Nintendo have announced the closure of Club Nintendo, the screams of a million Nintendo fans was heard throughout the universe. It was always a flawed system, with a barely functional website, some questionable merch and of course that dreaded survey. Seeing “Club Nintendo” trend on twitter yesterday highlighted how quietly popular the initiative is.
Nintendo has promised us a new and improved system, but no doubt this will still be missed. After 88 system and game registrations, hours spent on THAT SURVEY and 31365 points (tons which ended up expiring) earned since 2002, I thought I’d jot down the “treasures” I’ve spent these points on, don’t worry I will skip the army of wallpapers and desktop icons.
The Legend of Zelda Collector’s Edition
Purchased: 01/12/2003
Points: 4500
Summary: Points well spent
Considering I signed up on Gamecube Launch day in May 2002, it too me sometime to make my first purchase. And what a fine first purchase it was! Up to this point I had never played Ocarina of Time in full and it was a perfect way to be introduced! The amount of content on this disc was astounding, it still haunts me that I lent this to a friend at school and forgot to ask for it back.
Kingdom Hearts – Chain of Memories
Purchased: 22/06/2005
Points: 4000
Summary: Waste of points
Took a further two years for me to make a next and rather add purchase, not sure what 16-year old Mike was thinking back then. I’d never shown an interest in the Kingdom Hearts series before and this looks like a weird way to have got into it. I distinctly remember being confused from the start with the convoluted plot and ironically (for many reasons) I still don’t get it, who does?
Mario Power Tennis
Purchased: 19/01/2006
Points: 4000
Summary: Waste of points
I remember crying with excitement to own this game. Simply because Mario Tennis on the GameBoy Colour is one of the most underrated titles of all time (I will explain in another post one day, maybe). But was left bitterly disappointed as the career mode simply didn’t come close to that seen in its predecessor.
Super Mario Characters Figurine
Purchased: 25/06/2013
Points: 7000
Summary: Points well spent
A whole 7 years (and completely ignoring the wii…) later I got back into actively using Club Nintendo. By this point there was actually some lovely and exclusive merchandise on offer. I wanted this from day one and almost sold my sold (eBay) in getting the points to get it. The packaging and build quality alone had me purring like Mario in a cat costume. Probably the best item I’ve bought with the scheme.
The Legend of Zelda Carry Case
Purchased: 14/08/2014
Points: 4000
Summary: Waste of points
One lesson comes to mind when I remember this item, ALWAYS READ THE DIMENSIONS! Being a super Zelda fan boy, I instantly needed this bag in my collection. I had grand plans to use it as a gym bag and look like a hero every time I would walk in. Sadly the bag just about fits a 3DS XL and I was left bitterly disappointed. Still a pretty bag though. With games no longer coming with points now, this will probably be my last purchase from the scheme, as all I can currently afford is a Pikmin keychain……Yea.
Fingers crossed the new and improved scheme will still continue to offer exclusive physical merchandise and will hopefully be a tad easier to actually afford them!
RIP CLUB NINTENDO!
