This is kind of cool, but it doesn't blow my mind too badly. Miniature (but fully functional) G&W keychains are available for cheap at many electronics superstores. And "Ball" is my least favorite G&W by quite a wide margin.
Japan seems to offer electronic prizes to its platinum members (neat controllers, gadgets like this), whereas in the States we get tech demos and plush hats.
Not that I don't love my widdle plush hat. Awww. Plush hat.
I would be very peeved if they offered Donkey Kong 2 overseas. That was my favorite G&W back in the day.
Oh man! Seeing as how I live in Japan and am also a Club Nintendo member, I could totally get this! I only need to become a platinum member, and that only costs...about $5,000! In no way at all is Club Nintendo a rip.
@denki: Why not buy it off someone from eBay? Last I checked the Elite prizes even Japanese ones never ran for more than $100. Even the cool famicom classic controller ran on eBay for only around $70. The Mario hat we get in the USA Club Nintendo can be had for like $30.
Club Nintendo is a reward program... shouldn't be a rip. I will admit that Nintendo's options for prizes are not the greatest, but hey it is all FREE. You choose your spending and have total control of how you obtain items... be it $5000 through game purchases or $100 on eBay.
@Benny: Yeah, yeah, I know you can get all those things online for cheap (actually saw the famicon controller for sale at a used game store for $40), but for late adopters of Club Nintendo, like me, who also owns mostly US games, getting to the Plat. level in Japan would be expensive and mostly pointless as I already own everything I want on Ninty platforms. Ok, that last bit is a lie, but I didn't see anywhere on the Ninty site where you could get points for buying a copy of Donkey Kong for Famicon, out of box, from a hobo in Yoyogi Koen. Which you can't do anymore because they made that area of the park off limits to hobos.
It is nice that Nintendo has a rewards program, but most of the things you can get you have to spend your points on, which means you're going to have to choose if you want to spend your $300 dollars worth on points on either a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack or some plastic figurines, both of which only cost Nintendo a buck to make. Although it would remove the "rarity" aspect of the items if Nintendo just sold the damn things somewhere, Nintendo should just sell the damn things somewhere.
@SpishackCola is your Brodie, Brotron, and Brodington!: NOTHING! Well, about a month ago the Zelda posters came out. Pretty dope, thinking about getting them... but I want to make sure I still have ~800 points if something awesome comes out. But since August 1 thing :(
I would like to see what these Zelda posters look like without going through the hassle of remembering my account name and password to view the store on there.
I was still kinda thinking about getting the hanafuda cards, but I was hoping that going into year 2 they would have added new prizes/replaced prizes with new ones.
@Mit: I got the Zelda posters, and they are surprisingly high quality. They shipped in a heavy-duty cardboard tube, and are printed on pretty heavy stock.
I expected something cheesier, but these were actually really nice. And the one of Link "through the ages" is actually kind of classy.
@greyseal: I definitely think they look cool, and love the two artwork pieces they chose, but the posters are just a tad small. Would've liked some larger stuff to go with my dozens of GameStop posters I've snagged over the years.
@Mit: Compared to standard posters, they're a bit small, but not too bad. Actually, the one with the different versions of Link would look pretty sweet framed.
For fifty measly Club Nintendo points, this doesn't sound half-bad. Meaning: it sounds just stupid and ridiculous enough to be novel for such a low, low "price".
My favorite Club Nintendo gift has to be the Nintendo Hanafuda cards. The problem is that Koi-Koi isn't exactly the easiest game to learn, or to teach. The plush Mario hat is also well-constructed, but too small (for me) to wear.
Yeah. Because otherwise I'd totally be sportin' it around town. #clubnintendo
@Sustenance: I feel like every reward on the North America Club Nintendo website is highway robbery. Obviously they can't just give shit away for free, but so few people take advantage of Club Nintendo that it seems like a drop in the bucket.
The recent Zelda posters are the only things on there that seem like a reasonable price. Hell, not only are they actually cool (instead of being a lame trinket you never really wanted in the first place), they're the 2nd cheapest thing on there!
