Wii Warm Up: The Club

by Chris Greenhough { Dec 18th 2008 at 8:00AM }

So it's happened -- Club Nintendo has finally made it to North America. Sure, the website has been a bit shaky on its newborn legs, but the important thing is: it's free stuff. Some of the prizes are unexpectedly awesome as well, hailing as they do from the Japanese program. Browse most forums and it's clear that Game & Watch Collection is a favorite, but we're also loving those classy DS Card and Stylus cases.

What's your favorite freebie on the service (full range here), and have you ordered anything yet? Have any of you found a reason to grumble about Nintendo giving away gifts?

Tags: club-nintendo, game-and-watch-collection, wwu

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr Khan @ Dec 18th 2008 8:11AM

Given the pressures of final exams, as well as just how slow and clunky the whole thing is working as of now, i only really tested it by registering Mario Kart Wii and Wario Land Shake It

More will follow, and yes, i do want the G&W collection, because i've missed out on the other G&W collections

Haohmaru @ Dec 18th 2008 8:34AM

No complaints whatsoever about the gifts, but I am going to hoard my coins until we see a Super Nintendo Classic Controller from the NA Club. :D

Undead Priest @ Dec 18th 2008 8:36AM

I can't even log in yet. :(

Desolation @ Dec 19th 2008 2:19AM

Same here. I'm stuck in an endless loop of login/transfer account. I'm starting to get pissed now that this is STILL happening.

Timerider @ Dec 19th 2008 4:06PM

It's really spotty. And why do I need to complete a survey for everything I've registered to get points? I've got like 40 games registered. I don't want to fill out a survey for every one.

Santos L. Halper @ Dec 18th 2008 8:49AM

So are those card and stylus sets just cases to hold a game cartridge and stylus? I don't really want one but I'm not positive about what exactly it is.

Shadow31 @ Dec 20th 2008 1:42AM

It says in the description it holds games and styluses (stylii?), and they come with free styluses... Well, at least the first one said it comes with 7 different colored styluses, so I assume the others do as well.

Rocketboy @ Dec 18th 2008 8:53AM

It's just lame how many games are not part of this program. Also, I can't seem to register my Balance Board. You'd think that that'd be worth something.

Chris @ Dec 18th 2008 9:12AM

Did you buy the balance board by itself? (Do they even sell it that way?) If you register Wii Fit, it's worth 80 coins instead of 50, presumably because of the balance board.

Rocketboy @ Dec 18th 2008 1:55PM

I was thinking that might have been the case. I'll have to find out where the manual ran off to. Thanks.

sydscrib @ Dec 18th 2008 9:10AM

The prizes look pretty neat. =) I REALLY want those hanafuda cards.
The only thing I'm grumbling about is the fact that I still can't log in.

splazzatch @ Dec 18th 2008 9:16AM

I am registered and I have 430 points and I am hoarding my points until something cool shows up.

I was bummed the "intend to buy" didn't work and none of my wii channels or VC games have codes? must be for the new ones..

N4N0T3CH @ Dec 18th 2008 9:41AM

According to the faq (http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/club/en/faq.jsp#vers), you have to e-mail them "name, email address, serial number, game titles, etc." to get coins for your downloads.

Seems like a really clunky way to do it.

Steve Lefebvre @ Dec 18th 2008 12:17PM

I did like N4NOT3CH says and e-mailed them my list of VC and WiiWare games (52 games total, only 3 of which appeared in my game list when I originally managed to log in to the Club Nintendo website - after much, much trouble) and was waiting for a reply when I decided to take a closer look at the FAQ and lost a good chunk of my optimistic nature when I came upon the following statement: "only select Wii, Wii Shop Channel games, Wii Channels, and Nintendo DS games will qualify for surveys. See the list of games that can be registered and qualify for surveys below" and realized after reading the list that the 3 games that appeared in my Club Nintendo profile were the only 3 that I purchased and that were on the list.
For the whole list, go to http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/club/en/faq.jsp and click on "Product Registration".

khufu2k @ Dec 18th 2008 9:40AM

Platinum! My G&W Collection is on the way now. For some reason, the site worked fine with the Google Chrome browser.

Mariobrawler @ Dec 18th 2008 10:11AM

Do they announce what's the special prize for being in platinum?

So far 500 coins! 100 more to go for platinum, but ill be saving up my coins for that awesome Mario hat if it ever comes on list. :D

KeegdnaB @ Dec 18th 2008 10:18AM

Elite status gets you a special bonus at the end of the CN year (June 30th). Obviously Platinum gets something way cooler than Gold. I'm not sure if you have to maintain your balance or not, but so far there's nothing I feel like spending my coins on to find out.

KeegdnaB @ Dec 18th 2008 10:15AM

Site worked (almost) fine for me, I just had to refresh a few times. Does anyone know if you have to maintain your balance to keep elite status or can you spend your coins and still keep it.
I'm Platinum with 780 coins (probably more if I register my downloads) and so far nothing is really wowing me prize-wise. The hanafuda cards are neat but I think I'd rather hoard for something really good.

