The latest update for Nintendo Switch Online has added a new missions and rewards system, which lets you complete challenges to earn My Nintendo platinum points that can be spent on exclusive profile rewards.
The new system is similar to Xbox Rewards, in that it allows you to complete simple challenges on your console to unlock digital freebies. So far, these challenges involve using the features in the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, such as playing a Switch game online, backing up your save data, or playing an NES game through its library of classic Nintendo titles.
Nintendo says you’ll be able to complete most missions “simply by doing things you’re probably already doing with your Nintendo Switch Online membership”. All the missions that have been released so far renew on a weekly or monthly basis.
Completing a challenge will earn you between 20 to 100 My Nintendo platinum points, which can be redeemed for digital wallpapers, physical items from the online My Nintendo Store, and new profile elements, such as frames, characters, and backgrounds that can be combined to create your own, custom user icon.
The available icon elements will refresh each week and follow a monthly theme. This month’s theme is Animal Crossing – specifically, those characters from Animal Crossing: New Horizons who have a birthday in March – and Super Mario Odyssey. They’ll refresh on April 3.
With the update already live, anyone with a Nintendo Switch and a subscription to the console’s online membership can head to the Nintendo Switch Online app and find the “Missions & Rewards” tab on the left to start completing challenges or browsing unlocks.
Analysis: an easy way to bag platinum points
Like Xbox Rewards before it, Nintendo’s new missions and rewards system is designed to encourage you to check out the full spectrum of Nintendo Switch Online’s features, locking you further into the subscription service. But if you’re already subscribed, it’s an easy way of accumulating platinum points to spend in the My Nintendo Store.
In the first batch of challenges, you can back up your saved data once a week for 20 points, play online for 30, and load up an NES title each month for a quick 50. That’s a straightforward way of racking up some points with very little effort.
Once you’ve collected a few hundred, you’ll be able to redeem them in the rewards section of the My Nintendo store for some petty snazzy item. 500 of the shiny platinum tokens will net you a Metroid Dread pin set or a poster of a classic N64 game. If you don’t fancy saving that much, 400 points can get you a roll-up Animal Crossing bag, while 300 can be redeemed for a mini calendar set. You’ll still have to pay delivery, mind, so try splurging the points in one go to save on postage costs.
It’s best to not subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online just for the sake of earning the platinum points, but if you’re already signed up, it’s worth completing the challenges as they renew. If you do, you may have some shiny Nintendo merchandise coming through your letterbox in a few months.
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