Nintendo reveals American Club Nintendo bonuses [update]
by Andrew Yoon 
{ Jul 14th 2009 at 8:05AM } 
Platinum members have the choice of two prizes:
- Doc Louis's Punch-Out!! -- this downloadable WiiWare game is available exclusively to Club Nintendo Platinum members. In this special download, you'll be able to fight one-on-one against your coach, Doc Louis. Update: Screenshots now added.
- Mario Hat -- a "true-to-life" replica of Mario's signature headpiece. Nintendo notes that the hat "may be big for small children."
Gallery: Doc Louis' Punch-Out!!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Jericholic101 @ Jul 14th 2009 8:09AM
Going to have to get the hat.
Jesus (PSN: Luttdawg) @ Jul 14th 2009 9:13AM
It looks like you're already wearing one.
DinnyHoon @ Jul 14th 2009 9:44AM
That... was genius.
dark_inchworm (on Steam!) dark inchworm (on XBL!) @ Jul 14th 2009 10:27AM
Jesus is our savior.
Shagittarius @ Jul 14th 2009 11:25AM
This will make it easier to pick the retards out at a gaming convention.
216 @ Jul 14th 2009 8:11AM
hoo hoooo
LaughingTarget @ Jul 14th 2009 8:12AM
Weak, the hat's too small for me. Yes, I have a giant head. The XXL size is snug.
JayVe @ Jul 14th 2009 8:54AM
That's why there is a choice!
Nintendo knows of your ginormous noggin and specifically built the Doc Louis' Punch Out just for YOU!
Aren't they sweet?
prateeko @ Jul 14th 2009 8:12AM
As usual, compared to Japan, this is SO WEAK
Martin Greenberg @ Jul 14th 2009 10:43AM
Right? They can't even SHOW you the US calendar because the Japanese have been having awesomeness shoved forcefully into every orifice for years now from every game company. TGS is even open to the public for a bit every year. But the airfare is still too expensive.
I bet the phrase "Images are of the 2009 Calendar sent to Club Nintendo Elite Status Members in Japan -- a new version of this calendar for 2010 is in development for North American consumers." secretly means "Japan gets an awesome calendar. You guys will get our used toilet paper stapled together and spat on."
acefondu @ Jul 14th 2009 8:16AM
Nintendo's reward program is so useless. I probably have 15 games I haven't even registered with them because I stopped caring and they didn't say what they were going to offer. On top of that I have all systems registered and upwards of 35 games and the most I ever got was the pink DS stylus for Kirby.
Mark @ Jul 14th 2009 8:52AM
Want to send me some of your unused codes? I'm just a few games short of a Game & Watch Collection.
1UPMASTER @ Jul 14th 2009 9:22AM
same here, please?
dantebk @ Jul 14th 2009 9:27AM
I'll also happily take those codes off your hands, my good man. Get me some Hanafuda cards or somethin'.
Britt @ Jul 14th 2009 8:18AM
"Don Lewis"
8-bit.artist @ Jul 14th 2009 8:30AM
yeah, the N and C arent even next to each other on the keyboard. hahaha
LaughingTarget @ Jul 14th 2009 8:38AM
Andrew was probably watching The Sopranos when he posted it.
Martin @ Jul 14th 2009 9:20AM
Or thinking of Don King.
BPMOmega [GT,Steam] @ Jul 14th 2009 2:27PM
Or possibly Don Flamenco, another Punch-Out!! character.
Snowblind @ Jul 14th 2009 8:20AM
Definitely not a fan of the reward system, you get too few points for to few games, you'd have to buy pretty much every game they've ever released to get anything half decent. And in the UK, we don't get anything anywhere near as cool as that hat :(
Martin @ Jul 14th 2009 8:21AM
Put in mine for The Hat. At least their shipping is fast. Got my Hanafuda cards (pretty fucking cool reward, in my opinion) the next day via First Class mail. I'd love to know how they did that.
Iwa @ Jul 14th 2009 8:50AM
You probably live near their rewards distribution center.
benjamines @ Jul 14th 2009 11:21AM
True day. I live in Idaho and I got mine two days later. Teleportation or something.
BlackDS @ Jul 14th 2009 1:06PM
You know the Hanafuda deck is only 500 stars in Japan right?
Nintendo North America rapes us by charging us 800 coins.
Not cool at all.
Jimbotron @ Jul 14th 2009 1:50PM
You realize they don't HAVE to have a rewards program, right? They don't HAVE to offer anything.
Martin @ Jul 14th 2009 3:51PM
Wow, proof that you don't need to say anything stupid to be downvoted. Just something with any smidge of an opinion.
Fucktards.
Schmullus @ Jul 14th 2009 8:22AM
Huh, I was kind of bummed about being 10 coins short of Platinum when they announced the cutoff date, but I kind of like the calendar.
