It's pretty easy to be a Nintendo fan today. With as many games and consoles coming out in the near future players have a good reason to like Nintendo in 2015. However, users of Nintendo's reward program, Club Nintendo, have a reason to be sad.
Nintendo announced on Tuesday that it would be closing down Club Nintendo in North America, the Associated Press reported. Any product that players buy after Jan. 20 will not be eligible for registration. Players will have until March 31 to register any leftover games and accounts. Players will then have until July 1 to spend their remaining coins in the Club Store.
Nintendo is also closing its region-specific version of Nintendo Club in Japan, Europe and Oceania.
While this decision is a depressing turn for many fans, Nintendo is trying to make up for it. A number of physical and digital rewards will be added to the store for users to spend their coins. On top of that, all Nintendo Club members will receive a copy of Flip Studio 3D, the DS-based animation software.
Players also have an incentive to buy older games. According to Nintendo's press release, if a Club member gained enough coins between July 2014 and April 2015, the player will receive either Elite Status (if they have more than 300 coins) or Platinum Status (if they have more than 600 coins). The player will then be allowed to download a free Nintendo game in April from a select list. However, the game choice will be limited according to what status the user has.
The Nintendo Club was originally started out as a magazine in Europe but eventually evolved into a loyalty program for European gamers. Japan loved the idea enough that it opened its own version in 2003. After many requests from Americans, Nintendo released a North American version of the loyalty program in 2007. By 2008, the program opened in Oceania and South America.
