanese account I've had a few "Just for You" discounts before (or maybe it was a birthday one, I forget though) and I think at the start of the full launch of My Nintendo, but nothing at all since...
One thing I've been waiting forever for in NA is a Xenoblade Chronicles X discount. Europe had one and Japan has one (but the price after the discount is the same amount it would cost without it in Canada).
I think it would be nice to see more discounts and games that I can buy with gold coins as well. (I would have expected to get more than just one discount for October by now...)
Some DLC would be nice to see again though. I would certainly be willing to get some Mii costumes through gold coins. Maybe we could see character DLC as well, but that would probably cost a few more coins.
@Andrzej777 Sorry I'm actually not sure it has been, but was just using that as an example. I wouldn't want them to finally add more VC games and them being like 3 or 4 of the most popular games anyway.
It took me about...60 seconds before I even remembered what you were talking about. It was there, I guess?
Surely a bit of a letdown but at least that Zelda picross game was fun.
Nintendo committed the ultimate sin of fixing what wasn't broken.
Am I the only one who misses Club Nintendo's surveys, where we could actually give Nintendo our feedback for each game? People talk about how Nintendo won't listen to the fans-- citing games such as Color Splash and Federation Force-- but when push comes to shove, we'd rather praise a game or vent our frustrations in a lengthy Internet comment Nintendo will never see than with a customer satisfaction survey provided directly from the Big N because it's "too tedious/time-consuming."
@-DEMISE-
Yes! That's my experience too. Incomprehensible.
I opened my account for the first time, looked around... noticed that the coins had a relatively short expiration date and the rewards are terrible... That was the last time I opened it.
I like My Nintendo way more than Club Nintendo,but it could be better with more free rewards instead of discounts.
A lot of people want physical rewards like CN but I didn't like those at all.Only amiibos would make me change my mind.
I'm not one that cares about the discounts, but I would love the physical items to make an appearance again...loved getting the figures and various other goodies through it. I also don't play the Miitomo game or any other phone apps, so it doesn't really offer me anything unless I go onto the E-Shop or Miiverse. I really hope it gets better, but after the bad additions that club nintendo added each month to the US, and the fact that this doesn't really get updated that often in the US, I'm not giving any hopes. Nintendo could do a lot more...even the Play Nintendo site is lacking for what they can do, and that's a children's site for them to play...that really only has advertisements! If we could only go back in time, to Club Nintendo and having a wonderful magazine like Nintendo Power back into focus!
I'm kind of underwhelmed by the whole experience. What I loved about Club Nintendo was getting free games once in a while, points were easier to obtain, the end of year reward was a cool idea, and the prospect of physical rewards was fun. With My Nintendo... it felt like three steps backwards. First, the discounts don't do much for me (especially compared to periodic Steam and PSN sales...but that's my just personal preference contrasting Nintendo's business prerogative). Second, NES games (Nintendo's big Virtual Console cash cow) don't give you Gold Coins, let alone anything less than $5. Back at Club, even a $2 piece of DSiWare got you points, but now that extra incentive to splurge on inexpensive games (that aren't on sale) is gone for some consumers because you don't get loyalty points. Lastly, the "free" software varies only slightly (especially as of late with repeats of themes and Picross).
I did like, however, that an eShop coupon off select titles was sent to me this month for my birthday.
I think the intentions are good, but the overall experience is leaving a lot to be desired.
Signed up to it, never used it so in all honesty I'm completely indifferent to it.
Well, as a free thing, it's okay; there are the themes, Picross and Wario Ware and Miitomo rewards. As an actual reward scheme though, it's poor; there is no incentive to collect coins for rewards that are meaningless to many, either because games on discount are already owned or the discounts are too small to make it worthwhile. Plus, with physical games being cheaper than digital for the most part, even after applying discounts, it simply doesn't make sense.
I'm hoping that they've just set the basic foundations for something that'll get better when it's incorporated with the NX, but who knows.
More or less, my complaints would be addressed if there was more exclusive content. Physical items specifically, but even more stuff like TP Picross. Discounts and free games are nice for those that want those but if I already can buy it, I'm not intrigued - I usually just get games I really want at launch anyways and have too much of a backlog to care about whatever current discounts the service is giving. I've stopped even logging into MyNintendo, it doesn't interest me like Club Nintendo did, and the rewards are the reason, if it's a game I want and could already purchase, I already have it.
Wish we could've selected multiple options in that second poll.
I don't have a My Nintendo account, I hope I'm not missing out on something.
In North America we don't appear to have ANY downloadable titles for Gold coins anymore. I assumed we'd get more, but I don't see anything. Had I known, I would have spent them, since getting 30% off a game I already own is worthless to me.
Whilst there has been some sprinkles of goodness, my Nintendo overall has been poor. I've never found a single thing to spend my platinum points on. The gold coin options are a joke, too few and need changing way more!