BobTheElephant @ Dec 18th 2008 10:34AM

The description of platinum just says 'earn' 600 coins or more which implies that you can spend them after earning them, but i'm not sure.

lwelyk @ Dec 18th 2008 10:44AM

Yes, you keep your platinum status after ordering something. I ordered the Hanafuda cards and I'm still Platinum.

khufu2k @ Dec 18th 2008 10:49AM

The FAQ states that the Club Nintendo year runs July 1-June 30, with status resetting annually on June 30.

Unredeemed coins expire in 2 years.

Scotty @ Dec 18th 2008 10:44AM

I'm definitely going to save my coins for the Game & Watch game. I have 710 imported from my account, so I'm like 2 purchases away, and I know I'm getting Animal Crossing for Christmas.

Thanatos @ Dec 18th 2008 11:04AM

Pisses me off that all my games i registered when it was still "My Nintendo" dont give me coins. I guess i was able to take surveys but if the registration was retroactive id have over 600 instead of only 300.

Roto13 @ Dec 18th 2008 11:09AM

I still can't log in. :(

After seeing a larger image of the hanafuda cards, I kind of want them. I'm half interested in the Game and Watch collection because it's a collector's item. But I'd probably never play it because Game and Watch games are too simple. :P

Chris Greenhough @ Dec 18th 2008 11:33AM

This, sadly, is true -- I unlocked CHEF Game & Watch in Cooking Guide, and it was a very, very primitive game. Doesn't stop me wanting to collect all 60 of the originals, of course! :)

eugaet @ Dec 18th 2008 11:15AM

Well, it's been over 48 hours since I 'successfully' transfered my My Nintendo account to my Club Nintendo account...and I still can't log in. Closest I've gotten is seeing a jsessionid in the URL, but even then either I'm asked to transfer my account again (which I've tried numerous time) or it says the service is under a heavy load (duh). At any rate, I have yet to get past the whole transfer process.

Did anyone get a verification email w/ a link to click on once the transfer was complete? I've heard others who were stuck in the transfer loop were only able to get past it once they clicked the link in the verification email. Yet no such email for me in the last 48 hours.

Cyantre @ Dec 18th 2008 11:32AM

I have yet to be able to "transfer" my account to the new system. Everytime I try to log in it tell me to click the join now link and fill out the information there. I've done that well over a dozen times over the past few days with no luck at all.

juangrande386 @ Dec 18th 2008 11:41AM

Yeah still cant login as well. Too bad GBA and Gamecube stuff doesnt give coins cause Ive probably registered over 65 items if i include those items

Timerider @ Dec 19th 2008 4:09PM

It doesn't? Then I'm screwed.

JKAntwon @ Dec 18th 2008 12:15PM

I got logged in on the graveyard shift just fine. I think A LOT of people are trying to use this and its bogging down the server. I've all kinds of trouble until about 2am. :P

RatMasterD21 @ Dec 18th 2008 12:15PM

the site blows hard it almost never works..i havve over 1000 points and i cant order anything cuz it signs me out

Covarr @ Dec 18th 2008 12:39PM

Ugh, it's slow and unwieldy. It frequently either doesn't work, or logs me out after a few clicks. Also, I don't want any of the current prizes. I think I'll wait until a SNES controller prize shows up.

SoshiKitai @ Dec 18th 2008 2:28PM

Game & Watch collection ordered!
Awesomeness!

zchry @ Dec 18th 2008 3:11PM

I'm saving up for Game & Watch AND I want the Hanafuda cards, because even though I've never heard of Hanafuda until now and I know nobody who will want to play it, those cards are too pretty to miss out on.

ZombiePikmin @ Dec 18th 2008 3:39PM

Ha, im probably gonna buy every first party game in existence just so i can get some of the better items

spyker @ Dec 18th 2008 4:18PM

I got my 900 points and ordered Game & Watch yesterday. I can't wait to see what I get for being platinum :D.

DaisukeKiriyama @ Dec 18th 2008 4:32PM

The hanafuda cards look more appealing than the G&W Collection in my opinion.

I've only got 190 since it hasn't counted my VC games yet, but I'm hoping for the best.

zchry @ Dec 19th 2008 10:05AM

You probably won't earn many points at all for those. Their ten a piece, and it's a very, very small list of games that qualify (compared to the list of all games).

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

Craig M @ Dec 18th 2008 6:43PM

Yeah, the rewards are cool and all, but why aren't there more Wii type of rewards? The only things that aren't for the DS are the cards and the Wiimote holder. What are we non-DS poeople supposed to do? Wait till something cool comes along?

braeburn @ Dec 19th 2008 4:26PM

I agree. The hanafuda cards are the ONLY thing I'm interested in. Really seems like there ought to be more Wii stuff.

Vincent @ Dec 19th 2008 8:23AM

It's kinda sad; I'm not so much of a hardcore nintendo fan anymore, so all the stuff I've bought has gone to waste ;_;

zchry @ Dec 19th 2008 10:06AM

So, anyone know if Link's Crossbow Training counts as 50 coins? If it does, I'm going to buy it just for that.

I'm assuming it's only worth 20, as Wii Fit was worth 80.

Bill @ Dec 19th 2008 12:36PM

I still can't f**king log on!!

Deozaan @ Dec 19th 2008 8:50PM

I transferred my My Nintendo account over but I never got the confirmation/activation e-mail. So even though I can have them send me an e-mail to reset my password, I can't get them to send me another confirmation e-mail, so my account is considered inactive...