Club Nintendo Status & Coin Redemption Prizes

[Lord Malakite]

Just learned of a new Punch-Out!! game that will be available only to those who has been registering their stuff extensively on Nintendo's website. The game is basically just like the normal Wii Punch-Out!! except it only consist of one opponent for Little Mac to fight. Luckily that opponent is none other than Doc Louis himself. The pass code for the Club Nintendo exclusive WiiWare game Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! comes out in November for those that were lucky enough to reach "2009 Platinum Status" (by earning 600 coins between July 2008 and June 31 2009) and chose it as their free gift of the two possible choices (the second choice for a free gift is a wearable Mario's hat). Those that only reached "2009 Gold Status" (by earning 300 coins between July 2008 and June 31 2009) will get an exclusive "Nintendo themed" 2010 desk calendar.

Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! (like all WiiWare and Virtual Console games) requires a broadband connection to download. It does not however require you to own the normal Wii Punch-Out!! game.

Also worth noting, another Club Nintendo exclusive game (Game & Watch Collection for the DS) can be purchased from the site for 800 coins. Coins are the "reward points" you earn for registering Nintendo consoles/games and filling out surveys.

[JediTricks]

Damn, I want that Mario hat!

Beating up a fat old guy doesn't seem as rewarding.

[Lord Malakite]

Damn, I want that Mario hat!

Beating up a fat old guy doesn't seem as rewarding.

Well, if you really want the hat you can always pick it up off ebay as we speak for about $40. It was was offered last year as one of Japan's Club Nintendo "2008 Platinum Status" gifts. Aside from possibly whatever packaging the US's Club Nintendo "2009 Platinum Status" hat is sent in, they appear to be identical.

The US's "2009 Platinum Status" WiiWare game on the other has not been released in any other country to date and most likely will only be available for download a few months at best. I can't see Nintendo keeping it listed for download long term like other WiiWare/Virtual Console games since the "general public" can't purchase it.

Right now I'm not certain which gift we'll end up getting. On one hand the hat is a tangible/physical item that appears to be of some long worth value, but it also appears to be easily obtainable (aka not much in demand) if one wants to plop down the $40 for it on ebay. The game (given how WiiWare/Virtual Console downloads work) appears to me to be the rarer of the two prizes as the game is currently US only, will only be tied to (available for) play/download by those select Wii consoles that enter said "gift pass code", and may only be a limited or one time download. The problem with it though is that you need broadband to download it (which we don't have, so we'd have to find some source (person/place) where we can to download it) and because it is a download (not a physical item) you run into the same sorts of problems that come from other "download only" games if/when your system messes up and has to be sent in for repairs or a replacement. Then if you accidentally or purposely delete the game to make room for other games you'd have the to re-download it if you want it again, which might not be possible if it is for a limited or one time only download.

Lots to think about. Oh well, at least the exclusive Game & Watch Collection game available for purchase is an actual (physical) DS game and not a DSiWare (download) game.

[JediTricks]

FORTY BUCKS?!? Yowch. Not unreasonable, but ouch.

I owned a ton of the game & watch games back in the day, and a few more when they re-released them as keychains a few years back, they were cute but kinda boring.

[Lord Malakite]

FORTY BUCKS?!? Yowch. Not unreasonable, but ouch.

I owned a ton of the game & watch games back in the day, and a few more when they re-released them as keychains a few years back, they were cute but kinda boring.

$40 seems fair enough of a price (a bit cheap even) for the hat given what it takes to reach the 600 coins in a year for "Platinum Status". Thats the equivalent of purchasing, registering, and filling out surveys on at least 10 Wii games. And not just any Wii game will count either mind you. They usually have to be 1st party or 2nd party to count. Of course the DSi handheld console and select 1st/2nd party DS games, DSiWares games, WiiWare games, and Virtual Console games also count for coins. Its just that those games (not counting the DSi handheld itself which is worth 160 coins) aren't worth as much as Wii games.

Since I've listed pics of the other "Status" prizes, here is one for the "Gold Status" 2010 Calendar that US Club Nintendo released. Though (as their own description states) the calendar pictured is the 2009 Calendar that was given to "2008 Gold Status" members for Japan's Club Nintendo. The Calendar that will be sent out won't be identical to the one pictured, but it will be similar in design.

[JediTricks]

Wow, it sucks to be gold status.

[Lord Malakite]

Well, after looking into it a great deal it appears that being able to use the WiiWare/Virtual Console download service is out of the question for me; which makes the my option of accepting Doc Louis's Punch-Out moot. So I went ahead and accepted the Mario hat. Also (thanks to the Wii Motion+/Wii Sports Resort bundle that just came out) I just qualified for the "2010 Gold Status" prize. Still got some 70 coins more worth of surveys to fill out. I think I'll wait to do those though, at least until Nintendo adds some more coin redeemable prizes that interest me or until I have enough to qualify for the "2010 Platinum Status" prize. Whichever happens first.

[Lord Malakite]

The Club Nintendo Gold/Platinum Status prizes have been announced for 2010.

Those that only reached "2010 Gold Status" (by earning 300 coins between July 2009 and June 30 2010) will get an exclusive "Nintendo themed" 2011 desk calendar. Basically the same prize as last year's Gold Status prize. In fact, the calendar pictured below is the 2010 Calendar that was given to "2009 Gold Status" members for the US Club Nintendo. The Calendar that will be sent out for "2010 Gold Status" won't be identical to the one pictured, but it will be similar in design.

Those that reached "2010 Platinum Status" (by earning 600 coins between July 2009 and June 30 2010) will however have two possible choices for a prize (just like last year). Luckily I think this year's decision won't be quite as hard to make. The first possible choice is a Limited Edition "Super Mario" Characters Figurine Statue (approx. 3.9 inches in height and 4.6 inches in diameter) enclosed in decorative packaging. The second possible choice, take the 2011 desk calendar (the "2010 Gold Status" prize) instead.

Also worth noting, two more Club Nintendo exclusive games can be purchased from the site. One is Game & Watch Collection 2 for the DS and it costs 800 coins. The other is Grill-Off with Ultra Hand! for the Wii (a WiiWare download) and it costs 80 coins. Coins are the "reward points" you earn for registering Nintendo consoles/games and filling out surveys.

[Lord Malakite]

Its that time of year again. The Club Nintendo Gold/Platinum Status prizes have been announced for 2011. :thumbsup:

Those that only reached "2011 Gold Status" (by earning 300 coins between July 2010 and June 30 2011) will get an exclusive "Nintendo themed" 2012 desk calendar. Basically the same prize as the previous two year's Gold Status prize. The calendar pictured below is the 2011 Calendar that was given to "2010 Gold Status" members for the US Club Nintendo. The Calendar that will be sent out for "2011 Gold Status" won't be identical to the one pictured, but it will be similar in design.

Those that reached "2011 Platinum Status" (by earning 600 coins between July 2010 and June 30 2011) will only have one choice this year (unlike the previous two years). The item they will get is a Mario & Friends Pin Badge Collection. It is a collection of 25 commemorative pins of characters from the Super Mario franchise. The pins come packaged in 6 puzzle type boxes that can be placed together to create 8-bit pictures of three iconic characters from the Super Mario franchise.

Also worth noting, another Club Nintendo exclusive game can now be purchased from the site. This game is a near exact replica of the 1980 LCD handheld of the same name, Game & Watch Ball, and it costs 1200 coins. Coins are the "reward points" you earn for registering Nintendo consoles/games and filling out surveys.

[DarthQuack]

I selected the pins.