I know its a strong word but I HATE it. At least with club Nintendo I can use the coins to get great physical rewards like the awesome posters I have. As of now there are NO downloadable games, none whatsoever! At least with club Nintendo I knew I'd get at least one free game every year.
@ULTRA-64 I don't like that you have to spend more money to earn coins than the discount is really worth!
The thing is, they've even failed at Miitomo integration. If platinum points actually had worthwhile rewards attached i might well still be using miitomo. As it is I have no incentive to complete missions because there's literally nothing I've wanted. I still haven't redeemed a single point.
It's got truly weak rewards
@NintyFan I hope the nx let's me download GBC Zelda games. I wanna play Link's Awakening DX on the TV!
My Nintendo is possibly the best proof right now Nintendo has completely lost touch with its fan base.
"Oh did you earn a lot of coins buy buying lots of Nintendo games? Here are digital coupons for the game you bought to get those coins. No, not for free, just a discount."
Just terrible.
@Peppy_Hare powerful weak!
@yannah21 Got it. Thanks!
It was cool at first, but it's been waay too focused on Miitomo and discounts, without anything unique really being offered. I'm sure as more mobile games get released by Nintendo (Mario Run, AC and Fire Emblem) MyNintendo may become more interesting, but in general the "rewards" lack any real want to try and get more coins, which is ultimately a failure.
Currently I dont really care that there is a really short window to redeem my points, because there really isn't anything to use them on.
I wish the coins you earn are yours no limit and you can use/buy whatever you wanted on the E-Shop.
I was fully on board with the idea. After getting Warioware, Twilight Princess Picross, Mario Land 2, and some Miitomo junk, I was really excited to participate in the MyNintendo culture. The E3 hidden Zelda icons was also a neat tie in.
And then... nothing. My coins piled up higher and higher with nothing really worth spending them on. I don't even bother collecting weekly points anymore. There's SO MUCH POTENTIAL for this system to be something fun and engaging to strengthen a fanbase.
I can only hope that this is the foundation that might grow into something better in conjunction to the NX. But I mean... they haven't quite earned much trust in this area. So we'll just have to wait and see if it fades into the shadows or not.
I know Nintendo doesn't have to have a rewards program. But the program rewards them instead a loyal fan like me who started with the NES in the mid 80's. It is a joke
Pretty underwhelmed to be honest. I wholly expect it to ramp up when the Wii U gets here as I expect full and drop integration
I'll let you know when they actually put something worthwhile on My Nintendo.
I got the Link and Jibanyan theme, and while they're nice, I already have many HOME themes. I would like to spend my coins on other things as well, but none of the game discounts or Miitomo items interest me... :/ I'm really hoping for physical rewards soon!
Like others have said though, hopefully MyNintendo will improve greatly when the NX is released. Because right now, I'm pretty disappointed with MyNintendo...
I still have very little idea of what My Nintendo is, such is my apathy towards Nintendo these days. Last thing I could be bothered with was the NNID. If I buy another console, I'll take the necessary steps to carry my account over, but I'm just not very keen on them as a company nowadays.
I mean I'm not gonna complain too loudly about free stuff, but so far I've redeemed Twilight Princess Picross and literally nothing else. The discounts for Platinum are barely worth it. Gold is a little better, but I rarely buy things on eShop so I have very few gold coins
@samuelvictor couldn't agree more!!
It's very disappointing. God, I miss Club Nintendo so, so much.
The rewards need more consistency and there needs to be a eShop voucher option, at least until they get a better rewards system in place. Some game discounts are platinum points or 30 gold points, then another game has 100 gold points just for a discount. It doesn't really make sense and is all over the place. The free games have the same issues. The points don't always seem to reflect anything other then some random amount.
If you have the games available as a reward then you are basically out of luck.
I'm not gonna complain too much cause it's free and not something Nintendo has to do, but if they are going to keep it, I'd like to see some improvements to make it a better program.
The fact that I had saved up over 3000 Platinum points, specifically a quantity enough to claim one of every prize, and had zero prizes I wanted to redeem shows the abject failure of this rewards program.
I don't even bother with Miitomo sign ins any more. The app itself doesn't maintain appeal even with continuous apparel additions.
It's so dissapointing that we don't get rewards from physical games! Ninty needs to bring back redemption codes in game boxes!
