Nintendo Overhauls Rewards System With Imminent Switch Rewards and 5% Back on Purchased Games

After almost a solid year of complaints from devoted My Nintendo members, Nintendo is finally updating its new rewards program to include Nintendo Switch rewards. In fact, that's not even the biggest announcement we have for you as part of this update. The truly big announcement is that, starting in early March, your Nintendo Switch, 3DS, and Wii U purchases are going to become a much greater value, earning you 5% back in rewards currency.

According to the official update from Nintendo: "My Nintendo members already earn Gold Points by buying qualifying games. Soon they'll be able to redeem Gold Points for eligible digital games and content for the Nintendo Switch system, too. Buy a qualifying digital game for Nintendo Switch, Wii U, or Nintendo 3DS family systems or a physical game for the Nintendo Switch system. Earn Gold Points worth 5% of the amount you pay, not including any points or discounts used. You can then redeem those points on your next eligible digital purchase (including games and DLC) for the Nintendo Switch system from Nintendo eShop or Nintendo.com."

Nintendo's UK site actually spells things out a little more clearly. According to their update, your Gold Coins are actually going to become a form of currency, and not just something you trade in for the occasional predetermined discount.

The site also clarified when your Gold Coins (or "Gold Points") will expire. "Once earned, Gold Points remain valid until the last day of the month in the following calendar year. For example, any Gold Points you earned in March 2017 will remain valid until the end of March 2018."

We're still waiting for clearer confirmation from Nintendo on how the Gold Coins will be traded in as currency, but the general consensus is that one gold coin will amount to one cent. Now that may sound like a rip-off, and for now it certainly is. For instance, I have almost 400 Gold Coins sitting in my account. That's $400 spent on Switch and 3DS games, and that gets me a whopping $4 off my next purchase.

I would feel insulted, but it sounds like we're about to earn way more Gold Coins per purchase with this 5% system. With this new valuation, a full-priced $60 game would earn me about 300 Gold Coins, when it used to only earn me 60. We're hoping that this is indeed how it will work starting next month. We'll keep you updated.