Inland

At least here in North America, Club Nintendo has always stunk. I mean, Japan has always gotten special controllers, figures, unique GBA Micro faceplates, you name it to your heart's content. To make matters worse, Americans complained in 2012 about not getting the special raffle 3DS consoles or Kid Icarus cards, so of course Nintendo jumps on board and makes them available for Europe but not NA. Europeans get hosed a lot, so this was a good move internationally, but it's quite frustrating that EU Club Nintendo got Kid Icarus cards when EU fans can buy Kid Icarus cards at retail locations and NA fans can't... and we never got that special 3DS raffle...

So here I've been sitting on my Club Nintendo points thinking that for sure Nintendo will toss us NA consumers a bone by the time the Wii U hits store shelves. Well, we've had this huge console launch and all I see is the same ol'. What is the major malfunction with NOA that has kept our Club Nintendo in such a worthless state? The best prizes we've seen have been Japanese overstock hand-me-downs like the Gold Wii Nunchuck accessory. Our current best prize is the Game & Watch Ball for 1200 points, but it has been aging there for years and was so mass produced that it doesn't merit the 1200 points required for admission. We need limited controllers, limited figures, or just anything special. It's not that easy to garner 1200 points, so why would I blow it on an item that I can buy for $20 on eBay?

We need good rewards for casual gamers, and REAL rewards for those that spend thousands of dollars. Would it be all that rediculous to expect a limited Club Nintendo edition Wii U Gamepad for 2000 or 3000 points? Does Nintendo realize how much money it takes to get these points? Lets stop with the shoelaces, screensavers and posters... and offer a real incentive.

Dear NOA, please give us something Wii U and also offer something nice and unique to NA for your big spenders. We've played your marketing game and bought your stuff for the points, so make the points worth while.

PS: PLEASE Stop making points expire, it's really difficult to save them up! Didn't you ever stop to think that consumers bought your games with solely the incentive of your...incentive program in mind? Is the money spent by Japanese consumers that much better than that spent in the US by North Americans? Give your consumers in NA a chance for a change instead of offering us the left over & unwanted "trash can water", Jeez.

What do you all think about this brave new digital move by Nintendo and the pricing? I will start off by saying that I am a collector at heart, and the digital business rarely gets a cent out of my pocket. But, don't mistake that my disinterest doesn't mean that I am against the digital practice. I think the larger the gap in digital vs physical pricing should be noticeable. I've already come to find that physical 3rd party Wii U releases do not seem to have Club Nintendo points whilst the digital downloads do. What I would love is if the digital versions were a common $20 price difference from retail. This would drop the price for the casual gamer, and instantly create a collectors market for physical releases without the need of a special Limited Edition release. I'm certain that most of you have your jaws on the floor thinking that I am insane, but I don't think it's crazy that digital should come at a significant discount, or as such retail should come at a significant price increase over digital. Somebody needs to eat the price of manufacturing costs, packaging, and shipping of retail copies.
I don't need any club Nintendo points for my retail copy, if the retail copy on my display shelf is prize enough.

I just picked up a copy of Tekken from Gamestop, and it was the gutted copy thats used on the display shelf. There was no points card present, was there supposed to be any? The only other game I have is Ninja Gaiden and it did include points.

Thanks guys

Is there a definitive list of online Wii U titles? I was a quite disappointed to see the Nintendo Network logo on Nintendo Land game box, yet it has no online gameplay that I am aware of. I certainly hope that Nintendo doesn't consider the Miiverse an "online feature" worthy enough to stamp that NN logo on the cover for individul games? I think a Miiverse logo would be much better suited for such instances to diffuse confusion amongst consumers looking to make an in-store purchase decision.

Edit: "(Miiverse chat = Nintendo Network logo?)" added to thread title.

What does the Bayonetta Wii U exclusive release mean to the gaming world as a whole? I played the Bayonetta demo on 360 awhile back and never gave the game much thought. Seemed like it had double jump, and a weird middle-aged teacher looking witch protagonast. The shooting was somewhat like the Capcom game titled Devil May Cry.
Fast forwad to now, this title appears to have caused a huge uproar in the gaming community for being a Wii U release. Does a middle aged witch really mean all that much to the gaming balance? Will this exclusive risque title change the public view on Nintendo's post SNES staunch standards? Last I remeber, Conkers Bad Fur Day (N64), PN03 (GC) and No More Heroes (Wii) went into the sleeping night without much notice.

Am I in love with this title? No.
Is it a "good" move for Nintendo? For sure, if they can check their heart at the door and let the market decide they will have the answer in sales numbers good or bad.

I say let the good and the bad flow, the original Sony Playstation had no chance at surviving and we are now faced with...   yep.



Third party titles matter. Lets pray that Nintendo understands why the SNES/Super Famicom was so wonderful. Freedom. Not just a little filtering, but total freedom.

It's not the few key titles that make or break it, but the mass appeal to develop for the "willing" console. As long as consumers and developers both plan for Wii U, the Wii U will flourish in both.

There are classic movies on DVD format, and there is rubbish. The DVD format did not flourish because of said rubish... But hey, it didn't exactly hurt the format either!
If the little guy JVC with "no chance" (VHS) could beat the big bad Sony (Beta), why can't it happen again?

Beta tapes, Super Beta, UMDs...Sony Memory sticks over SD cards?????
I'll stick with the Wii U.