Japanese Club Nintendo swag -- don't be jealous
by Jonti Davies 
{ Nov 29th 2006 at 9:00AM }
One of the great things about life in Japan is Club Nintendo. (In a quick survey we conducted this morning, Club Nintendo ranked just behind Asahi Super Dry and heated toilet seats in the Top 10 Reasons to Live in Japan.) Via the Japanese Club Nintendo website (club.nintendo.co.jp), customers can input codes, which are included on inserts with every Japanese Nintendo release, and then convert those codes into points. And what do points mean? Prizes!
We've photographed some of our recent winnings for your green eyes. Get envious after the break.
Original Mario Family Figures -- 500 points well spent. These are staying in their packaging for future generations to appreciate.
Club Nintendo DS Lite Pouch -- it's got an 8-bit Mario emblem and everything. Snug as a glove. Only 250 points -- bargain!
Small prizes are sent out in these rather swish Club Nintendo envelopes. We took the liberty of uploading this photo without erasing our address from it, because the resolution is probably too low for anyone to decipher where we live. If you do crack the code, though, please feel free to send us an American copy of GameCube Twilight Princess. Thanks!
This Game & Watch Collection has been fetching silly prices on eBay, but we're keeping our copy for the sake of Donkey Kong.
This is not a Wiimote. Repeat, this is not a Wiimote. This ... is a remote! Yes, a TV remote in the style of a Wiimote. How post-ironic is that?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Psaakyrn @ Nov 29th 2006 10:34AM
So, wouldn't the next step be a universal remote which is compatable with the Wii? Granted it would be more expensive, but since you're already puting all the other remotes together, might as well merge this one as well..
sambo @ Nov 29th 2006 9:07AM
nice! what else can you pick from?
Wazatiste @ Nov 29th 2006 9:12AM
I hate you so much. Nintendo Europe offers SHIT for 250, like a cellphone wallpaper or a ringtone...
I so hate you...
werk @ Nov 29th 2006 9:15AM
Yes, I am very jealous.
But Asahi Super Dry is terrible! Yuck!
lowallyn @ Nov 29th 2006 9:18AM
cool. i want the ds pouch. love my ds
Babbon @ Nov 29th 2006 9:38AM
The only worthwhile thing I ever got on Nintendo Europe was a half-year subscription to NGamer, which cost me almost all of my points.
Snorri @ Nov 29th 2006 10:23AM
The only thing worse than a cold toilet seat is a warm one.
I have one of the notWiibutTV remotes and the are really nice. I want the Game and Watch collection now :)
Dueler @ Nov 29th 2006 9:32AM
This might be a stupid question, but will the points earnt be useful for the virtual console on the Wii? To be honest it hasn't been hard for me to save up my points, as you know the items on the Europe shop are truely awful.
jp007 @ Nov 29th 2006 9:42AM
Hey, at least you Euros get SOMETHING. Didn't they have the Age of Empires game in the European club shop for a while? Americans get nada. I'd rather get some nerdy Nintendo ringtones than jack shit...
MrJeykel @ Nov 29th 2006 12:32PM
Can you get a job in Japan without speaking a lick of Japanese? Cause I will move ASAP!! Why can't the US get this cool stuff? We buy the most Nintendo stuff, I believe.
PaulMorel @ Nov 29th 2006 9:51AM
Augh!! I am extremely jealous!!
I am going over to ebay right now to see if I can find that TV remote! Not only does it look awesome, but watching my girlfriend confusedly try to decide which remote is the remote would totally make it worth it!
Kevin @ Nov 29th 2006 9:53AM
I wish NOA had stuff like this for us. We just get digital downloads...
chobit @ Nov 29th 2006 10:04AM
ASAHI SUPER DRY??????? Sure its popular, but in the same way people drink busch light in the US! Get yourself some kirin ichiban or sapporo. I command you!
Jonti @ Nov 29th 2006 10:12AM
chobit: We can't be held responsible for the tastes of "those surveyed", even if they were mostly us. Of course, the ultimate Japanese beer is actually Yebisu...
adg1034 @ Nov 29th 2006 10:23AM
I've got some Club Nintendo points accumulated through the purchase of various import DS games, but I'm figuring there's no way I can use them. Am I right?
White Rose Duelist @ Nov 29th 2006 10:30AM
The US did get a couple cool things for registering codes, long ago. Back when the service was new, you could get the Zelda Compilation (the same one that came with Nintendo Power subscriptiona) for registering 2 systems and 5 games. Of course, there were only 6-7 games with codes, and they mostly sucked, so I went the $20 (with free magazines!) route. I also got a Metroid Prime 2 bonus disc at one point, though I'm not sure why.
Lately, you get wallpaper of any games you register, and a 90-day extension of the Wii's warranty (kind of cool) for registering. Feh.
Jeff @ Nov 29th 2006 10:28AM
The G&W Collection is one of the rarest games for the DS, and commands ridiculous prices here, but there are several stores in Tokyo selling unopened copies for 4980 yen. I *almost* bought several of these last time I was there, but decided to "save my money" like the idiot that I sometimes can be. I thought I'd find something better to invest in but I never did and I never went back to those stores.
Anyway, the point is a lot of people apparently take their Club winnings and sell them.
"ASAHI SUPER DRY??????? Sure its popular, but in the same way people drink busch light in the US! Get yourself some kirin ichiban or sapporo."
I wouldn't equate Asahi Super Dry to Busch Lite. All three of the beers you mention are big mass market beers, more equivalent to the Budweiser/Coors/Miller trio we have here. Asahi tastes a little different (due to its "super dryness") but they all taste pretty similar and none are all that flavorful. Still, I like Sapporo myself when I'm just drinking stuff with dinner or whatever. My in-laws drink Asahi, though.
btw, you can get all these beers in the USA, but they're different. They're all made in Canada, and while they're supposedly under the "supervision" of the Japanese companies, they don't taste the same to me. Asahi is probably the closest but it has an aftertaste that the real thing doesn't.
