My Nintendo coins to undergo changes in March 2018

Screenshot from the Nintendo Switch trailerNintendo

Members of the My Nintendo rewards program will soon be able to spend their gold coins on Nintendo Switch games.

My Nintendo is a rewards program by Nintendo that allows players to earn a variety of coins by doing different things. According to Nintendo, there are two kinds of coins: platinum and gold. Platinum points can be earned by using various Nintendo services and smart-devices apps.

Meanwhile, gold points can be earned by purchasing games from the Nintendo eshop or by purchasing Nintendo software. The points system can only be availed by players in areas where the Nintendo eshop is available. While platinum points and gold points could be used to unlock rewards, there was no way to purchase games with them in the past.

The change in March this year will allow My Nintendo members to finally spend their rewards on more games.

According to Polygon, when the change is put into place, the points will then have real cash equivalent. Players who have enough points can then check their cash equivalent, and if they have enough, they can purchase a handful of games with no additional cost or payment.

Nintendo also went into greater detail to explain how players earned gold points through purchasing digital games, stating that 5 percent of the game's price (not including points or discounts) would be converted into points. 100 points is the equivalent of $1.

On Feb. 8 Nintendo posted an announcement regarding the upcoming change:

"Starting in early March, you'll be able to spend any Gold Points you've accumulated in My Nintendo when purchasing Nintendo Switch software from Nintendo eShop on your device, or even via this website! You can pay for the remaining balance with Nintendo eShop funds, or any other payment method available in Nintendo eShop. Once earned, Gold Points remain valid until the last day of the month in the following calendar year. For example, any Gold Points you earned in March 2017 will remain valid until the end of March 2018."