My Nintendo Rewards Program Is A Disappoinment According To Most Users

On May 31, fans of Nintendo ushered in the new My Nintendo Rewards program to replace the much loved Club Nintendo. Unfortunately, very few people seem to care for the program and the newest rewards haven’t done a lot to sway anyone’s opinions. Most would be hard-pressed to find a single person on the Reddit thread that cares about any of the most recently added games.

For those wondering, the September rewards update brings Yoshi’s Story, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and Fire Emblem for the Wii U Virtual Console. Pushmo World also gets a discount for the Wii U as well for the eShop.

The 3DS Virtual Console sole title is Star Fox 64 3D. However, it sees more eShop discounts. These titles include Dr. Mario: Miracle Cure, Mario Golf: World Tour, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and Fluidity: Spin Cycle.

While most of these titles are solid, fans still feel somewhat disappointed and they are letting that disappointment be known.

So, what is the issue and how can Nintendo fix it?

First Party Titles Have Already Been Purchased

Nintendo fans can be loyal to a fault. With the exception of the recently released Metroid Prime: Federation Force, fans of Nintendo can buy the first party titles at release or shortly thereafter. It is a testament to Nintendo’s ability to make solid first party games. This can be a problem when it comes time for the rewards program to change over. Many times, most of the fans who participate in the program already have the games that are made available at a discount.

Nintendo might need to consider using their back catalog better when it comes to handing out discount coupons for their rewards. There are a good number of games that are not currently available on the eShop and Virtual Console that could enjoy solid sales if they were to launch when the titles refresh.

They may want to consider looking outside of first party games as well. The Wii had an extensive number of third party content from the NEO GEO, Turbo Graphx 16, and even their old rival the Sega Genesis. A code for one of those titles alongside the day it launches could go a long way to mending a strained relationship with fans that seems to be developing.

Discounts Are Not Deep Enough to Keep People Interested

At the moment, silver coins obtained by visiting My Nintendo Rewards, Miiverse, the eShop, and Miitomo are worth a coupon for a 15 percent discount on certain titles for the month. The gold coins that players spend their hard-earned money on get them a 30 percent discount. Many times, a fan can find a copy of the retail game at GameStop cheaper.

Nintendo should consider offering deeper discounts for the games. A Reddit user suggested 30 percent for silver coins and 50 percent for gold. While that is reasonable, it should be noted that Sony and Microsoft now offer free games monthly online through their subscription service. While it is true that this is a pay-to-play style format, a lot of times these games are AAA-rated titles that alone can be as much to purchase as the subscription itself.

Nintendo could offer a service like that with the upcoming NX.

Club Nintendo Had Physical Rewards, but My Nintendo Rewards Doesn’t

A major draw to Club Nintendo were the physical rewards that one could use their coins on. Most of the time, these rewards could not be purchased anywhere else. Some of the notable rewards included the limited edition gold nunchuck, 3DS XL charging station, and the Mario themed Hanafuda cards. That was just in North America.

My Nintendo Rewards needs to bring these back especially if Nintendo insists on making primarily first party games available. There have been hints that it could be a possibility in the future. Nintendo Product Marketing Manager Bill Trinen spoke with IGN about the possibility around the time of launch.

Initially, the focus is going to be on digital. But we do have a lot of ideas for what roll out down the road for packaged goods or real world interactions. I think we’ll continue to look at My Nintendo and how we can grow that as a rewards program, so that it really is trying to encompass all the different touch points of how people come into contact with Nintendo products.”

Nintendo has been staggering the rewards rollout. Virtual Console and Theme Rewards along with My Nintendo Picross: The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess expire on October 1. Considering the rumor mill has a major NX announcement taking place in September, this could be a good time to revamp the My Nintendo Rewards program.

Are you satisfied with My Nintendo Rewards or would you rather see Nintendo institute one of the changes mentioned? What are some of the changes you would make?

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