Can't really comment since Nintendo hasn't released anything in the past 6 months.
ive been disappointed with this program, first of all no physical goodies but i can look over that, second no DSiWARE GAMES LIKE IF I KNEW THATS THE CASE I SHOULDVE GET WARIOWARE TOUCHED BACK THEN STUPID ME, third since it's mainly digital I WANT MORE THEMES I DONT WANT THESE STUPID MY NINTENDO THEMES I WANT THAT SPLATOON THEME AND SO MANY MORE BUT I AINT GETTING THEM CUZ THEY COST MONEY, MY NINTENDO IS SUPPOSED TO SAVE UR MONEY BUT NO NINTENDO BEING TOO GREEDY TO NOT PUT THEIR THEMES , IN CONCLUSION MY NINTENDO CAN SUCK MY BUTT
MyNintendo is flat out terrible right now. My hope is that things improve once the NX is released, but offering discounts on games you most likely have already is the biggest insult. I get that people have varying degrees of what they own, but this is supposed to be for Nintendo's most loyal fans. Not to mention that you get squat for physical games and DLC.
I never thought I'd say this, but I miss Club Nintendo, in all it's clunky glory.
The free downloads have been a joke. As far as free games go, here in Europe all we have till November is Pilotwings. That's it. Aside from the TP Picross game that's been up since day one that everyone has by now and the most basic themes. Already redeemed Pilotwings? Don't worry, it's also on the other system as well, so you can have it both on Wii U and 3DS.
More free rewards and more variety. As legendary as that game is, its not for everyone. And please, less of the bloody discounts that saves us bugger all.....
!! And this month there is no rewards at all !!!! Only few discounts that's are still expensive than retail !!!
At least NoA is consistent; they ignore NA across the board.
I'm kind of over Nintendo for now. Too annoying and frustrating watching them constantly get in their own way. I'll play what I have, maybe pick up Color Splash a ways down the road and maybe Zelda as well. Or maybe not. The way NoA has flipped off and turned their backs on their NA consumers and the complete lack of marketing or announcements for a system that is 6-7 months away from launch (during a bizarre launch window/date) has led me to realign my new system cash for a PS4. And where my gaming money goes, so does my time and interest...
You kids are being way too negative. It's been launched right at the beginning of the transition to the next gen. Of course it lacks a lot of stuff. Just give it time.
I don't have an account (and apparently I'm not missing out on much), but thank you for making me feel included anyway, @ThomasBW84 !
Meh. Got bored of it after a day or two.
Can't believe I'm gonna say this but, Club Nintendo was LEAGUES better than this half hearted horror show. I no longer use it
What I think of My Nintendo can be summed up in four words: I miss Club Nintendo!
What they need is to reward those who buy physical copies of games.. since digital and physical games are worth the same price, I will choose the physical version, but am not awarded for that, so is disappointing
They really need better rewards
@peeks No profanity allowed here.
O.K. Own up, who did it? Who's the 1% that voted for "It's terrific" in the poll? Would 1 vote round up to 1% because technically it's not 0%?
It's so lackluster that you can't be surprised by Nintendo's position in the market, it's not competitive nor attractive
Lol my comment was removed lol
Sadly, MyNintendo proved me once again that Nintendo is stuck in the past and doesn't quite understand how today's world works.
My Nintendo is better than no rewards program at all, but Club Nintendo was legions better. My main gripes (some since the beginning):
1. No physical rewards. Digital rewards are fine, and I've even grabbed a couple, but I wouldn't mind getting some more special Nintendo memorabilia.
2. The exclusive digital offerings are interesting, but they've been few and far between. More freebies like TP Picross are more than welcome.
3. Physical retail purchases still can't be redeemed for gold coins. I prefer getting games in physical format if possible, and I feel that it's unfair that this only applies for digital purchases. Is it so hard to stick a coin redemption slip in each game case? Club Nintendo accomplished this just fine.
4. The "Just For You" system needs polished or even revamped. I was one of those who got a "birthday discount" last month and was presented with the option to use a 30% off discount. I was excited until I found that, not only did it apply to just certain games (I was expecting it to apply to all Nintendo-created games, including the VC), but they were only for digital retail games; I already own most that were on offer, and again, I buy retail games physically.
Overall, I've been displeased with the system and believe there's room for a lot of improvement.
While there is room for improvement I am fairly confident it will likely beef up with NX which if some rumors are to be believed will feature deeper integration with MyNintendo. I can also see them bringing back getting points for physical purchases with NX
Nintendo need to loosen the purse strings already. Give fans what they want. Remember 'hype', Nintendo??
@ericwithcheese2 Probably one of the most logical comments I have seen here
My main gripe is no longer receiving points for physical purchases. I miss Club Nintendo soooo bad
I got the Zelda picross for doing nothing. That's good, I guess.
Yeah, I'm usually positive about stuff, but MyNintendo has been pretty terrible. I've still been hoarding points in the hopes of something good showing up eventually, but I'm starting to lose hope.
@chiefeagle02 No problem! Hope you like it.
Rewards for 3DS have been better than those for Wii U. If you do not have a 3DS, then you are really unhappy.
My Nintendo is terrible. And why was there no "all of the above" option for the 2nd poll?
