Nintendo of America Adds Nindie Game Rewards 'Volume 2' to My Nintendo

Finally something to spend gold points on I don’t already have! I’d really prefer Switch rewards but I’ll take what I can get before points expire.

Nintendo, you ever heard of the Switch? Joking aside I don’t really want to get games for systems I rarely use anymore. I’m holding out for Switch games.

It seems like Nintendo are waiting until all the Switch's early adopters points have expired before adding any rewards. Far fetched? Well they did after all reward Wii U's most dedicated fans by offering them discounts on games they already own, so it's not that far fetched to imagine they'll use the same backwards logic to reward Switch's most dedicated fans.I wasn't quite an early adopter, I got mine in July but I've since amassed over 1200 coins. That's a lot of coins and I should be entitled to something nice with them but nope, zilch for me. I was no fan of Club Nintendo, far from it, the UK one at least, but I'd definitely have been entitled to a decent reward after spending that much.

Sort this out Nintendo, it's bloody ridiculous.

I have thousands of coins, and they expire. I wish they didn't expire.

Please Nintendo, give us some newer games to spend coins on/get discounts for - many of us have already bought the older games you keep putting up. I'm holding out for Switch games, but the points expire so soon...I buy retail titles - what's the point of gold coins that expire when you have nothing to "spend" them on.

@Claytonbob I know you're joking, but sadly there are people who honestly expect Nintendo to give away Switch games despite that being a disastrous financial decision. The purpose of rewards systems is to use incentives to increase sales. But with the way Switch owners are buying games sales are already good, and giving away games is simply giving away money.

Both the Wii U games!

@JimmySpades Why is that asking for too much? I don't think anyone is expecting free retail games but a choice of a select few indie games every couple of months isn't too much to ask. To get those free games we have to spend a lot of cash so Nintendo are winning regardless. The indie devs will still get paid, Nintendo make their profits and their most dedicated fans have an incentive to spend even more cash.Everybody wins. What else is the purpose of a reward scheme if there are no meaningful rewards for those who've earned them? It doesn't even necessarily need to be free indie games. Something similar to the Digital Deluxe thing they had on Wii U would suffice. That would actually be better saying that. Earn credit to out towards whatever we want

@OorWullie Any discount system--rewards, sales, coupons--is designed not to thank customers who would be customers without them, but to turn people who wouldn't be customers without them into people who are customers with them. It is trading a lower profit margin for increased sales in the expectation that the totality of increased sales offset the loss of profit per unit. Big discounts leading to a small increase in customers would cost a company revenue, and should be avoided. Small discounts leading to a large increase in customers would lead to increased revenue, and should be offered. With the way Switch owners are buying games it should be obvious that a reward system like everyone apparently expects would be closer to the former.

@8-Bit_Zorldo That was designed to not lose customers. Lost customers are the purest example of lost revenue to be avoided.

Switch rewards please

No thanks! I want rewards I will actually use!

@JimmySpades

I think you missed that with the Switch Nintendo is printing money again. Last quarterly statement says they are projecting 120 billion yen in operating profit which if I'm doing my math correctly is more than a billion USD in profit this year. So they certainly aren't in dire straights as you suggested.

And a good rewards program does both incentivize new customers and reward existing customers to inspire loyalty to them so you spend your future dollars here. Anyways most of their discounts are a measly 20%. If that added Switch games with that discount for gold coins they'd simply be matching the market (amazon/best buy discount). Not too much to ask I think since they'd profit more on selling you a digital game at 20% instead of best buy selling you the same game for 20% and them taking their cut.

@JimmySpades The 3DS had a few free games on MyNintendo to save up for, including one that was exclusive to MyNintendo,the Zelda Picross game. Wii U owners received nothing similar and nowhere near the same attention other the initial handful of free titles Metroid Fusion, Mario 64 to name 2. Nintendo made clear MyNintendo was a replacement to Club Nintendo, a rewards programme that for over a decade offered exclusive goodies and free games. That was aimed solely at the most dedicated buyers as the stars needed to get them were really high.

So going by past history and what Nintendo have said, I don't see MyNintendo as a scheme aimed at new customers. Just with the Wii U it seemed that way at times. The online subscription for Switch that's coming soon will offer special members only discounts on games, so again rewarding the more dedicated fans.

I have 50% of those games already...the other don't excite me much...oh well.

@cleveland124 I never suggested they were in dire straits. I never suggested anything remotely close to that, which leads me to believe you didn't read my comments closely, nor perceived what I was actually saying. But to use the analogy you began with, (something I was, in fact, aware of) when you having a printing press that is printing money, you don't do anything to slow it down.

@OorWullie The discounts that will be provided via the online subscription are designed to make the subscription service itself valuable enough to be worth paying for in the first place. And the targeted audience is not the people who would pay anyway, i. e. the most loyal customers; it is the people who wouldn't otherwise pay.

If you don't have Retro City Rampage, do yourself a favor and get it. I can't believe it's free, but I dont regret paying for it.

@JimmySpades

I misread disastrous financial decision as disastrous financial situation. But I still think you're wrong. Good sales programs increase sales. Good rewards programs reward the most loyal. If your intent is to add new consumers you do that by lowering the cost of entry (price of a switch), sales of games when the games slow down, and bundling items with the purchase. These items mostly exclude existing customers because they have the systems/accessories and big games.

