Nintendo Wii Fanboy

There was a ton of stuff to come from Nintendo's big news day last week. What we're wondering is what your favorite item was? Were you stoked about a certain game more than any others? Are you thrilled to hear about Club Nintendo coming to the States? Was the Nintendo DSi your favorite thing from the show? Nintendo's storage solution? What was your favorite thing to come out of Nintendo's fall media summit?

You read that correctly, folks! Those of us in North America are finally getting Club Nintendo, as it's been revealed during the fall press conference that Nintendo will be bringing the service to us. "We know that there have been lots of people in the US that have been lusting after these products for a long time," said Cammie.

Debuting at the end of this year, the service will allow customers to gather points and trade them in for Nintendo goodies. Let's just hope we get sweet stuff, like the Game & Watch collection and not just a bunch of junk.

History shows that Nintendo of Australia like to do things at their own pace. Timely launches just ain't their style, y'know? We're not just talking games, either. Back in April, there was much Aussie hollering when Nintendo announced Club Nintendo would be heading down under, bringing with it all the Nintendo mugs, free Bowser wallpapers, SNES pads, and Wii Points that had so far been enjoyed by Japanese and European gamers. Except, it's still not up and running. Though games are shipping with Club Nintendo codes, Australia's Club Nintendo site has yet to go live, four and a half months after it was announced.

None of which will comfort U.S.-based Nintendo fans, who are simply waiting for a local version of Club Nintendo to be announced. If the sloth-like actions of Nintendo Australia are any indication, they may be in for a wait.

Hey, Euro folk: those Club Nintendo Stars you've spent the last seven years compiling in the vain hope that you might bag something as glorious as this? Well, forget about it. From tomorrow at 17:00 (the time zone isn't specified, but we have a hunch it might be GMT), any Club Nintendo Stars that have been in your account for more than two years are getting atomized by Nintendo.

In other words, now may be the time to resign yourself to the fact that you'll never get anything better from the Stars Catalog than some natty Animal Crossing wallpaper. Life's unfair like that at times, believe us. Alternatively, if you've got enough Points, you could always buy Wii Points!

Have you put in your preorder for the Super Famicom Classic Controller yet? No? Well, you better do it quick, as the limited edition controller is a Japan-only Club Nintendo exclusive, and you likely won't be able to buy one months from now without spending some serious money on eBay. And by serious money, we mean wacky dollars.

Inside Games has received its SFC controller, and so far, it looks faithful to the original, with the added bonus of a wireless experience via hookup to the Wii remote. Alright, so it's not completely wireless, technically, but you should be used to the setup with the Wii Classic Controller. Hit the link below for unpackaging photos of the retro pad.

Here in Europe, we have our own version of Japan's Club Nintendo loyalty scheme, with one critical difference: while Japanese gamers are routinely given access to completely rad bonuses, the past few years have thrown up few treats for those in Euroland. Nothing but a natty selection of wallpapers, ringtones, and stationary templates.

Happily, that just changed for the better. From today, European Wii owners will be able to exchange their Star Points for Wii Points, giving themselves access to a whole world of nutritious, retro-flavored goodness, via the Virtual Console.

Four Star Points will apparently be worth one Wii Point, but what does that mean in monetary terms? Well, each Wii game is worth 250 Star Points, the equivalent of 62.5 Wii Points. Hence, buying eight Wii games will net you 500 Wii Points, the cost of a NES game on the Virtual Console.

That's a fair number of Wii games just to download a single NES title, but we still embrace this development whole-heartedly. Some of us have been saving Star Points for years, patiently waiting for the day that Nintendo of Europe would make collecting the things worth our time and effort. Today, we got our reward. Read how to convert your Points at the link below.

[Via Eurogamer]

Importers NCSX and Play-Asia are freeing us from the unavailability of awesome Japanese Club Nintendo exclusives -- presumably, by paying some Japanese people for theirs. Whatever methods they use to get these things, we cannot argue with the results. Because the result is the opportunity to preorder the Super Famicom Classic Controller.

Both companies will ship the item in April (and the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack in January) in April, but NCSX is taking preorders right now for $30. We don't know when Play-Asia will open preorders or how much they will charge. All we know is this: YES. Who cares if it's a freebie for Club Nintendo members? We're just happy to have a shot at it.

Just look at that. Isn't it glorious? What you're seeing above, folks, is a Wii-compatible SNES pad. Let's say that again, shall we? A Wii-compatible SNES pad. Don't get too worked up though, because unless you're a member of Club Nintendo in Japan, these are off-limits (not that using a SNES pad for your VC games is impossible, but still, this is the real deal).

Yep, it's another reason we really should move to Japan. Hit the link below, and you'll see two more: a 2-disc Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack and a Mario desk calendar. All of which are horribly, tortuously unobtainable. Sob.

[Thanks Daniel!]