Club Nintendo’s Elite Status Rewards Are All Digital This Year
When American Nintendo fans heard they were getting Club Nintendo way back in 2008, we had good reason to be excited. The customer loyalty program offered Japanese players tons of rare Nintendo collectibles that could only be earned by spending coins gained with every Nintendo purchase. But while some interesting products were announced, it never lived up to its promise. Over time, the focus became less on physical items and more on downloadable games. It’s not that the games were bad, but it seemed pointless to spend the equivalent of $200 worth of coins on a digital download you could buy yourself for $5-10; physical items were actually worth it, but they’ve become deemphasized, culminating in this year’s elite prize.
If you earned enough coins from July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014, you qualified for Elite Status, either at Gold level (300 coins) or Platinum level (600 coins). But while reaching these levels once would have earned you a mini statue of Mario (and friends) or a pin set, now you can only select from some downloadable games. If you reached Gold, you can pick from Ice Climber (Wii U), Kid Icarus (Wii U), Super Mario Bros. (Wii U), Zelda II: The Adventure of Link (Wii U), Donkey Kong 3 (3DS), Wario Land 2 (3DS), Metroid (3DS), and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins (3DS).
If you reached Platinum, you can pick from Game & Wario (Wii U), NES Remix (Wii U), EarthBound (Wii U), Dr. Luigi (Wii U), Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D (3DS), Fluidity: Spin Cycle (3DS), Dillon’s Rolling Western (3DS), and Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move (3DS). They can also pick from any Gold game, though all the Platinum games are more expensive to buy with your own money. If you’re looking to save the most money, Game & Wario or Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D are the most expensive, so they’d be good picks.
So consider this your PSA to pick your prize if you qualify. I just wish I still got something that would qualify as collectible instead of another downloadable game. But with Nintendo trying to move more digital, I doubt this will change back.
Source: Club Nintendo