Nintendo has revealed plans to launch a unified user account system across all of its gaming platforms, putting it on equal footing with Microsoft’s Xbox Live and Sony’s PlayStation Network services.
The “My Nintendo” program gives users access to exclusive perks and digital bonuses for downloading and playing Nintendo-published games, including the company’s debut mobile app Miitomo, which launches worldwide in March.
Players enrolled in the My Nintendo program will accrue Platinum points for browsing Nintendo storefronts and launching the publisher’s free games and apps. Collected Platinum points can later be redeemed for free digital bonuses like system themes and in-game downloadable content.
My Nintendo members can additionally earn Gold points by purchasing games, apps, and digital content from the Nintendo eShop. These points can then be cashed in for discounts on future purchases. Nintendo notes that Gold and Platinum points are awarded separately and only under specific terms, and one currency cannot be exchanged for another.
The first Nintendo-published title to use the My Nintendo service is Miitomo, the company’s debut mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Incorporating elements from the off-kilter Nintendo 3DS life sim Tomodachi Life, Miitomo acts as a mobile social network geared toward Nintendo fans.
Miitomo will support eight languages when it launches across 16 regions in March, including the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and select parts of Europe.
The My Nintendo and Nintendo Account services will also roll out in March, covering North and South America, along with markets in Europe, Africa, and Asia. Players in Japan will be able to pre-register for Miitomo‘s launch starting on February 17th.
Miitomo is the first of four mobile apps Nintendo plans to release before the end of March in 2017. Details regarding the company’s future apps are not yet known, and the company has not disclosed how the My Nintendo and Nintendo Account services will interface with its upcoming Nintendo NX console.
