Nintendo points don't transfer between Wii, DSi

by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 7th 2008 at 3:00PM }

The new Nintendo Points cards will force you to pick a platform when it's redeemed. Siliconera reports that the House of Mario currency will not go into one main Nintendo piggy bank for the user, but will need to be redeemed for either DSWare or WiiWare titles.

Another way of putting it is that consumers won't be able to transfer points between the Wii and DSi after activating the cards. It's a shame really, we certainly expected a more 21st-century solution (i.e. an all-purpose Nintendo account) from the company which brought us the brilliant 16-digit friend code system.

[Via WiiFanboy]

Gallery: Nintendo DSi

Tags: digital-distribution, dlc, dsi, dsware, nintendo, nintendo-points, nintendo-points-cards, wiiware

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

netlatnu @ Oct 7th 2008 3:02PM

I guess allowing it to be used either way would just make too much sense. Of course, this is Nintendo.

Mike @ Oct 7th 2008 5:43PM

Nintendo always seems like it takes one step forward and two steps back.

BuffaloDave @ Oct 7th 2008 6:41PM

nintendo bringing wiitarded to a whole new level

Saria the Cat @ Oct 8th 2008 1:26AM

After being here for a while, it seems to me like a Japanese thing. Japan is a great country where you can pay your health insurance or buy concert tickets in less than a minute at any of the 24-hour convenience stores that line the streets. You can hop on a train that will take you many kilometeres away for a few hundred yen in less than an hour.

But it's also a country without paper towels in bathrooms, 4 ways you must separate your trash (including burnable and nonburnable), and where eating or drinking while walking, standing, in a train, or on a bus is considered extremely rude. Oh, and there's about 4 pairs of different slippers in any one given household you must wear depending on the type of room you are entering.

Red Leader @ Oct 7th 2008 3:04PM

Damn Nintendo. What'll they think of next?

Marty @ Oct 7th 2008 3:13PM

I think you mean, "What won't they think of next?"

Killjebus @ Oct 7th 2008 3:05PM

Wow, that reeks of stupid, or does it? Separate points that force you to buy more than you need for TWO systems means more assraping by Nintendo to the faithful.

Stupid Sony and thier REAL MONEY store system.

Red Leader @ Oct 7th 2008 3:09PM

I watch porn on my PS3. PS3 ftw.

D_Average @ Oct 7th 2008 3:11PM

No kidding! I can't stand it when the PSN asks me for permission to take funds off my credit card when I buy a game on a whim, instead of forcing me to type all my data in again on a series cumbersome prompts.

Deric Lee @ Oct 7th 2008 3:11PM

Yeah, stupid Sony and their real money system...

...that prevents you from being able to buy games at a discounted price by purchasing points card at discount shops online...

...that does not provide a way to reward players by giving away free points in competitions or contest like M4 does to be spent on what the players want to spend them on...

...just say'n.

ExMcCloud @ Oct 7th 2008 3:17PM

I like the idea of a points system so my credit card number isn't tracked on every transaction...That's why I want to get some damn Sony cards to hurry up and come to Gamestop dammit! But this non-transferable point crap is stupid....How can Microsoft do it with the damn Zune but Nintendo can't do it with the DS...That's sad.

KarlW @ Oct 7th 2008 3:30PM

Seriously. Who wants to use points, anyway?

Who likes to have their money in an equivalent-but-more-restrictive format?

heypaul @ Oct 7th 2008 4:56PM

The points system is what's called accounts payable in the business world. As in, a company gets paid in advance for promising you goods at a later date. In this case, whenever you decide to actually spend the MS/Nintendo points. In some regards it's similar to the pre-ordering initiative that retailers have taken in recent years. And like pre-ordering, it's a way to make more money off the consumer without them actually realizing it. i.e. They have "free" money for the period of time between when you buy the points and when you actually spend them and they're able to invest that money as they see fit. Sony's the only true consumer friendly company in this situation, no matter how you choose to spin it.

Inect @ Oct 7th 2008 9:32PM

I think it's more of an unearned revenue.

Inect @ Oct 7th 2008 9:33PM

They would have to pay you back in 30 days if it were accounts payable.

Dirty @ Oct 7th 2008 3:07PM

1 step forward, 2 steps back.

ScottG13 @ Oct 7th 2008 3:19PM

I can't say it any better. Offering DLC is interesting and exciting, but why make it cumbersome for your buyers? Don't let technology stand in the way of usability.

Ihar `Philips` Filipau @ Oct 7th 2008 5:19PM

> Don't let technology stand in the way of usability.

What's "technology"? What's "usability"?

Heck, that's Nintendo we are speaking about.

Mr Khan @ Oct 7th 2008 3:10PM

Nominally, there is an account system that few enough people utilize that's tied to your old MyNintendo account

However, this is an unfortunate side-effect of the DSi being a half-step up to a system where it will be unified, like the missing link in the evolution between 2004's Nintendo DS and 2010?'s DSNext.

Marty @ Oct 7th 2008 3:11PM

Come on Nintendo, get with the program! Admit the friend codes were a silly mistake, make a unilateral account system for your consoles, and let's move on here already, sheesh!

Mr Khan @ Oct 7th 2008 3:23PM

Nintendo may care about a lot of things, but one thing they don't care about, by their own admission, is online play. Partially a Japanese cultural disconnect (they still see online play as a novelty, not as an integral feature), partially due to their local multiplayer-centric experience

Iwata did admit that friend codes weren't ideal, but with all the WiFi Connection games they've released, they're kinda stuck with the network they're working with, at least until the next pair of consoles.

Sam @ Oct 7th 2008 4:42PM

...where they will release 128 digit friend codes!

Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Oct 7th 2008 6:30PM

Mr. Kahn has it right. After all, Monster Hunter didn't become popular until the online was reduced to Ad-hoc. Online gaming is still largely ignored in Japan and Sony was shocked by this fact as well given how PSN is taking a ton of time shaping up since it all has to be retrofitted compared to 360's kernel level intergration. Fact of the matter is, trying to get a Japanese company to understand online gameplay is like trying to convince Activision four Guitar Hero games a year is too many. On some level, they'll listen. They'll pretend anyway, but their attention is locked on that bacon sangwich for lunch instead of crazy people speak.

hunt3r @ Oct 7th 2008 3:13PM

Way to go Nintendo. Another shameless attempt to rip off your customers. How hard can it be to let the customer choose wich Nintendo platform to spend his/hers points on? But hey, I guess it wount be long until we see "It prints money" pictures when there is reports on new point cards....

If EA or MS had done this Internet would be on fire, but now it is Nintendo and it's all right, it's ok...

Bah :(

joeybeast @ Oct 7th 2008 3:24PM

That's the biggest dick move I'm seen in awhile.

Vidikron @ Oct 7th 2008 4:26PM

Well, it's the biggest dick move since last week when they told us that they were going to dump all their current DS stock on us for half a year before releasing the new DSi.

Wait, I take that back... this is the biggest dick move since they told us a couple of days ago that the DSi software was going to be region locked.

It's like a dick move every few days with these guys now.

samfish @ Oct 7th 2008 5:08PM

DSi software is NOT region locked. Only the downloadable stuff is.
And really, were you HONESTLY expecting that to not be region locked and bloated with DRM? That was like the non-surprise of the day for me.

BPMOmega [gamertag] @ Oct 8th 2008 2:16AM

Sorry, Sam, but they did say retail released DSi games would be locked, too.

J.Goodwin @ Oct 7th 2008 3:28PM

Guess this points to games that you've already purchased for your Wii not working on your DSi as well.

Buy it again?

bm @ Oct 7th 2008 4:45PM

lol what? You're going to make the assumption that they're going to put downloadable Wii games on the DS, then complain about it based your second assumption, that they wouldn't be transferable between the two?

You people never fucking cease to amaze me.

J.Goodwin @ Oct 7th 2008 4:46PM

Did I complain, or did I pose a theoretical situation and then ask for more information based on that situation. Since I haven't bought anything on the "Virtual Console," it's all theory here.

ejamer @ Oct 7th 2008 3:30PM

Wii Points have always been locked to a console, not to a general account. Yes, this is a poor choice that reduces flexibility between systems. Yes, the release of the DSi cannot magically fix bad decisions that Nintendo made years ago.

However, this is OLD news. How many people really expected points to be shared back and forth without seeing the Wii's online system completely restructed? Complaining about the lack of a unified online Nintendo account now is both pointless and silly.

:roll eyes:

baby sea tuna @ Oct 7th 2008 3:35PM

"How many people really expected points to be shared back and forth..."

I'd certainly hoped so, personally.

phrequency @ Oct 7th 2008 4:06PM

if they had to restructure the entire wii online system just to make points universal, then that says so much about how awesomely brilliant the developers that designed it in the first place.

i'd like to think that their developers had sense in their designs and that they're just lazy in making these points universal.

and maybe you're right... perhaps this is old news. nintendo never learns right? nothing new there. :rolls eyes:

ejamer @ Oct 7th 2008 5:11PM

Clarification: I certainly *hoped* that people could share points between DSi and Wii... but didn't expect it at all. Just not feasible given their current online model.

I really like Nintendo, and think they take more than their fair share of bashing just because silly people want to look more "hardcore". But I have to agree with the statement:

"nintendo never learns right? nothing new there. :rolls eyes:"

Conservative to a fault might be an apt description. Prone to making stupid decisions might also be accurate.

Hashbrown Hunter @ Oct 7th 2008 3:31PM

Lame

Well Fed Troll @ Oct 7th 2008 4:21PM

Lame?
Never...

Just wait until X-mas when they drop Phallic Lite*

Almost like Wii fit, but this one you sit on repeatedly...

Hard...

and fast...

Did i say repeatedtly?

baby sea tuna @ Oct 7th 2008 3:32PM

*sigh*

tmmoore_nc @ Oct 7th 2008 3:33PM

You heard it here first, unified friend codes coming in 2017. Only 32 digits long.

Maverick Saturn @ Oct 7th 2008 3:34PM

Well thats no biggie for moi considering I don't have DS, but should I get DSi it may become a hassle ¬_¬

For the time being I'm quite satisfied with the point system on my Wii alone :D

Shagittarius @ Oct 7th 2008 3:36PM

I would care if there was anything worth buying on either platform.

TwEE @ Oct 7th 2008 4:41PM

Not that big of a fan of games are ya?

bm @ Oct 7th 2008 4:52PM

lol. That was horrible, shaggi, even for your standards. You might as well say "food sucks".

Vidikron @ Oct 7th 2008 4:53PM

It's more like saying, "fast food sucks".

TwEE @ Oct 7th 2008 5:02PM

Fastfood? So theres not one game on the DS or Wii that is up to your standards is there Vidikron?

Vidikron @ Oct 7th 2008 6:13PM

Nah... I actually use my DS from time to time. It will be seeing use here shortly when the new Castlevania game releases. My wife uses hers all the time for various casual games. Right now she's addicted to QuestTrio. Neither of us bother with the Wii though. It likely won't see any use until MadWorld. I'm tempted to get the new Tetris WiiWare game if the battle mode is good. But if I do it will be the first use the Wii has seen in many months. I can't even recall the last time I turned iton.