Nintendo logo (Photo : Reuters)
Serving as provider of Coins for Nintendo users to trade in return for games and various rewards, Club Nintendo has reported that it will be shutting down its reward program. It will be permanently closed on July 1 in order to give way to a new reward system implemented by Nintendo.
Nintendo said that all Coins acquired by players will be deleted. The company also added that it will give its players additional download content in order to use up their Coins before the deadline. Exclusive items will be added to reward catalog sometime in February.
Nintendo will also give out free download codes for Flipnote Studio 3D to all Club Nintendo members as a token of gratitude.
The last day to earn Coins from registered Nintendo products and signing up for the new Club Nintendo membership was set on Mar. 31. The last day to redeem Coins was set on June 30 and the reward program will be officially turned off at 11:59pm PT on the same day.
Even though Nintendo will still roll out a new reward scheme, registered accounts from the current Club Nintendo will not be transferred to the new loyalty program. Nintendo has yet to comment about the new loyalty program and whether it will be activated right after the current Club Nintendo shuts down.
Reports indicate that Nintendo Japan along with Europe and Australia has already informed its players about the plan to shut down the service, Kotaku reported. The Nintendo website in United States is still under maintenance and has yet to roll out the news.
Nintendo Executive Vice President for sales and marketing issued a statement saying, "We thank all Club Nintendo members for their dedication to Nintendo games and their ongoing love for our systems and characters."
