loyalty program
Latest
Xbox Live Rewards program launches
The "Xbox Live Rewards" program tested over a year ago is now a real thing. The website for the US/UK-only loyalty program is now live, and you can sign up and check out the rewards. It's kind of like Club Nintendo, except instead of fans and tote bags, you get Microsoft Points and Microsoft Points. The bonuses range from 10 MSP for renewing a one-month membership, all the way to 400 for buying or renewing a family plan. You can also get 100 points for activating Netflix, unspecified bonuses for buying certain things on Marketplace, and an occasional 20 points for taking surveys. Microsoft also promises "cool prizes" in promotions. As Club Nintendo users know, there is basically no downside to a loyalty program like this. You do the stuff you were going to do anyway, and then someone gives you free stuff periodically. [Thanks, Blacked Out]
New Club Nintendo rewards will hold your old Club Nintendo rewards
Nintendo has added three lovely new items to the North American Club Nintendo catalog. The "cheapest" of the trio is a Super Mario Galaxy 2 screensaver for ten coins. It's the second Club Nintendo screensaver to be released -- a Mario 25th anniversary version is also available for the same price. Moving up, for 250 Coins, you can score a canvas tote bag with colorful polka dots and a Super Mushroom silkscreen. And for 550 Coins, there's the black messenger bag, featuring a Super Star design. Based on the options, we suspect a lot of people are going to show up at E3 with the same messenger bag next year. That'll be embarrassing.%Gallery-106508% [Thanks, Dogs of the AMS]
PlayStation Rewards program to offer free PSN bonuses for 'highly engaged' fans
Sony is preparing to launch a new incentives program called PlayStation Rewards. A closed beta for the offer is currently invite-only -- for "highly engaged" PlayStation owners -- but the full service will open up to include everyone next year. The program will reward players with a number of PSN bonuses, including "exclusive" avatars, dynamic themes and PlayStation Home content. In addition, Rewards will feature "member-only" sweepstakes, events and giveaways. At first glance, PlayStation Rewards seems to offer many of the same features as PlayStation Plus. However, the two services are separate from each other and will offer different bonuses. Rewards is free, and will be open to all PlayStation owners, regardless of Plus status -- although, Plus members are more likely to be offered entry into the service during the beta. Like Club Nintendo and Square Enix Members, PlayStation Rewards is tiered, separating its members into three groups: Select, Pro and Legendary. Playing games, downloading demos, using PlayStation Home, being active on the PlayStation.com Forums, answering surveys and buying content on the PlayStation Store are some of the ways in which members can increase their ranks in a Trophy-inspired leveling system.
GameStop finishes nationwide rollout of PowerUp Rewards program
GameStop has announced that its PowerUp Rewards program, which offers various bonuses to card-carrying loyal customers, is now available in all retail locations across the country. For those who missed the specifics of the program when it was dreamed up earlier this year, customers can now sign up for a free or a $15-per-year "Pro" membership -- both give Rewards points (exchangeable for gift cards, Netflix or Xbox Live subscriptions and other freebies), but only the latter comes with a discount on pre-owned goods and a subscription to Game Informer magazine. To celebrate the program's nationwide rollout, GameStop has gussied up its NASCAR ride with a sweet custom paint job, featuring an airbrushed wizard and some fire and ... well, just the name of the program, actually. Which is less exciting. Perhaps they could add the chart posted after the jump, which breaks down the two tiers of PowerUp Rewards membership, as a bitchin' decal?
The Daily Grind: How important are loyalty programs to you?
This past week, EverQuest joined the growing number of MMOs that include some sort of loyalty or veteran rewards program: "For simply continuing to subscribe to our game you will gain 'crowns' every week that can be spent on items to improve your game play. There is no additional charge for the items you find on this vendor... The amount of crowns you gain increases for every month that you have a continued subscription to EverQuest. This increase in points per week caps out after 12 months." The basic idea behind such programs is to provide additional incentive for players to stay subscribed. These incentives can be as trite as a new title or a badge only you can see, or as substantial as cash shop currency, special outfits or unique skills. While companies like NCsoft, Cryptic, Icarus and SOE have utilized loyalty programs as part of their subscriber strategy, plenty of other studios (Blizzard, Turbine, CCP) do not. We'd like to know: How important are loyalty programs to you? Do they make a difference in choosing which game to play? Have you stayed subscribed to an MMO you're not even playing just for the rewards? Would you like to see your current MMO offer a veteran rewards program like this?
Club Nintendo Gold and Platinum awards announced
Here's what you've been buying Nintendo games all year for! Well, hopefully you've been buying Nintendo games because you want to play them, but here's the secondary reason: Nintendo announced the Platinum and Gold Elite Status Gifts for North America's Club Nintendo. Those who reached Gold status (300 coins or more since last July) get a calendar, and Platinum status holders (600 coins or more) get this neat Mario figurine thing. To claim your reward, you have to sign into Club Nintendo and provide a shipping address. The prizes will ship by the end of this year, according to Nintendo. And now ... the process begins again. It's time to start registering games for next year, like that copy of Sin & Punishment you were just about to buy.
PSA: Club Nintendo year ends June 30
If you've been lax in your Club Nintendo registration recently, we suggest you go register those DSi XLs, black Wiis, copies of WarioWare DIY, and your other first-party stuff. The Club Nintendo "year" -- during which your earned Coins will count up toward Platinum or Gold status -- elapses June 30.