A rewards program that doesn't encourage participation (only being good to new users) is a rewards program setup to fail. Because in 6 months to a year all those new users will be existing users and won't be able to find anything new in the program for them. And quite frankly I'd like an example of a rewards program that only encourages new users to use it. PS Plus and Xbox LIve have tons of goodies for existing users.

Additionally, I think you are under the false assumption that a new user is more valuable than an existing user. For some industries that may be true. But in video games if you are willing to buy systems and games day 1 with no discount you are likely to spend a lot more with your continued loyalty than someone who needs sales and discounts before they'll purchase. I mean look at a user like JasonH for example. The guy buys everything video games. He has a PS4, Xbox One, and a Switch. He has to have over 50 Switch games by now. So you are competing for his future dollars and he spends a lot more on video games than 99.9% of the other people that own a Switch. Sure new users are important for growth, but you need to keep your core happy with your product and choosing you over the competition.

Seeing RCR reminds me that I can't wait for Shakedown Hawaii to come.

Wake me up when there's meaningful rewards for the Switch

@JimmySpades The sensation of receiving a reward causes one to form a positive association with that which was the source of the reward and is one approach to building a strong base of loyal users. If you have a great army of devout users, the devout users often become evangelists for the product. Thus, rewarding your loyal user base can have tremendous long term effects and can result in reduced expenses on marketing and advertising.

I'm glad that I could finally use my gold rewards on something I actually want. Even if 80 gold coins is a bit too high (that's equivalent to $40-$80 ) it's better than letting it go to waste. I'll pick up RCR

I get people being upset about non Switch rewards but this is still the first year of its launch. I remember PS+ being very light of PS4 content in the first year too. Everybody expects to see a couple of years worth of offers and content in only 9 months.

@cleveland124 Good rewards are not about rewarding the most loyal. Good rewards are about keeping the most loyal loyal. They are always about future sales, and never about past sales. And while it is easy to think of examples of rewards only for new customers, I'll address your question concerning rewards concerning new versus old customers first.

Economically, rewards, sales, coupons, and the like are all the same from the producer's point of view. It's either more of a product for the same price, or less of a price; either way it represents a lower return for the business, so to make my example easier I'll just assume a business is considering a price reduction. Imagine Nintendo believes it can sell one million copies of a game at $60, and are considering lowering the price to $50 to give consumers an incentive to buy. This would naturally be for both people who have never bought a Nintendo game, and for those who have every Nintendo game ever, because it would be impossible to tell the difference between the two at the cash register. They can generate revenue of $60,000,000 without the incentive, so the key is how much they'd generate with it. If sales would go up 10%, that's $55,000,000 in sales, a loss of $5,000,000. If sales would go up 20%, that would yield $60,000,000, so they'd break even. If sales would go up 30%, that would yield $65,000,000, a net gain of $5,000,000. The point is, whether or not they should do it doesn't depend on the one million sales they were going to get anyway, it depends on getting enough new customers to offset the loss they're taking from everyone, new and old alike.

Right now Nintendo is offering zero rewards or discounts for buying a Switch or its games, and Nintendo can't keep up with the demand, and Nindie developers, which represent the likely offerings, are regularly reporting that the system is home to their strongest sales. When the market seems to be growing as fast as it possibly can anyway, there won't likely be enough of a market left for incentives to generate, meaning incentives are a losing proposition.

@MattFox I paid for it a while back when it first came out for 3DS. It's a great game. And running on a sub-HD handheld just helps with the whole retro-ish aesthetic. So playing it on that platform ain't too shabby.

Anyway, people will go "but why the 3DS gets support these days?" Well because it still sells. At least a lot better than the Wii U. And in Japan, it sells better than the PS4. Why drop a platform that still is bringing some cash into the old coffers.

I grabbed x type plus. The others I already had...

@JimmySpades

"They are always about future sales, and never about past sales.
Economically, rewards, sales, coupons, and the like are all the same from the producer's point of view."

Let's take a step back here. Yes, good rewards should lead to future sales and should lead to more revenue. A good rewards program should get people to say dang, I'm only 10 coins away from a really cool reward what can I buy to get there? If the big joke is that everyone has all their coins expiring then it's not changing consumer behavior towards purchasing more items and it is not a good rewards program.

Are you familiar with the concept of price skimming? Price skimming is the idea that a product such as a game starts at $60 and sells to all the people willing to buy at $60. Then the price lowers to say $50. And the game sells to all willing to pay $50 and then drops etc. Sales increase revenue.

If only they had Switch rewards....

They could at least give us 12 switch at this point surely ..
A dad Day, i have stopped registering my physical games. but with Digital you have no choice. All i have that i can you are the Prima Mini Guides. NO Wii U no 3DS, help me Nintendo, i have no rewards to redeem here. Maybe some VC games will be offered up at some point if it comes along anytime soon.

Game giveaways are a neat option for MNP, with access to smaller-scale but fun titles that would have hardly made it to your account past the sizeable wishlist queue 3DS library offers. Can we even keep complaining about the lack of Switch rewards when there's Mighty Switch Force in Europe already? XD

And again NOTHING about Switch. Anybody want my gold points ? I dont know what i have to do with them.

Right now I have the eShop Black Friday sale and My Nintendo birthday discount automatically stacking making a 51% discount on a 2017 Mario game, impressive. If only Nintendo actually did good sales.

Also, please add Switch rewards.

I have quite a few games physically, and I refuse to cash them in until the Switch becomes a part of this.

Toki Tori is really worth it for any fan of puzzle games.

Awful!

@OorWullie here's the saddest part: they won't ever sort it out.