Gold Points, the oft-forgotten loyalty points system on the Nintendo eShop, will be made more appealing in the short term by offering 10 percent back on certain games and services until 3rd August.
As a quick reminder of how Gold Points work: they are usually awarded by way of five percent of the value of software bought on the eShop. While that sounds decent enough each point’s monetary value, at least in South Africa, is only ten cents. You didn’t read that wrong, it really is just ten cents.
To put that into perspective let’s look at the games included in this latest promotion, which is called the “Nintendo eShop Gold Point Bonanza“.
We’ve listed the games below and let’s take Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as an example here since it’s the most expensive. At R1 329 a purchase of this game will award 132 points which is 10 percent of the price.
132 Gold Points then translates to just R13.20 off your next purchase.
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe | R1 129.00
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons | R1 129.00
- Mario Party Superstars | R1 129.00
- Mario Golf: Super Rush | R1 129.00
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate | R1 329.00
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Fighters Pass | R450.00
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: Fighters Pass Vol. 2 | R540.00
It’s through this lens that the Gold Points system is still wildly low value even when it is doubled up.
On top of all of this there’s also an error on the Gold Points explanation page here which does some incorrect math and makes the system look better than it is as a 50 percent system instead of a five percent one. We pointed out this problem to Nintendo representatives back in February this year and it has still not been corrected.
One aspect to get excited about for this double points event, however, is that you can earn double Gold Points on subscriptions to Nintendo Switch Online packages.
It seems that all levels of subscriptions are included in the promotion.
- Individual Membership | 30 days | R52
- Individual Membership | 90 days | R105
- Individual Membership | 365 days | R262
- Individual + Expansion Pack | 365 days | R629
- Family Membership | 365 days | R459
- Family Membership + Expansion Pack | 365 days | R1 129
