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Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Exchange Rate Edition

Ask Joystiq Nintendo: Smurftastic Edition

Do you want to smurf us a question about the Wii, DS, or anysmurf else related to Nintendo? Smurf us an email at asknintendo AT joystiq DOT com!
Wii Warm Up: Start all the downloadin'

We suspect that plenty of Wii fans received Wii Points during the recent Holiday Gift-Giving Occasion -- they're relatively cheap, and safe in the same way that gift cards are. If you were among the lucky recipients of some wrapped Points, what did you do with them, or what do you plan to do with them?
Is your sudden windfall going to be shelved for future releases, either known or unknown, or are you taking the opportunity to go through the back catalogue and pick up some VC or WiiWare games you missed? Are you finally getting the rest of Space Invaders Get Even?
Is your sudden windfall going to be shelved for future releases, either known or unknown, or are you taking the opportunity to go through the back catalogue and pick up some VC or WiiWare games you missed? Are you finally getting the rest of Space Invaders Get Even?
Wii Points up for grabs in Tetris Party tournaments
Those online Tetris Party tournaments won't just enhance your fearsome internet reputation -- they'll also offer Wii Points as prizes, a pretty awesome way of keeping player interest high. The first tournament kicks off December 1st, and contains four rounds, each featuring one of Tetris Party's eighteen variations. After you complete a round, the game will give you a rank and confirmation code, which you can register at the official Tetris Party tournament site. Perform strongly over all four rounds, and you could win!
Five hundred prizes are up for grabs (though how many points will be given away isn't known), and we're fairly sure this is a global contest -- there's no mention of regional restrictions in the press release. Skip past the break for start dates, end dates, and other details of the first tournament, then get practicing!
Toys R Us having big games sale starting Sunday
Toys R Us is having one huge sale, starting this Sunday. How huge of a sale? Buy two, get one huge. On top of the prospect at getting a free game, there's also some deals specific to Wii owners.On Sunday and Monday, Toys R Us will offer 30% off Wii accessories. Now, this doesn't extend to Nunchuks and Wiimotes, but it works for other accessories and ... Wii Points cards! 30% off some Wii Points means you can nab a stellar WiiWare title or two, like, say, Mega Man 9. Or any one of the other games already available. Or even a Virtual Console game!
[Via Joystiq]
Nintendo Points non-transferable between Wii, DSi
To allow for the fact that the DSi will feature an online store, Wii Points were recently renamed to Nintendo Points.
Despite this rebranding exercise, Nintendo has revealed that you won't be able to transfer points between its new handheld and the Wii. In other words, if you buy a Nintendo Points card and use it to purchase (say) DSWare, you'll have to spend any remaining Points from the card on DSi downloads (and vice versa). This also means you won't be able to transfer any 'spare change' Points from the Wii to your DSi, meaning you're stuck with the 100 Points that have been on your Wii account since about March 2007. THERE'S ALWAYS A SPARE 100 POINTS ON OUR WII. They sit there, silently mocking us.
Anyway, the above slide, dug up by Siliconera from Nintendo's Media Summit presentation, highlights the point emphatically enough: you won't be able to transfer Nintendo Points.
Despite this rebranding exercise, Nintendo has revealed that you won't be able to transfer points between its new handheld and the Wii. In other words, if you buy a Nintendo Points card and use it to purchase (say) DSWare, you'll have to spend any remaining Points from the card on DSi downloads (and vice versa). This also means you won't be able to transfer any 'spare change' Points from the Wii to your DSi, meaning you're stuck with the 100 Points that have been on your Wii account since about March 2007. THERE'S ALWAYS A SPARE 100 POINTS ON OUR WII. They sit there, silently mocking us.
Anyway, the above slide, dug up by Siliconera from Nintendo's Media Summit presentation, highlights the point emphatically enough: you won't be able to transfer Nintendo Points.
Wii Points officially being renamed to 'Nintendo Points'

