Nintendo has offered details of its Club Nintendo customer loyalty program at an investor meeting earlier today.
“While we will announce the details of this integrated membership service at a later date, I can share with you at a high level the idea is that the consumer can access multiple devices using one common ID,” Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata said.
The service will cover devices including PCs, smartphones, Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and the company's upcoming NX platform.
"So far, the members input their Club Nintendo ID to use the services,” he continued. “With this new service, our members will be able to visit Nintendo’s website and log in with one ID, and they will receive various services including the ones based on their past purchases and gameplay records as well as services that will be an improved version of the current loyalty program.”
Club Nintendo has been phased out since Nintendo announced the closure of the service in January, when they also revealed that they're parterning with Japanese mobile gaming company DeNA.
Iwata also offered new details on this partnership today. The first game will be released this calendar year, while another four will be available by March, 2017.
The new loyalty program is aimed to brigde the game between smart devices and dedicated games consoles and Nintendo hopes its new venture will unlock new markets and encourage those on mobile devices to invest in their dedicated gaming systems.
“For us to be able to bridge the gap between smart devices and dedicated game systems, we will offer advantages to consumers who use one ID across multiple devices,” Iwata said. “With this new membership, we are planning to deploy services that will make playing Nintendo games with their game pals more fun regardless of which platform they are accessing.”
As part of Nintendo's expansion plans, the company announced yesterday that it is to open rides at Universal theme parks, 33 years after Universal sued Nintendo over the Donkey Kong franchise which it said infringed their King Kong property.
Nintendo has also confirmed sales of 10.5 million amiibo figurines and announced that it has returned to profitability for the first time in four years.