EA Gun Club loyalty program grants early Medal of Honor beta access
EA just announced a new loyalty program for those who like to shoot at stuff in an e-military manner. The EA Gun Club will offer exclusive weapon unlocks and early access to game demos, among other niceties. Details are slim at the moment about how to get in (do you need to own an EA Gun?), but people will begin benefiting from it soon. Gun Club members will be able to get into the Medal of Honor beta on June 17 -- before the general public. That means that only the people who are likely to be really good will be in the game then. Killing you.
GameStop 'PowerUp Rewards' beta launches
The GameStop "PowerUp Rewards" beta has launched in "select areas," according to its website, which details the retailer's previoulsy proposed, new loyalty card program. PowerUp Rewards offers two memberships: a free version and a $15 "Pro" version. The free option entitles card holders to 10 Rewards "points" per dollar spent on new games and consoles, and 20 points per dollar spent on used purchases or earned through trade-ins. The Pro choice adds a buy two, get one free "welcome offer," 10 percent discounts and bonus points on various transactions, and a one-year Game Informer subscription. (The two enrollment options are more fully compared in the handy chart after the break). Points can be put towards various rewards, including gift cards and Netflix subscriptions. Additionally, all PowerUp Rewards members receive "exclusive" offers, which could include special sales, early beta access to certain titles or invitations to events. A Kotaku tipster told the site that the program is currently available in Ohio, Tennessee and Missouri, though GameStop recently said the beta program would feature "four regions" and roll out in full this fall. If you're a GameStop employee or new PowerUp Rewards member with more information on the program, we'd love to hear from you. [Via Kotaku]
GameStop to offer in-store DLC purchases and new loyalty program this year
GameStop knows how sick you are of those silly, antiquated, digital ways of purchasing your downloadable content, and company COO J. Paul Raines has a solution: buy the content in stores! During today's quarterly earnings call for investors, Raines detailed the new system, as well as the previously discussed customer loyalty program. "We've been working on the technology for DLC for well over a year," Raines said, "and I think what's important to understand is that we've had to create proprietary point of sale technology in partnership with Microsoft to be able to show that DLC catalog at retail. We're also working on merchandising and marketing the DLC content in our stores. So this is something that we feel like the industry is moving our way, and our investments are starting to really be timely and publishers see us as the destination for sale of DLC in stores." Raines also noted that the in-store DLC program will be launching in 35 locations this spring with a "limited catalog," and then adding "select titles and SKUs over the course of the summer." A nationwide roll out is planned for the fall. Also launching nationwide this fall will be GameStop's new customer loyalty program, which will be tested in four regional US markets beginning in May. Raines declined to name the test markets, saying only that we'll "have to wait till May 28 to find out".
GameStop rewards program launching this May in 'four markets'
[The Master Shake Signal] Ever heard of a French gaming chain named Micromania? Yeah, neither had we until this morning's GameStop conference call, where the game retail giant's CEO J. Paul Raines specifically cited the (GameStop-owned since 2008) franchise for its member loyalty program ("MegaCart") and the success it's had in Europe. "We believe that the loyalty program at Micromania drove some of the highest sales per store in Europe that we've seen, so we think it's a very effective program, and that's the base for what we added to our existing loyalty program here at the Edge," Raines said, confirming the rumored plan to add a customer loyalty system at GameStop. When asked about when the new loyalty program would start rolling out, Raines stated that it'll be arriving this May in "four markets" (which could be anything from entire regions of the US to specific states or anything in-between -- we've followed up for clarification). So what can GameStop consumers expect from this new loyalty program? Not many details were given, but a few speculative ideas were offered. "Ours will have different rewards, it won't be purely a markdown program that gives you discounts once you reach a certain threshold," Raines said, adding, "It will also have unique rewards like tickets to shows and early entrance to midnight launch, etc." No mention was made of how this will effect those of you with current Edge card subscriptions, nor if this new rewards program will be separate altogether. We've contacted GameStop corporate for clarification and will update this post if we hear more, but for now you can read Raine's entire statement after the break.
Square Enix details upcoming membership rewards
If you're in North America and you've been dutifully collecting Square Enix games, you may have some free stuff headed your way. The end of the current reward period for the Square Enix Members club is coming up on March 31, at which point Square Enix will ship out rewards depending on your "tier" rank -- a status awarded based on the number of games you've registered through the program. For the mere seconds of work we just spent registering a single game, we hit "bronze" status and earned a postcard set featuring Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days and Star Ocean The Last Hope International artwork. Silver members will get a desktop calendar with artwork from Final Fantasy XIV, Front Mission Evolved and other games; Gold members get a music compilation on CD; and Ultimate members will get an 8GB iPod Touch and a free Square Enix game to play on it!
Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club gives points for buying its BD-Live titles
Similar to Walt Disney Studios' Disney Movie Rewards Live program -- which will launch alongside Sleeping Beauty on October 7th -- Sony Pictures is crafting its very own rewards program. The Sony Pictures Blu-ray Club will supposedly encourage purchases of BD-Live-enabled titles by giving owners "points" that they can redeem toward "sweepstakes entries and other added values featured in the existing Sony Rewards program." Obviously, it costs nothing to actually join the loyalty program, and while we can't help but announce this news with our heads pointed decidedly downward, at least Sony gives users the ability to register each new disc via their Blu-ray player should they choose. Launch date? October 7th, with Sandler's You Don't Mess With the Zohan driving the sure to be widespread momentum.[Via VideoBusiness]
Europeans: Get rid of those excess Stars now!
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!
