In case you haven’t noticed, a new Nintendo of SA website launched over the weekend.

Apart from a fresh coat and a sleeker design, the great news is that South African gamers can now join Club Nintendo and access the Stars Catalogue. The Stars Catalogue enables gamers to register Nintendo products and games to earn Star Points which can then be traded for cool Nintendo goodies.

Star Points can also be swapped for Wii Points which can be used to purchase Virtual Console titles in the Wii Shop Channel. Although the Wii Shop Channel has not yet launched in South Africa, this is one step closer to that goal.

Gamers will receive a bonus 250 Star Points for initial registration while registering your Wii console and Nintendo DS will earn you 1000 Stars and 500 Stars respectively. If you register your games you will receive 100 Stars for games that cost less than R400, 200 Stars for games that cost between R400 and R550 and 250 Stars for games that cost over R550.

Gamers can already trade Star Points for several Nintendo wallpapers including Metroid, Bowser and Animal Crossing which will set you back just 50 Star Points.