Brackynews @ Jul 14th 2009 1:20PM
Calendar fanboy. ;)
natureboy46 @ Jul 14th 2009 8:27AM
Hmmm...not exactly what I was hoping for.
My concern with Punch Out (and the VC in general) is that it'll only be playable on the Wii. I'll be pissed if I can't transfer all of my games to the next console.
The hat looks like something you'd pick up at Nintendo World for $10.
Massmass @ Jul 14th 2009 12:39PM
Get over your entitlements and get pissed already.
tkAshur @ Jul 14th 2009 1:43PM
I have the same concern. I'm buying all these games...but what guarantee do I have that I can transfer these games? Backwards compatibility is such an important thing anymore what with buying newer systems by trading in the old, will the downloads we bought previously be stuck? Its starting to affect how I buy download games...
Rhamsey @ Jul 14th 2009 8:35AM
oh japan, why do you always get the better rewards? oh well, id still like to put it next to my haseo figure, master chief helmet, fallout lunchbox, and the soon to be mine night vision goggles.
baby sea tuna @ Jul 14th 2009 8:39AM
Are the CN points for 1st party games only?
Dreganfyre @ Jul 14th 2009 8:51AM
Yep... Anything published by Nintendo. So that includes stuff like Endless Ocean.
baby sea tuna @ Jul 14th 2009 8:55AM
Oh, lame. I was hoping that I might get points from some of the games I actually bought/want.
Gabriel Lamarre @ Jul 14th 2009 9:52AM
Well, you can also register all 2nd party games...
narles11 @ Jul 14th 2009 8:43AM
Wow. Very underwhelming. I would have loved to get the SNES Wii Virtual Console controller instead like they got in Japan. Oh well, I'll get the hat.
Sturat @ Jul 14th 2009 9:55PM
Yeah, I was really hoping for something useful like a unique controller or a Tingle game. I hate to look a gift horse in the mouth, but I'm disappointed by these choices.
MLS @ Jul 14th 2009 8:43AM
I have about 10 or 11 wii games, but some can't be registered, and the ones I tried to register were a pain because the site was so slow and broken. All I got for my trouble was a bunch of spam emails from Nintendo over the months. Now that I've seen the rewards, I'm glad I didn't waste any more effort on it.
Japan gets a Super Famicom classic controller, we get a piece of swag.
David J. @ Jul 14th 2009 10:58AM
Sounds like you were doing this way back in November or December right? I think they were still updating their site around that time, and it was glitchy as all heck. It's been fixed up since then though, so you shouldn't have more trouble with it.
As far as the emails go, there is an option on the site to opt out of them if you don't want them.
Help me! @ Jul 14th 2009 12:59PM
I literally own 32 Wii/DS games, yet I can only register like 6 of them on Nintendo's site
so ridiculous
mr mobius @ Jul 14th 2009 8:47AM
The only thing that Club Nintendo is useful for in Europe is free Wii Points, and even then, all the games I got for the Wii and Gamecube only gave me 2000 points.
Dreganfyre @ Jul 14th 2009 8:48AM
Hmmm... I'm torn... The Doc Louis' Punch-Out sounds fun, and would make a sort of nice demo for Punch-Out (since I haven't bought it yet)... But a Mario hat will ALWAYS be cool!
BlackDS @ Jul 14th 2009 1:11PM
Wearing that hat is like having the word "GEEK" tatooed on my forehead, a beacon that says, "please beat me up".
NOT cool.
Author X @ Jul 14th 2009 4:06PM
You know, BlackDS, some of us are out of high school, and actually have friends that play video games too.
MasterGekk @ Jul 14th 2009 8:48AM
In Europe they are going to offer a golden Link riding Epona statue for.. 15000 coins
Snowblind @ Jul 14th 2009 9:34AM
It's been up a couple of times before actually. But it's very small, and 15000 stars is more than you could ever have.. You'd have to buy duplicate games, just to get enough.
In A World (XBL) @ Jul 14th 2009 1:16PM
"You'd have to buy duplicate games"
They won't let you register a game twice, I tried with my two copies of New SMB. Didn't work.
blaine @ Jul 14th 2009 9:12AM
Hatted.
Although I'm curious to see how the game is. The fact that it's download only and therefore far from future-proof out weighs that it's probably a cooler prize than the hat.
Nigeria @ Jul 14th 2009 8:49AM
So nobody is excited by the Punch-Out game? I thought it seemed rather cool. Though, that's without seeing any screenshots or anything.
It would be nice if some non-Nintendo games were allowed onto the Club Nintendo registration programme. Seeing as I haven't bought a Ninty game since Disaster, but several third party since, I'd probably have a healthy balance.