Nintendo’s new console isn’t only a breakthrough for multiplayer gaming since the N64, but the Nintendo Switch also offers no region lock, meaning you can buy and play games from EU, US and Japan! However, as I added the US Switch edition of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + to my cart for UK shipping, I suddenly realised something…was I still going to be able to redeem My Nintendo Gold Points?
My UK Switch is all booted-up and has picked-up the US edition of The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth + just fine.
After a few rounds of this dark but addictive dungeon crawler, I went back to face the music. Could I redeem My Nintendo Gold points from this US Switch game?
Once your retail game card is inserted, highlight the games icon, press ‘+’ and you’ll see the menu above. Scroll down to My Nintendo Rewards Programme and move across and select ‘Earn Points’. That however, is for games in your region…
Sadly, once I selected ‘Earn Points’, it prompted me to select my account. This is where the issue lies, as it immediately detected that my account was UK and the game card was US. I was greeted by the following message:
Bugger! Looks like Isaac won’t be netting me any gold coins for my UK account. Hey, I’m good. That poor little guy has enough going on in that basement, anyway…
Yup, while buying Switch games from another region will still work fine, you won’t be able to redeem My Nintendo Gold Points to your own regions account. Wait, hang on…ever wondered why the Switch always prompted you to confirm your account before playing or even accessing the eshop? This is because good ol’ Nintendo are aware that gamers will setup multiple accounts for different regions. Nintendo understand that the system isn’t region locked for game cards, so why restrict gamers to only buy from their regions eshop?
Light bulb!
Due to the Switch welcoming multiple region accounts, there is a high possibility that simply selecting that specific game cards account region (providing you’ve setup the related account) after selecting ‘Earn Points’, will enable you to redeem those shiny My Nintendo Gold Coins…but of course, they’ll only be available on that regions account.
Have you got another regions game card and want to test the multiple account method? Let us know how you get on!