"Can you get a job in Japan without speaking a lick of Japanese?"
Actually, you can if you're the right age. Look into the JET program. I was considering this when I was just out of college but ended up getting a job here that let me travel to Japan as much as I wanted instead. Now, for me it's too late :(
bear in mind that non-Japanese speaking English teachers are looked down upon pretty harshly by most Japanese - they're thought of as basically freeloaders; people who want to live in Japan without having to learn any of its customs or language. (It's no different than how some people here think of Mexicans who move here and never bother learning English.) This is probably one reason why some people here think of the Japanese as "xenophobic" - they go there to teach English, get treated badly and come here spreading word of their experience, which then gets repeated. This is the opposite of what that program is designed to do...
Jonti @ Nov 29th 2006 10:33AM
adg1034: You're right. A Japanese address is necessary. Of course, you could email those codes to us, making a donation to our Happiness Fund. We'd take photos of whatever we got next and put your name up in lights. (Well, up in a nice font, anyway.) Tempting offer, eh?
diskoboy @ Nov 29th 2006 10:36AM
I want that DS Game and watch collection. That DS pouch is kinda neat, as well.
Mikael @ Nov 29th 2006 10:38AM
And also, from what I remember, these points you can collect doesn't work in every country in Europe, Sweden for instance. *casts evil spell on NoE*
I also read on a forum that Spain got some of the Wiis Sweden was supposed to get.. NoE is the shit! Sweden must suck so bad in their eyes.
stubbymonkey @ Nov 29th 2006 11:03AM
I managed to get the Zelda collectors edition GBA with hat and t-shirt in a special presentation case. Only 1000 ever made!
15,000 points was pretty steep but I saw one sell on ebay for over £500. I got a nice warm feeling inside.
Tango Charlie @ Nov 29th 2006 12:24PM
Ha ha ha, was that an "I'm Sorry, I Haven't a Clue" reference up there? Or just wishful thinking?
Author X @ Nov 29th 2006 1:06PM
You know what? I concur with many of the other commentors on the fact that YOU SUCK. You suck with unimaginable suckitude, so much it boggles the MIND..... yeah, I didn't even have to read the article first, I saw the title and already knew I wanted to stab you all in the face. Stupid Club Nintendo not letting me register... I wanna register my import games and get awesome swag :(
strider_mt2k @ Nov 29th 2006 5:36PM
I am jealous.
That's cool stuff right there!
rockintom99 @ Nov 29th 2006 1:37PM
Oh man, I am so jealous. I'd kill for the DS game and watch game. Why cant they just sell it? :(
Jonti @ Nov 29th 2006 2:53PM
Tango Charlie: You're within a midge's minim of the original!
jabari @ Nov 29th 2006 2:55PM
um... I don't know what it's worth, but I have a copy of the game and wath collection for the game boy pocket
if anyone is interested.
Mike Dogg @ Nov 29th 2006 3:01PM
The following list details the swag I've gotten free from NOA in the past two years: a three-issue Nintendo Power subscription and a pink Kirby DS stylus. All it took was registering 12 games (an assorted combination of GC, GBA and DS titles), a Gamecube, and a DS.
NOA needs to step up their club benefits because the digital downloads (wallpapers, bonus screenshots) are lame.
manuel @ Nov 29th 2006 4:39PM
Nice.
And: I'm not jealous.
Why? Well, I get parcels from Club Nintendo, too, once in a while. :)) It's good to have relatives in Japan. ;)
Jules @ Nov 29th 2006 3:09PM
I've only ever bought one thing from the Europe Nintendo club and that was to get a DS a month before it was released in Europe. Still had to pay full price for it but atleast it was early. Was really hoping they were gonna do the same thing with the Wii but i guess with only 8 days to go to launch here they won't be doing anything like that.
I don't see why the sites can't use the points to get discount of Nintendo games, or even accessories. It is, as many have put it, lame! Oh and yeah i did hear that NOE did have age of empires games on there but they were out of stock by the time i got to it :(
KMeist @ Nov 29th 2006 4:43PM
>>26: Wrong game, idiot. The DS version is completely different and only available to Japanese Club Nintendo members. Of course, the Club Nintendo service is regionlocked by address (Like MMOs that demand Japanese-issued Mastercards/Visas) so you can't just go and register a bunch of your import games.
I hear the Europeans got shafted worse.
Sketchy Fletchy @ Nov 29th 2006 7:11PM
Bugger off and stop complaining, the lot of you. The nintendo members club in Australia has nothing of this sort. All we get is the occasional promo competition, open to everyone in Australia and usually advertiseed to non-club members in the newspapers, etc. (so you've got about a 1 in 2 million chance of winning). Only thing I've ever gotten was an extremely lucky invitation to the Wii preview event we had here a month back.
No points, no nifty prizes that can be claimed.
:(
Mordennight @ Nov 30th 2006 10:50AM
Man. I'm moving to Japan.
Demi @ Nov 29th 2006 6:54PM
TV REMOTE GIVEAWAY!!!!
Tacoman @ Nov 30th 2006 1:42AM
Asahi is my favorite beer, good call! I miss Club Nintendo too, the calendar from last year is still on my wall (with the sweet Twilight Princess art for November). Luckily if I get accepted to JET I'll be back in just a few months then I can order the Game & Watch collection I had my eye on before I left.
SWORDMASTER66 @ Nov 30th 2006 1:47AM
I now want to live in Japan even more now. I wonder if they ship the stuff to other countries besides Japan, it would be cool if I could read Japanese and then do all that inputting and then they would ship it to me even though I am in California.