Nintendo Online Store: An "Old School" Gamers Paradise of Cords, Power Packs, Instructions And Accessories!
Written: Jul 24 '03
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The Nintendo family of game systems are one of the most popular on the market. Even with all the great advances, I am still a loyal enthusiast of the original NES deck. I know, the system is older than dirt, the games aren’t all that exciting and the parts are hard to come by – but that doesn’t stop me from playing Simon’s Quest / Castlevania, Dr. Mario, Paperboy and Tetris whenever I get the chance. We own Playstation, PSII, GameBoy, GameBoy Advance, Sega Genesis, Game Gear and Nomad – so gaming is something that we take pretty seriously in this house. With all these systems and game floating around, there are times when it gets a bit hectic and the upkeep and maintenance gets to be a bit involving – but thankfully I have a few “game geeks” that are always more than happy to help out. Finding replacement items for the NES gets harder and harder. Controllers can usually be found at the local game store but you never know ho long they will last, how much they’ve been used and abused and when they’ll die on you. When I started looking for a power cord for the NES and older game titles, I came across the Nintendo site through a Google search. While I wasn’t able to get the game titles I did find that they had all the cords that I needed as well as cleaning kits and controllers.
Navigation
Getting around the site is pretty easy once you become familiar with it. One of my biggest complaints is that when you go to use the back button on your browser you are often left with a warning message that the page has expired. Refreshing does no good and I often have to go back to the main page and start over. The only real alternative is to use the small links at the top of the page that allow you to go back to the main part of the section. Another small issue is with how the products are listed. Normally when you go to a page you expect to find a few photos of products that are available, there are photos listed but you have to navigate through unnecessary filler pages to get to them. The NES pages are probably the worst, when you finally get to the main page you might not think there are any products available since all you see are listings for parts, player and game manuals and player guides. You have to click on the tabs to get into the sections – the first few times I hit this page I assumed that there weren’t any products available. This could be avoided by adding a small sub heading saying ׅ products available” or “click here”.
You’ll find everything from replacement parts for Nintendo systems to player’s guides and game booklets. The site lists all the Nintendo platforms from the old GameBoy to the Game Cube and N64. While the site is a little thin on what they actually sell, there are links to places and stores that are authorized sellers of their merchandise. If you are looking for magazine subscriptions for Nintendo Power Magazine or just want to renew online, you can do so at the site. If you poke around long enough you will be able to find some officially licensed Nintendo gear including t-shirts and watches – look under the game guide / magazine heading then click on the “special offers” tab to see what they have for sale.
Purchases
I use the site mainly to obtain parts and cleaning kits for my NES deck. Usually I can find most of the parts at my local game store but cords, controllers and kits are sometimes hard to come by unless someone trades in a deck or system. Most recently one of the small furry creatures found its way into my bedroom and took a real liking to one of the controllers as well as the power cord. I’m assuming it was the same one that also nibbled off all the numbers from the new remote control. I am usually really good with making sure all the cords are tucked away but I guess I assumed that since nothing had been attacked in months, I cured the guinea pigs of their snacking on plastic parts. I was wrong. Since I have a real love of the old school NES games [Castlevania, Yo Noid!, Metal Gear etc] I wanted to replace the cords as soon as possible. Game X and Game Stop were out of the cords and controllers so I checked the Nintendo site and, while the prices were higher than what I was used to paying, they were in stock.
I was a little less than impressed with the game manuals that the site offers for the NES platform. Almost all of them listed are photocopies of the original manual, hence the $1.25 price. Nintendo makes it very clear on each page that these are “authorized copies” but you will find a few titles that are originals. I’m much rather pay a few dollars more and get the original book that came with the game if it is a game that I plan on playing frequently. Even so, charging $1.25 for a photocopy of something that’s about twenty pages is a waste unless there are a lot of technical maneuvers that can be done by pressing a certain series of buttons.
I was really disappointed that the site lists so many cool things – like clothing, toys and collectables – then sends you off on a wild goose chase to find them. You see, just because there is a listing of an item doesn’t mean that you can purchase it through the site. When I saw the listing for “toys: on the main page I thought I had finally found a place to get Yo Noid! and older Nintendo character products. Alas, my dream was dashed when I was sent to a page where I could “possibly” find items. What’s the point of listing this stuff in the Nintendo Store if they don’t carry it? That’s like going to a grocery store and finding that they are out of apples but there’s a fruit stand three miles away that has them. Make sense? While it is nice to have this information listed, it’s done so in a rather deceptive manner.
Payment Options
The Nintendo site accepts MasterCard and Visa for payments however you can also pay by money order or check [allow extra time for your check to clear]. To pay by check or money order you need to complete your shopping cart transaction and print out a copy of it, mail the print out and payment to:
Nintendo of America
PO Box 97086
Redmond, WA 98073-9786
If you are sending in a large order you may want to send it with a delivery confirmation or signature release so that you can track the payment as well as know when it has arrived at the Nintendo processing center. Please make sure that you include the shipping fees if applicable.
Return Policy
Ahhh the mysterious return policy. If you are an online consumer one of the things you always check is the return policy of a site. Sadly, Nintendo doesn’t show you the money where this is concerned. Only after you call the toll free number or send in an email will you be told what is returnable and what isn’t. I could sit here and list all the different things that you can return, can’t return, special items etc but that would be a complete waste of time. Your best bet is to call the toll free number [800 255-3700] before you place an order so you can ask about the specific of each product. You will get the usual information in regards to defective games being exchanged for the same title, where to mail the product back to etc. Remember to keep all the boxes and packing material from your shipment [as well as the invoice] until you are 100% sure that you received the correct items, they are all in working order and you won’t be needing to return anything. Even so, holding on to the invoice is a good idea in case it is needed down the road.
Customer Service
Nintendo of America
PO Box 957
Redmond, WA 98073
[800] 255-3700
nintendo@noa.nintendo.com - General comments
noaorders@noa.nintendo.com - For order questions
Phone calls to the toll free number were answered quickly and the wait time to talk to someone was a minimum but there were a few times when I did have to navigate through a rather complicated voice mail system. Emails are generally returned within a 24 hour period but if you have a pressing matter or concern, check the site to see which method [phone or email] is best for your situation.
Shipping Fees
The starting price for shipping [ground delivery] is $5.00 but if you are ordering larger items or a huge order, you may want to contact the site before you start the ordering process because you won’t be able to see the total shipping fee until you enter the items into the shopping cart. All of my orders were shipping using the ground service [standard shipping] and cost $5.00. That isn’t to say that some items won’t cost more to ship – but mine have all been $5.00. If you live in California, Maine, Massachusetts or Washington, you will be charged your local sales tax on your purchase – but this does not include magazine subscriptions. You can check your shopping cart to see what your actual shipping fees will be but be warned, once you click the “return to shopping” button you will be sent back to the main page of the store, not the section you were previously shopping in.
The Bottom Line
While I have to admit that the site is a little thin on what they actually sell, they do ship out orders in a timely fashion. The cords arrived in about a week and were exactly what I needed to get my NES deck back up and running. If you are an old school gamer and are having trouble finding quality parts and cords, this is a great option if you can’t find what you are looking for locally. There are replacement parts, manuals and assorted goods available for almost all the Nintendo products – past and present. In addition to the store front, you can also access the Code Bank, download manuals for the game decks and platforms, sign up for a free newsletter and catch up on all the Nintendo news through the different parts of the site.
As always, thanks for the read!
^V^ Freak ^V^
© 2003 Freak369
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Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? NES power cord, controllers, acessories items.
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