Honestly, getting 600 points requires that you buy a great deal of first party games. A deck of cards should not cost that much (I'm going by memory, I may be slightly off on the exact price).
There need to be way more things like this 50 point WiiWare game that Japan is getting. #clubnintendo
@nworobes: I agree with you, actually. Nothing on there is a great deal when you do the math. But it's like a PBS pledge drive. You aren't really paying $200 for a coffee table book (or whatever)... Nintendo's just "thanking you for your spending habits by sending you this plastic stylus case". #clubnintendo
I mean, holding the Wiimote NES-style is the proper way to play this, so I'm good. But would the Internet be the Internet if I didn't find something about this free bonus perk to complain about? #punchout
Club Nintendo isn't free. They cheaply compensate you for your opinions of games. It's market research. They get a bunch for free, and I get a calendar that is the size of a large index card. #punchout
@Booji-Boy: What's devil's advocate? The service IS free. You buy the game you would've bought anyway, and get crap you wouldn't have gotten originally at no additional charge.
Seriously, with mentality's such as yours and YoHenYo then nothing is free because the costs of keeping yourself alive to enjoy any of it is pretty damn high. #punchout
@YoHenYo: There's more to Club Nintendo than the yearly rewards based on tier. You get points for stuff like unique DS games and cutesy stuff like Mario hat shelves for holding games. Yeah, its consumer marketing with all the polls, but at least its better than filling in postcard questionnaires to register games and never see anything for it like in the past.
The hat they sent out doesn't look like the one that was shown when choosing prizes... It's the (technically wearable) plush hat that used to be on the Japanese Club Nintendo. #punchout
I got the Mario hat instead. And when I wore it and put my Scribblenauts rooster hat on top of it, the President called me on the phone to tell me that I'm the most awesome person ever. They're doing a parade about me this Thursday. #punchout
@demigod4: I just got a call from the President again, he's revoking my "most awesome person ever" status for posting two slightly different messages because I thought the first one didn't get through because Firefox crashed... #punchout
"Controversy tonight as our LIBERAL president, Mr. Obama, SLIGHTED a VALUABLE, AMERICAN Kotaku poster of his status of 'Most Awesome Person Ever.'
demigod4, admired PATRIOT, was outraged and in-tears after the president pulled a switcharoo on what he thought was the greatest day of his life.
'I was going to have a parade,' said this brave warrior of TRUTH. 'There were going to be clowns, elephants, obese men on motorcycles. I was ever so thrilled.'
Unfortunately for demigod4, BETRAYAL, LIES and BROKEN PROMISES are what he will witness stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue. The ring leader? PRESIDENT OBAMA.
We here at Fox News, purveyors of everything that is RIGHT, will see to it that a parade worthy of such a NATIONALISTIC HERO occurs right after these commercial messages."
(oh god, please don't kill me, this is a JOKE, not a shoot. brother.) #punchout
I got the hat instead. Andwhen I wore it with my Scribblenauts rooster hat on top of it I got a phone call from the President telling me that I'm the most awesome person ever. They're throwing me a parade on Thursday. #punchout
11/19/09
-_-
11/18/09
This is kind of cool, but it doesn't blow my mind too badly. Miniature (but fully functional) G&W keychains are available for cheap at many electronics superstores. And "Ball" is my least favorite G&W by quite a wide margin.
Japan seems to offer electronic prizes to its platinum members (neat controllers, gadgets like this), whereas in the States we get tech demos and plush hats.
Not that I don't love my widdle plush hat. Awww. Plush hat.
I would be very peeved if they offered Donkey Kong 2 overseas. That was my favorite G&W back in the day.
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
Club Nintendo is a reward program... shouldn't be a rip. I will admit that Nintendo's options for prizes are not the greatest, but hey it is all FREE. You choose your spending and have total control of how you obtain items... be it $5000 through game purchases or $100 on eBay.
