Nintendo announces new membership and reward scheme that finally ditches friend codes

Nintendo has lifted the curtain on its new membership scheme, which will replace the now-defunct Club Nintendo and work across all its current and future platforms. Simply called Nintendo Account, the system will allow users to log in with their Facebook, Twitter or Google accounts or register with their email address.

Thankfully friend codes − the obtrusive series of numbers used to add friends that have been used since the Wii and DS days – will be ditched entirely, making adding friends much less of a hassle. All this will also work on PC and mobile devices, on which users will also be able to browse the eShop.

Cloud support has also been promised, making cross-device play a possibility. Users will be able to queue up downloads for their device at home and Nintendo will use the platform to send users notifications for downloads and DLC releases.

The stars-based Club Nintendo reward scheme will be replaced by My Nintendo, which launches in March 2016. Users will amass points through the purchase and playing of games and be able to trade them in for rewards – including merchandise, product discounts and DLC.

All of this was announced during an investor call covered by Wall Street Journal, at which Nintendo also announced its first mobile game Miitomo – a free-to-play title focusing on Nintendo's Mii avatars. This too is expected to launch in March 2016.

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