They sent me 30% discount for my birthday to use oj "just for you" and it can use on 7 titles and all I already have them all !! And they still cheap on Amazon even with discount !! #Fail
Like the rest of people in the comments, we want Nintendo themed collectibles...
Instead it's discounts on games that don't even rival prices from online retailers? Who'd thoght this would work?
And to top it off, they expire.
Simply put, it's supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!
They fall flat on the discounts. It's time they step up their game. More games with more significant discounts.
Worst... program...ever.
@eltomo No profanity, thanks.
Why is 'The ability to register physical purchases' not a poll option for what I want to see improved on My Nintendo? Because as it is right now, fans of the physical stuff are being left out almost entirely of this poor, terrible, horrible, 'what-were-they-thinking!' excuse of a rewards program.
@Uncensored "I hope the nx let's me download GBC Zelda games. I wanna play Link's Awakening DX on the TV!"
I can already play that game on my TV.
Nintendo Gamecube Game Boy Player
@CTMike Dang, even Gintoki is displeased. Lol
I have bought 1 game digitally with "special price" because it was a good deal. I think it was Majora's Mask 3D for around $20 US dollars. Other than that purchase and the occasional 3DS themes My Nintendo is pretty lackluster and weak.
I miss Club Nintendo. That's it.
I would have preferred it if Nintendo kept Club Nintendo going until the NX release. They could have started MyNintendo fresh with a new console, and the discounts would be more appealing as new games get released.
There's little to no reason to want to log into MyNintendo at the moment.
And here I thought I was being smart signing up ahead of time for My Nintendo Rewards and yet to use any of my points
I'm not going to complain, it's something for nothing. I would like to see some music available for download, I ordered a soundtrack whenever I could on Club Nintendo.
I used to check Club Nintendo monthly, but now I've just given up. Nothing but horrible discounts on games I already own. Why not just have one 15% off any game and for more points at good one like 50% off any game. The way this is setup a big time supporter of Nintendo, who already has most of their games, will never get any rewards and their coins will just expire.
If anything this program rewards those who don't buy a lot of Nintendo games and can take advantage of their questionable 'deals'.
6 months, 5 free games, some free DLC, and 2 free themes later (with enough coins to get more stuff as soon as it arrives), I'm better off than I would have been without MyNintendo, but I do wish it was better. The discounts need to cost fewer coins, and they need to change up the game rewards more often and offer more at one time. And of course, physical rewards would be welcome.
It's crap to tell the truth. I don't even bother with it.
It's not worth my time... Compared to Club Nintendo it's dirt.
I didn't minded answering a few question if it meant I'd get points on almost every nin. product I'd buy.
Once you've claimed Zelda Picross, silver coins are pretty much useless.
i wish My Nintendo was more like the DDP. If we could exchange coins for eShop currency then I would love it. I barely use My Nintendo and I don't use Miimoto at all anymore. It's just not worth it for me. Club Nintendo was better. You could get games and physical stuff....so much better than discounts for games I already own. I have over 2700 platinum and 60 gold coins and nothing to spend them on. The only plus side is the Just for You offer I got this month for my birthday, because I can use it to finally get Splatoon for my kids
It's pretty crap. I want a cool game soundtrack not a small discount on a digital download dang nabbit!!!
I've given up on it. No interest in Miitomo means there was almost no point for me in the first place. They would have been better off extending the DDP and debuting this when it was fully baked.
I understand that physical rewards are out of the question (it was cool while it lasted) and I'm honestly fine with that but I hate the focus on "discounts" on digital games (I can deal with the Platinum Coins but how the Gold Coins are handled is ridiculous). The Rewards should give loyal customers free digital goods (which costs Nintendo nothing) since we already bought their games to begin with and are willing to go through the effort of doing the program. It's how their old version (Club Nintendo) worked and I'm saddened that they abandoned that approach. We all know that the casual consumer will never bother My Nintendo so it feels like a jab at their most loyal customers.
I also can't stand that the program completely shuns physical gamer's when it comes to the Gold Coins. It feels like a slimy tactic to try and get their more hardcore fans to switch to buy digital for retail titles. It's cool that it rewards people who buy Indie games but then spits in the face of cheaper under $5 games (why not offer 5 gold coins for that tier?). Also, why the hell are they still gating some of the rewards to specific regions? I understand if something is truly region specific but why has North America STILL not gotten the Samus 3DS theme when that market is the largest for Metroid?
To be clear, I appreciate that Nintendo even offers the program and will continue to participate but right now, it often feels like a scheme to get people to buy more digital stuff both coming and going which doesn't feel very rewarding at all.
Well, I'm clearly in the minority here, but I actually like the program. It's not fantastic by any means, but I've gotten some nice things out of it so far. Sure not every batch of rewards has something I like, but I can wait a few months for a new batch that's hopefully a bit more interesting. So far it's been every other batch that had something I like.
