Club Nintendo: More Third Party Games, Please
Nintendo should let other video game publishers participate in its cool online service.
Word on the street is that Sonic Generations 3DS comes with a Club Nintendo registration code. This is huge, considering it's one of the few third party titles to include this.
Hey Sonic, glad you joined...the Club.
Club Nintendo is a free to join service that lets Nintendo fans register first party Nintendo games to accumulate coins, which they can then spend on company themed merchandise, be it Mario folders, Kirby patches and a DS case, among other cool things. Reach certain milestones, either Gold or Platinum membership, and players receive gifts.
We've always been huge Club Nintendo fans. Thing is, you have to buy Nintendo published games to earn coins, and the process takes quite a while, since the big N normally releases one (sometimes two to three) games per month.
In the case of 3DS, that means 40 coins for each title. Considering some prizes cost hundreds of coins, it could take well over a year to afford them.
With this in mind, we think Nintendo should open up Club Nintendo to all third parties, not just Sega. At least this way, gamers would have the opportunity to gain access to cool stuff while at the same time buying more software, because let's face it, Nintendo wants to sell as many 3DS titles as possible. Receiving an influx of Gold and Platinum members shouldn't matter.
Beyond that, it would give consumers something else to look forward to with each purchase, and make bad games a bit easier to swallow. At least on the positive side, one could score the 40 coins and then part ways with the cartridge.
Hardcore fanatics can always make the argument that too many card carrying Club Nintendo players would cheapen the service, thereby making it less exclusive. They'd have a valid point, but there's also no guarantee shoppers would redeem the printed codes, and again, even if they did, Nintendo should be more than willing to part with additional Mario folders if it means putting 3DS software into as many hands as possible.
With this in mind, we applaud the decision to team with Sega, and hope other companies like Electronic Arts and Activision follow suit.
