14 DAY TRIAL // Nintendo has put up the official website for Club Nintendo of America, which the company revealed earlier this year, in October. At the moment, the website is under construction, not offering any promotion but Nintendo says that, by the end of the year, the service will be completed and will allow those using their gaming devices to gain access to various bonuses.
The main idea behind Club Nintendo is that you can earn many perks from the company by creating an account on the website and logging in. Here is what you can do: registering Nintendo made games and consoles will get you Coins; completing surveys related to products you use will also get you Coins; Limited Edition videogames can be redeemed by using Coins; as you collect more and more, you will have access to Gold and Platinum status; registering a new Nintendo DS or Wii allows users to extend the warranty on the console. Other services will probably be announced once the website is launched.
At the moment, all of this is pretty much standard as far as Club Nintendo features in Europe and Japan go. After all, Nintendo opened these clubs up years ago and many wondered why North American did not have one.
It makes sense to have Club Nintendo on this market considering the phenomenal sales registered by the consoles made by the company. During this year, there have been several months when the Wii outsold the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the PlayStation 3 from Sony combined, while the Nintendo DS led the handheld market. Nintendo needs to expand the services it offers to the users of its devices, especially as the Xbox 360 seems to re-position itself as the family centered gaming device, while also lowering its selling price.