Granted, I'm a late adopter of both the Wii U and 3DS, so I don't own a lot of games yet (though the backlog is now growing at an increasingly alarming rate...). I'm very curious to know where Nintendo will be taking this concept going forwards, should be very exciting!
But in the end, it's free stuff that doesn't really cost a lot of effort or money to get, so what's not to like? Gifted horses and such...
Well I'm glad it's not Yoshi dishcloths and Luigi sleep masks anymore. I don't know what they were thinking there. But it's not really the all singing all dancing platform they promised yet.
The game discounts are mostly pointless as they're on retail games that are cheaper in physical form. But the DLC and download titles are welcome, they just need more of them (Smash DLC, BOXBOY!, Dillon etc) I also wish if it was 30% off for say 70 coins and I only had 35 coins I could use them anyway and get 15% off. Or even if it was 70 gold or 700 platinum.
The 3DS themes are great, I hope they continue that with the NX. The two free games were good too. Physical
Things were great but if the digital rewards were good enough I could go without.
They have a bunch of free to play games like Pokémon Picross and Nintendo Badge Arcade. I'd love to spend my coins on credits for those games! Equally, things like Street Pass Premium or Pokébox subscription would be great rewards. And those are offers they could keep there forever to bulk out the store. Like they do with Miitomo Drop tickets.
Finally I wish that the Nintendo online store would also contribute to my gold coins. I've spent tons in there on special edition games and amiibo and such since the new MyNintendo launched, and I get diddly squat in terms of loyalty points for it! I'm being penalised for being the fan who spends extra on the fancy box edition instead of just downloading it digitally. That sucks!
I expect (or hope) big things once the NX releases.
But it has indeed been pretty bad thus far. I have 120 gold coins and nothing good to spend them on.
It's disappointing and a step back from Club Nintendo.
Discounts on overpriced digital games that, even with the discount, still cost more than buying the physical version? Woohoo.
If they would give out VC/small eShop games out for "free"...or whatever, then I'd like it more.
It's worse than the previous system.
I miss Club Nintendo. The website was sketchy at times and orders slow but man, they produced some incredible stuff. Some of my game collecting items are from CN and they are some of my favourites. My Nintendo is absolute crap. Most people who would use the service own the majority of the games that they give discounts for. There aren't any "free" things really. Overall, it's a huge disappointment and I don't even care if my coins expire. They need some actual free stuff like CN had.
Just went to mynintendo. I had to spend 700 platinum points end of the month or they will vanish.
I got the 5 game ticket reward twice. Thanks Nintendo, now I can try and win some virtual tshirts I might try my luck on the kirby items too. Heck 10 game tickets. I'm so happy. Woooohoooo
I used My Nintendo only for Twilight Princess Picross. Had I known that its deadline would have been extended indefinitely, I would have gotten WarioWare Touched before missing out on that. But aside from Picross, there has been nothing of interest with the rewards. The 3DS themes are bland, the costume rewards are pointless as Miitomo never properly worked for me, and the gold coin discounts don't really cut the costs. Plus I'm more in favor of owning physical copies.
In short, there's really nothing at My Nintendo and its lost my interest a long time ago. If they added more original content or exclusive ports, things that are actually worth saving up for, then I would use it more.
Complete trash, no rewards for buying physical and crap discounts. Not even 50% discounts on old nintendo e-shop games.
Club Nintendo and the Deluxe Digital Promotion felt like they were giving you worthwhile rewards for your patronage. The fact that we only have Miitomo items to buy with Platinum Points (a rather boring app btw) is a complete joke.
I wish they'd put up the new gold coin game rewards for the month. I really regret not getting wario land 3 now.
Obtuse and uninspiring. The Gold/Platinum/Miitomo Coin split is weird. The rewards are a bit pants. Easier to ignore than try to engage with.
Club Nintendo had enough charm and and uniqueness to the rewards feel special, even if they cost an absurd amount of points. It wasn't the slickest thing in the world, but a lot of things I've earned from there I still regard as small treasures, which says something. They felt much more 'rewarding' than being able to pick up an old game for slightly less than RRP, but still more than the cut-price retail version.
Well it is better than nothing that's for sure, but yes I miss Club Nintendo. Physical rewards were awesome.
I want actual rewards not discounts on games that I already own. I regret not picking up DKCR now as at least it was a decent reward but I thought other games would replace it.
If it continues as it is then it's likely that my coins will expire before there's anything worth getting.
Their digital presence is still, quite frankly, a joke compared to the competition. Games with Gold and the PSN stuff is infinitely better than what Nintendo is currently offering. The "discounts," are either on games people already own or bargain bin level eshop titles.
The "rewards" are discounts on games I already own, or for items in a mobile game I have no interest in playing. My Nintendo is an insult to loyal Nintendo customers like me. It isn't even better than nothing.