Will you be able to transfer Points purchased through your Wii to your DSi? We would assume so. We'll update you all as soon as more information is provided.
Japan's Legendary Virtual Console
There's a certain feeling of envy emanating from non-Japanese Wii owners right about now, because the big release on Japan's Virtual Console calendar in June is not to be sneezed at. Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars is known to some intellectually superior gamers as one of the greatest SNES games ever made, and a catalyst for the entire range of righteous Mario titles we enjoy today -- Super Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi, and many others.
Kudos, Japan. While we may be disappointed, it gives us a bright shiny ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll be rocking out with this classic sometime in the future. However, Nintendo are tacking on an extra 100 Wii Points to the price tag, making the download a still-reasonable nine bucks. There's an extra dollar that will be lost forever, never to be spent on that bus fare to Grandma's house.
Check in after the break for the full list of Japan's June Virtual Console releases.
Kudos, Japan. While we may be disappointed, it gives us a bright shiny ray of hope that maybe, just maybe, we'll be rocking out with this classic sometime in the future. However, Nintendo are tacking on an extra 100 Wii Points to the price tag, making the download a still-reasonable nine bucks. There's an extra dollar that will be lost forever, never to be spent on that bus fare to Grandma's house.
Check in after the break for the full list of Japan's June Virtual Console releases.
Cheap accessories may await you at Wal-Mart
A GoNintendo reader snapped this amazingly tantalizing picture of $10 Wii accessory bundles at his local Wal-Mart. For half the price of just the accessory, shoppers at this particular store can get a bundle containing a Nunchuk, 2000 Wii Points card, or a Classic Controller, along with a controller cover. So that's more than you usually get, for much less than it normally costs.
No doubt these are holiday bundles being clearanced out simply because it's not the holidays anymore, but Wal-Mart's poor judgment can definitely be to your benefit. Be warned that Wal-Mart deals vary from store to store, and there's a fairly high probability that your store will either have a different price on these or won't carry them at all. But if you happen to be going to Wal-Mart anyway, which we hear happens occasionally with a lot of people, it may be worth your time to check out the electronics section!
No doubt these are holiday bundles being clearanced out simply because it's not the holidays anymore, but Wal-Mart's poor judgment can definitely be to your benefit. Be warned that Wal-Mart deals vary from store to store, and there's a fairly high probability that your store will either have a different price on these or won't carry them at all. But if you happen to be going to Wal-Mart anyway, which we hear happens occasionally with a lot of people, it may be worth your time to check out the electronics section!
Nintendo now accepting stars for Wii Points
It's taken some time, but Nintendo Europe is finally rewarding its 'star' collectors with an opportunity to exchange celestial tokens for Wii Points, at a rate of 4 stars to 1 point. If you've been a diligent Club Nintendo member (200 stars), registering codes packaged in first-party games and hardware (250-1,000 stars), recommending aliases "friends" (250 stars), and of course, hitting the website each and every day (5 stars), why not save the 8 euros and treat yourself to that Wonder Boy in Monster World download you've been pining after for all these months? Take it from us: you've earned it.
Europeans to get Wii Points in exchange for loyalty
Here in Europe, we have our own version of Japan's Club Nintendo loyalty scheme, with one critical difference: while Japanese gamers are routinely given access to completely rad bonuses, the past few years have thrown up few treats for those in Euroland. Nothing but a natty selection of wallpapers, ringtones, and stationary templates.
Happily, that just changed for the better. From today, European Wii owners will be able to exchange their Star Points for Wii Points, giving themselves access to a whole world of nutritious, retro-flavored goodness, via the Virtual Console.
Four Star Points will apparently be worth one Wii Point, but what does that mean in monetary terms? Well, each Wii game is worth 250 Star Points, the equivalent of 62.5 Wii Points. Hence, buying eight Wii games will net you 500 Wii Points, the cost of a NES game on the Virtual Console.
That's a fair number of Wii games just to download a single NES title, but we still embrace this development whole-heartedly. Some of us have been saving Star Points for years, patiently waiting for the day that Nintendo of Europe would make collecting the things worth our time and effort. Today, we got our reward. Read how to convert your Points at the link below.
[Via Eurogamer]

















