The new “check-in” system uses a QR Code containing your Nintendo Account information, which Nintendo said will give access to “exclusive My Nintendo member benefits that may available.” Nintendo added that the benefits will vary and advised members to “stay tuned for more details.”
Because the benefits are linked to the My Nintendo system — the replacement for Club Nintendo which offers digital rewards for playing Nintendo games — it’s unlikely that any of these rewards will be physical prizes. However, the rewards program does offer significant discounts on classics like The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Metroid Prime Trilogy, and Wrecking Crew, and all you have to do to claim the low prices is collect “Platinum Points” through games like Super Mario Run.
The Pokémon Company ran its own real-world check-in rewards program over the summer, giving a Shiny Mewtwo to Pokémon X, Y, Omega Ruby, and Alpha Sapphire players who had attended a “Play! Pokémon” event during 2016.
Given the scarcity of the NES Classic, even at Nintendo’s own retail store in New York City, we’d like to see members receive extra digital bonuses for just standing in line as they wait to purchase the console — and the inevitable Super Nintendo version. Perhaps a small discount could be applied to the purchase, as well.
We’re sure Nintendo has much more planned for the QR system once the Switch console is in the wild. Its portability makes it an obvious choice for real-world hangouts, and if the console will be getting a “main” Pokémon game, as has been rumored, it’s almost certainly going to feature real-world, event-specific monsters to catch.
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