My Nintendo is God Awful. Like I'm amazed that they made a rewards program this bad. The most recent updates on rewards had me completely disappointed. There aren't even any free nes or gb games anymore. Just a rehash of stuff people already own. To be brutally honest, I have no real incentive to buy anything digitally from Nintendo. PERIOD. Why would I buy digital when I basically get nothing in return. I understand that some people will deflect criticisms of the service because it's free and optional but I can't help but feel like this service sucks. In comparison, PS+ and Xbox Live, while mandatory, at least give you something in return. You can get multiple retail titles for essentially free, only being required to pay $60 a year. And with Microsoft's games with gold, you can keep the game even if you don't renew your live subscription. Meanwhile with My Nintendo, freaking $50 will get you a 30% discount of Starfox 64 3D, a now 5 Year old remake of a near 20 year old game that honestly should be $20 but somehow still remains $40 on the US eshop after all this time. It's very insulting and makes me so disappointed even visiting the My nintendo site. I just want something better and more meaningful
I miss the cool stuff they used to give away. Love my zelda 3ds pouches.
..yea, it's horrible..they need to put all those closeout Club N games back up..

..that was fun..
I'm sitting on a pile of platinum and gold coins, and don't even care if they all expire because I doubt there will ever be anything worth using them on.
So basically it's irrelevant, marginally better then nothing at all but you could safely skip the whole thing and not feel worried you're really missing anything.
The service sucks. Phasing out those of us who enjoy physical items, including getting points for physical games, is a really stupid thing to do. That has guaranteed that, other than Zelda Picross, I doubt I will ever get anything from that service ever again. I avoid only digital games because they are overpriced for being only digital, especially on a system that doesn't have a devoted system to carry digital game purchases between different hardware. At least club nintendo was fun for everybody, where as mynintendo is only good for those who are ok with an all digital future.
Honestly, it sucks, and it's an insult after all the money we throw at Nintendo to get garbage like this as a "reward".
It would be okay...
If we had more choices!!!
It's got potential, but hasn't really progressed much since it began.
I get the feeling that it's still essentially incomplete... like there's more to it that hasn't yet been revealed... probably either relating to the NX or the other smartphone apps that were supposed to be released by the end of the year.
@Kiyata - You only bought games in the hopes of getting some kind of reward?
They need to offer more rewards, especially VC games etc for gold points. It's really pathetic at the moment with only Pilotwings as the reward.
Also why in the world is Miitomo still only released in a few countries? Remove it completely from My Nintendo if it is not going to be released worldwide.
@Action51 absolutely not. If that were the case I'd be livid. I buy what I want regardless, and it's physical copies unless they are super cheap in the eShop ($5 or less). But after 10 years of enjoying the rewards for spending so much money on their stuff, then to get THIS as "rewards" now is a slap in the face.
every comment here is right exxept i wouldnt hold my breath in hope of improvement when the nx arrives.
id rather that nintendo stopped doing this kinda reward programme and just be honest with its xustomers. these discounts of a few pounds/dollars off are an insult. other companies on the eshop give far better discounts than nintendo.
we were promised free games. so far we've had two and one of those is ancient.
this reward service is far from rewarding. nothing for buying physical copies because nintendo wants to phase them out. its much cheeper to just have digital games released.
and of cause no physical rewards like funky laces and console pouches is better for nintendo as producing these costs them money.
come on nintendo dont fool with me. you dont want to reward me for buying your wares just create the idea that you do with poor discounts on games i allready have and not t shirts for me but a digital me.
nintendo these are not rewards and i dont want them.
I feel like it is a replacement for the digital deluxe promotion, not club nintendo. So disappointing that we get nothing for physical purchases. It is such a dumb program that I don't know why we had to go a full year without any kind rewards at all. That all being said, I was pretty happy to get SM64 for free, which I wanted anyways, but it is overall less generous than when we had CN and the digital deluxe promo combined.
Why is everyone complaining? I love clothes for an obsolete game, 20% discounts on $8.00 software, uninspired themes, and points tha expire before any free games come out on the service! It's just a straight downgrade from Club Nintendo. And it wouldn't even be too hard to fix it! Just put some games in for platinum points. Losing the profit of a $5.00 emulated NES game you have already made major bank on is much better than sponkangering your entire fanbase with a dermodubiculous system that doesn't work.
When I got rid of Miitomo, the already "meh" MyNintendo became even more irrelevant to me. I hope the NX spices it up.
@Ralizah Exactly, most of my purchases are physical discs and the new program ignores that I bought Star Fox, Twilight Princess, and a few other titles throughout the year. And then for digital purchases I'm rewarded with discounts on titles I already have physical copies of. I like how seemless the new system is, but for the ease of it there is no real magic behind it, and no real reward.
