Showing itself to be more than just a soulless points/reward website, Club Nintendo has been inviting Platinum members to attend special DSi preview events at their local gamestop. Nintendo fans who registered enough games to attain the elevated status level should have received email notification of the event sometime in the last few weeks – simply RSVP, and you’re in!
Attendees had the chance to spend some time playing around with the new handheld – playing games they brought from home, exploring the new menu system, or taking snapshots with the camera. Representatives from Club Nintendo were available to answer questions, provide demonstrations, or print attendee photos created in the DSi photo software. While trying out the DSi fun, the event itself may have been the highlight of the evening – Nintendo fans were talking about games, trading pokemon, and generally nerding out together in the best way possible. On top of it all, it’s great to see Club Nintendo branching out beyond the US website and creating special events for it’s members – showing itself to be more than a gussied up software registration campaign. Staff on hand told me that they hope to have more special events in the future, and they are eager to bring unique prizes, events, and experiences to US Club Nintendo Members.
And the DSi? The camera is fun, a much better piece of “pack in” software than pictochat ever was. The screen is noticeably larger, and it looks fantastic – Club Nintendo representatives tell me you can change the screen brightness in-game as well, which is great. It feels good in your hand, but the future success of the DSi lies in it’s software, until we see more of the DSi Shop and DSi exclusive games, it’ll be hard to make the call between upgrading and sticking it out with what you’ve got.
What do you think of the DSi and Club Nintendo? Comment about it!