Club Nintendo of America = Deep Sigh

So I am almost Elite status in Club Nintendo. What does this mean? Not much really. You see, unlike Nintendo of Japan, Nintendo of America gives it's fans a very meager selection of "rewards." Here are some examples of NOA's prizes:

250 points will net you some Bowser bookmarks and a folder. Keep in mind, one Wii game is worth 50 points. So this is the prize for buying 5 first party games...cheapass bookmarks.

Here is another treat...playing cards with Mario and friends. The cost...500 points! Yeah the math equals 10 first party Wii games. I can go buy playing cards for a dollar anywhere so this reward is absolute nonsense.

How about a nice, exclusive DS game? But wait, it is just a copy of an old game and watch title from 1980. WTF?!! This one costs a cool 800 points. Ouch.

As you can see the rewards for being a member of Club Nintendo are pretty lame. However, once a year, Nintendo does give a special prize to fans. Gold members (anyone between 350-590) get one and Elite members (600+) get another; last year Gold members received a descent looking calendar and Elite members got an awesome Mario statue.

Buy practically every Nintendo game released in one year, and you might get lucky enough to own a cool statue of Mario and friends. In Japan you probably get this for just pre-ordering a Nintendo product...grrrr...

Now that I have raged about NOA's lame rewards, let us take a look at Club Nintendo of Japan's rewards. Prepare for profound sadness...

In Japan for 500 points you can get the soundtrack to the Wii hit, Super Mario Galaxy 2. This game has a fine musical selection and would be a nice addition to any Mario collection. What did Americans get for 500 points? Oh yeah, playing cards....fucking playing cards.

This is a Mario hanafuda card game set. Hanafuda is a classic Japanese card game, and Nintendo actually started their company decades ago in the hanafuda business; so this reward makes for a nice piece of gaming history. It is available in the US Club Nintendo program for 800 points...in Japan, you get it for 400 points. Not cool.

 Random, 2-D action game, the price is only 500 points. Why isn't this game in the US rewards program? I guess it was considered "too Japanese." Lame.

More cool soundtracks, but these only cost 400 points a pop. Sounds like quite a steal.

 Club Nintendo of America is clearly cheap and lazy with it's dull reward efforts. I know it is cool they give something free to loyal customers, but why are the scales so balanced in Japan's favor? The program should not be based on region, and customers should be free to get their reward from any territory with Nintendo Club support. I don't expect this issue to ever be rectified. Nintendo doesn't even write Nintendo Power anymore, it is published by a third party, so bring on the shitty rewards for early 3DS adopters...its all about the cash to Nintendo.

Miyamoto: "Give me $300 more and you can have some of my pocket lint."