@happylittlepigs Very true, spending hard earned points for a 15% discount on an $8 VC title is pretty pathetic. Especially since the Wii U VC is renowned for being rather poor emulation with slim pickings for offerings to begin with.
Yeah rewards on MyNintendo are pretty bad, club nintendo was wayyyy better but maybe the NX will give me a good reason to even go on my account
@Whopper744
Agreed!
Imho they should make all vc games available for gold points. Wouldnt hurt them.
The whole thing is utter rubbish. Previous scheme was so much better. you purchase soemthing you lock in the code, job done.
I dont want to integrate my rewards with how much time i spend on an app, i dont have time or the interest for it.
I dont use miitomo or my nintendo, both are horrible.
Nintendo, if you're listening (or, rather, reading since this is online): MyNintendo is utterly worthless junk. And Club Nintendo got nixed for this... You guys could've kept whatever this "program" is supposed to be. Nintendo, as clueless and out of touch as always.
I don't play Nintendo games expecting Nintendo to shower me with loyalty, but this "reward" system is a joke. I rarely cashed in my coins on Club Nintendo, but I always spent them all before they expired because I found items that I wanted to cash in on. For my giant pile of Platinum coins, I might as well cash them in just to toss codes for Picross and various themes online before they expire. I'm not angry, and only somewhat disappointed, about the poor showing of rewards.
I've not bothered with it yet. Nintendo's poor profile management has made it too frustrating for me to bother.
Back before they had any online presence in South Africa I created a UK account. I now have a South African account as well . So all of my old games were bought and registered on my UK account, the UK account is still the active one on my 3DS, because otherwise I would lose all of my save games. I also still use my UK profile to play games on my Wii U so that all of my saves are on one account and I don't need to think about where I played what.
But Nintendo is unable to unify these accounts without me losing access to some of my games (they tell me), and all of my 3ds saves. So, er, no thanks.
Could still just register one for My Nintendo, but kind of lost interest after all that. There's nothing much compelling about it anyway.
Really don't like the my Nintendo rewards. All I get offered is Mi clothes, ugly themes for 3DS and 20% Mario Kart which I've owned for a while.
It's too complicated (gold, platinum, wha?!) and the rewards are pointless. I've stopped looking. I shop elsewhere.
I keep seeing news articles here on Nintendo Life about all these new discounts on games in the Americraine and/or Europa, and it makes me kinda jealous because so far that's happened maybe twice here in Japan. They must REALLY want me to buy Mario Galaxy 2.
It is what it is. I personaly use the Japanese Version (and has no Access to Miitomo becuase its no aviable in Norway yet as far as I know)
TBH I think its good for what it is. Right now its pretty boring and I only got one of the Kid Icarus videos, and there is nothing interesting for me there now, but free stuff now and then and a few discounts for just a few minutes on a website each week, I'm cool with that.
1st no physical rewards. 2nd physical games dont count for MyNintendo. I have lots of retail Nintendo games that simply gave me nothing because you want to force me into digital games Sorry but no, myNintendo = disapointment ( i dont mind the rewards being for digital games but i like having my physical gaming library
As a mostly download only buyer due to work requirements I think I'm definitely the target audience for this kind of set-up. But There just aren't enough rewards frankly. I have something like 900 gold coins and nothing to spend them on. I wish they'd make the Platinum rewards purchasable with gold coins since you don't really have to do anything to pick up platinum ones. And more deals like the Fire Emblem pre-launch discount would be appreciated too.
It's absolute garbage. I get no credit for buying physical games, the discounts are beyond pathetic, and there's no physical rewards of any kind. Bring back Club Nintendo....
MyNintendo? What is -? Oh, THAT MyNintendo! Tbh, this program is basically nonexistent for me that only articles like these remind me of its existence. All I want are physical rewards!
Picked up zelda picross shortly after launch, haven't been on it since. Awful in every way.
It is not a complete desaster but it is close.
Got 3 free games for the 3ds, a couple of home themes for the 3ds and a few items for amiibo (that i don't use anymore).
For the last couple of months i have been sitting on over 3000 platinum coins and once every blue moon i can download a theme. Yeah that disappointing.
I dislike they that mainly give discounts on old games i already own.
There is almost nothing to ever use Gold Coins for.
MyNintendo is terrible for Wii U, and still is.
Its a bit better with 3DS, but still quite bad.
I quit even bothering about it about a week after it first came out.
I want Club Nintendo back, it was a 1000 times better than this crap.
Nintendo just keeps on digging the knife deeper and deeper into my heart.
The whole program just makes Nintendo seem really stingey, as they have a huge pool of VC games they could put up as rewards but they don't.
Everything I think about the program has already been said above. It's just not very good at all. It needs a LOT more downloads to be worthwhile. The discounts need to be gone and be replaces with general discounts on any game of your choice.
