Rack up the points and score some sweet Nintendo stuff... if you live in Japan.
Nintendo of Japan has opened up a website detailing how the new Club Nintendo program will work. The system rewards gamers for purchasing Nintendo stuff, getting cooler Nintendo stuff in return.
The club works on a points system. When games valued up to ¥5,000 (GBA prices) are purchased and registered, 20 club points are earned. Games going up to ¥7,000 (GC prices) will net 30 points. Double bonus points can also be earned by getting a new game within the first month of release, and 1½ times bonus points for getting a new game within six months of release. More bonus points can be earned by filling out various surveys from Nintendo. It's not clear what kind of forms these will be, or how many points can be earned from them. All points expire after two years from the time you first get them, probably to force people to spend them quickly.
There are a bunch of nifty items these points can be spent on. The modest stuff ranges from a pack of e-Cards (80pts) and a new topper for the GameCube (150pts). More exotic rewards include Blue-White Club Nintendo GC controller (500pts) and a Lime Green GBA SP (600pts).
Finally, based on how many points are racked up in a given year, a club member may hit gold or platinum status. It appears that reaching these point levels will entitle these special members to exclusive perks, events and other such things.
Japanese gamers can start registering the products at the end of the month. The American version of the Club is coming soon, by the end of this year or early next year.