11/18/09
It is nice that Nintendo has a rewards program, but most of the things you can get you have to spend your points on, which means you're going to have to choose if you want to spend your $300 dollars worth on points on either a Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack or some plastic figurines, both of which only cost Nintendo a buck to make. Although it would remove the "rarity" aspect of the items if Nintendo just sold the damn things somewhere, Nintendo should just sell the damn things somewhere.
11/18/09
11/18/09
11/18/09
I would like to see what these Zelda posters look like without going through the hassle of remembering my account name and password to view the store on there.
11/18/09
Well that sucks :(
I was still kinda thinking about getting the hanafuda cards, but I was hoping that going into year 2 they would have added new prizes/replaced prizes with new ones.
11/18/09
Answered my own question. They're pretty cool, although they aren't big enough that I must have them.
11/18/09
11/18/09
When they actually ship, it takes about a week.
11/18/09
I expected something cheesier, but these were actually really nice. And the one of Link "through the ages" is actually kind of classy.
I say go for it.
11/18/09
11/19/09
#tips
11/10/09
My favorite Club Nintendo gift has to be the Nintendo Hanafuda cards. The problem is that Koi-Koi isn't exactly the easiest game to learn, or to teach. The plush Mario hat is also well-constructed, but too small (for me) to wear.
Yeah. Because otherwise I'd totally be sportin' it around town. #clubnintendo
11/10/09
The recent Zelda posters are the only things on there that seem like a reasonable price. Hell, not only are they actually cool (instead of being a lame trinket you never really wanted in the first place), they're the 2nd cheapest thing on there!
Honestly, getting 600 points requires that you buy a great deal of first party games. A deck of cards should not cost that much (I'm going by memory, I may be slightly off on the exact price).
There need to be way more things like this 50 point WiiWare game that Japan is getting. #clubnintendo
11/10/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
11/10/09
10/27/09
I mean, holding the Wiimote NES-style is the proper way to play this, so I'm good. But would the Internet be the Internet if I didn't find something about this free bonus perk to complain about? #punchout
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
Gamers:Why the f.... isn't Club Nintendo over here? We want rewards for buying games!
Nintendo:It's a lot easier to do this sort of thing in Japan but we'll see..
Gamers:No excuses, do it now!
Nintendo:Okey, here's Club Nintendo for the US. Now some of the prizes aren't going to be the same...
Gamers:WTF? THESE PRIZES SUCK. WE DEMAND PROPER TAINT TICKLING FOR GAMES WE BOUGHT WAY BEFORE CLUB NINTENDO WAS EVEN ANNOUNCED!
Nintendo: .... #punchout
10/27/09
Seriously, with mentality's such as yours and YoHenYo then nothing is free because the costs of keeping yourself alive to enjoy any of it is pretty damn high. #punchout
10/27/09
10/27/09
Don't complain about free stuff... #punchout
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
"Controversy tonight as our LIBERAL president, Mr. Obama, SLIGHTED a VALUABLE, AMERICAN Kotaku poster of his status of 'Most Awesome Person Ever.'
demigod4, admired PATRIOT, was outraged and in-tears after the president pulled a switcharoo on what he thought was the greatest day of his life.
'I was going to have a parade,' said this brave warrior of TRUTH. 'There were going to be clowns, elephants, obese men on motorcycles. I was ever so thrilled.'
Unfortunately for demigod4, BETRAYAL, LIES and BROKEN PROMISES are what he will witness stroll down Pennsylvania Avenue. The ring leader? PRESIDENT OBAMA.
We here at Fox News, purveyors of everything that is RIGHT, will see to it that a parade worthy of such a NATIONALISTIC HERO occurs right after these commercial messages."
(oh god, please don't kill me, this is a JOKE, not a shoot. brother.) #punchout
10/27/09
10/27/09
10/27/09
Sigh, dam you Obama, heil to Fox News, our purveyor of justice, truth and liberty!
Now where's my shotgun.. #punchout
10/27/09
10/27/09
Watching Doc look around is one of my favorite things to do in this game. #punchout
10/27/09