Update 3/5/18: And here they are! …but their only purpose seems to be discounts in the Nintendo eShop. Read more about the program here.
2017 is coming to a close, and even though we have plenty to celebrate about Nintendo and its miraculous comeback, the Nintendo Switch Rewards on MyNintendo are still “coming soon.” After all this time, you’d think that Nintendo would have something to offer MyNintendo Rewards Members, but alas we remain empty handed. Whatever the reason may the delay, we think that Nintendo has something up their sleeves, and we have two guesses about what they might be.
Guess #1: Themes
When you look at the current offerings on MyNintendo, it’s easy to guess why there isn’t any content that would make sense for the Nintendo Switch, at least not right now. For example, the Platinum Point rewards under the Nintendo 3DS/Wii U software/digital content category is dominated by exclusive MyNintendo themes, something the Nintendo Switch currently just doesn’t have… at least not yet.
Speculation about a theme shop for the Nintendo Switch have circulated since the console’s release, stemming almost entirely by the Switch itself. After all, the Switch’s options menu offers a “Themes” option, of which there are only two options currently. It’s entirely possible, if not inevitable, that Nintendo will one day issue an update that adds themes to the Switch, much in the same way they did with the 3DS, and it’s entirely possible that MyNintendo is simply waiting for that day to come.
Side note: We’d be remiss if we didn’t also mention that the platinum and gold redemption pages of the 3DS and Wii U also include digital games, but we don’t put much stock into this happening for the Switch because the MyNintendo games were only recently added back in September (six years after the 3DS first launched). In fact, we don’t think game discounts will ever make it to MyNintendo, at least not for the Nintendo Switch. Our reasoning? See Guess #2.
Guess #2: The Nintendo Switch Online Service
Nintendo Switch Online was supposed to go live in the fall of 2017, but was delayed to 2018 in order to give the company more time to make it perfect. We think Nintendo might be waiting for this to launch before opening up any offerings in MyNintendo, and we think this is because they intend to offer discounts for the service to MyNintendo rewards members.
One of the things that’s preventing us from believing that anything beyond themes and Online Service discounts will be available on MyNintendo is the fact that most of the perks currently offered on other platforms through MyNintendo will be available exclusively to subscribers of Nintendo Switch Online. Just take a look at the chart below, which was taken from the Official Nintendo website. The first thing you’ll probably notice is that subscribers will have access to Nintendo is calling “Classic Game Selection,” which appears to be the successor to/rebranding of the popular Virtual Console. Bigger than this, however, is the fact that subscribers will also have access to Nintendo Switch eShop discounts that non-subscribers will not, which we can safely conclude includes members of MyNintendo.
Whatever Nintendo’s got planned, we’re anxious to see what they have in store for their MyNintendo rewards fans, and even more so about how the service itself will perform in comparison to other tenured online services (like PS+). MyNintendo has noticeably lagged behind its Club Nintendo predecessor, but they’ve never taken this long to post rewards for any of their other new games (the most recent of which being the new Animal Crossing Pocket Camp mobile game, which already has a plethora of rewards that can be redeemed for in-game content).
Here’s hoping the delay means better rewards, and here’s hoping that whatever is holding them back will be worth the wait.
What do you think we’ll see in the MyNintendo Switch Rewards catalog? Let us know in the comments below!
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