I'm not really allowed to complain, as MY Nintendo is a A LOT better than what we had before here in Scandinavia, which was NOTHING.
Which got stars vouchers with every game, but we couldn't exchange them on Club Nintendo, as the region wasn't accepted for registry or postage at all.
That said, I'm unsure I'll be getting anything at all on My Nintendo.
I guess I can't complain too much (since I did get Zelda Picross and that's a fun game) but I'm going to complain. Besides a theme and Picross there's been nothing on My Nintendo since that I've found worth spending my points on. Unless I play miitomo, but I don't.
wish there were more themes or dlc content etc. (T_T )
this is my birthday month and on the first, i got a message from nintendo telling me i had a special gift from them. i thought it was a game. turned out it was a discount. then i saw that i didn't get to choose from their entire selection for that discount. i get to choose from 12 of the ones they chose for me. out of those 12, only 3 were games i didn't already own. the reason i didn't own them was because i didn't want them. even if i did, the discount was about 30%. i think i would've preferred a card.
As much as people use to moan about Club Nintendo it offered some really great rewards, and I miss it.
My Nintendo shouldn't have launched until the NX was released.
I just want some of the rewards to be newer releases and/or games that the users don't own digitally. It have potential but it's not being utilized. That 15% Discount on Paper Mario: Sticker Star (600 Platinum coins) for example would be better if it was Paper Mario: Color Splash.
I guess I'm not upset as I should be since I remember the time NA Club Nintendo was in this type of situation, especially when compared to Japan's CN.
I'm just going to keep collecting coins until it get better reward/discounts (hopefully) like I did with CN; before they announce its shutdown and start getting some of these good, yet costly rewards.
@ThomasBW84
I really hope you are going to send this poll to Nintendo
I have not read through everyone else's post, but I think there should have been a "all of thee above" option on the second question.
I really don't even look at My Nintendo anymore, along with the Miitomo.
I never bothered getting it, and it seems like there wasn't much to miss out on. It sounded rather bare bones when the details were first laid out...
And yeah, considering that the PC game market and Sony/Microsoft offer regular high discounts by default, without ANY effort on the part of the user, MyNintendo is unintuitive and horribly designed in that regard. Absolutely laughable from any perspective, and the NX rollout isn't going to fix that. MyNintendo just needs to be scrapped and redone completely.
The ones I feel the most sorry for in this debacle is those poor Mii characters, though. They're forced to grin and bear it while living in a nightmare. I can't imagine the torment going through their virtual minds...
I've stopped bothering with it. Like most, I got WarioWare and Zelda Picross and I was done. All the discounts are for things I either don't want or already have, and everything else is for Miitomo, which I am never going to play.
Rewards are way overpriced and it keeps telling me about using Miitomo. Well how about RELEASING MIITOMO IN MY COUNTRY TOO?!? Pokémon GO wins.
@Spoony_Tech yeah it's not near as good or as fun as the last rewards program. It seems to be a lot of work and cuts into my game playing time to be honest.
Btw (off topic) I picked up Rodea The Sky Soldier last night since it's so cheap now at gamestop (13.00) it's pretty neat. Kind of like Nights from the Saturn but different. Its not a game I had much interest in but I'm glad I picked it up. It's a nice break from the RPG's I play. Recommend it at the cheap price if you happen too see it.
If nothing else, my single ideal fix would be this:
Replace discounts for specific titles (old games I already have) with straight discounts for my next purchase, limited it by console of course (I'm not a monster). Hell, you can even require it not be too recent.
I don't really trust My Nintendo to just suddenly become much better just because of the NX... we'll see.
Getting virtual copies of games as a reward is perfectly understandable, but why did they decide to alienate a good part (if not more than 50%) of their consumers by removing real game cards from their fidelity program. I consider that as a regression rather than an evolution.
"Which of these improvements do you most want to see in My Nintendo?"
Despite loving Club Nintendo, I still haven't gotten around to trying My Nintendo...
maybe instead of discounts you spend coins to get download codes for the ACTUAL GAME and not discounts. what I mean is you spend like 100 gold coins (A.K.A. about 60$-100$) on useless discounts.
@Nintendood then lucky you.
MyNintendo is great but they don't have anything for Wii U owners. Wii U owners have been badly let down by Nintendo and Nintendo really should do something to make up for it I feel.
I'd like to see a bit more generosity too. It's still early days but of the two launch games one (Wario Ware Touched!) has expired and quite a few people would have the second. Both are 3DS titles, and there are plenty of demos and free to play (or start) games on the 3DS. I think a lot of people assumed that WWT! would get replaced by another game and that hasn't happened but I'm hoping they either give us a game or two every year or perhaps one generous discount a year like they did with the 99p VC games.
@NIN10DOXD we need the straight-man Shinpachi to shout at Nintendo
Tap here to load 206 comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...