Nintendo has been doing a lot of random “shadow drops” lately, and the newest comes today with the “Nintendo Store” app released on Android and iOS devices.
Now the app is mostly designed to let people buy games on their mobile device, which will be useful to those still using the original Nintendo Switch (which has an eshop that doesn’t run too well), but there’s a rather cool feature that’s part of the Nintendo Store app that fans will be pleased to see: play time tracking.
While the app also keeps you up to date on games you’re interested in, including push notifications for when they are on sale, the biggest deal is “review your play activity”.
The official store details say: “You can sign in with your Nintendo Account to see your Nintendo Switch 2 / Nintendo Switch play activity. If you had a Nintendo 3DS or Wii U system, you can see your play activity logged prior to February 2020″.
Now this is a pretty cool thing to have, really. While it means Nintendo must have stopped tracking activity on 3DS and Wii U in February 2020, you can see how many hours you logged in things like Street Pass. The publisher adds: “To view your Nintendo 3DS and Wii U play activity, you’ll need to link your Nintendo ID (NNID) to your Nintendo Account”.
You can grab the iOS version of the app via this link, and the Google Play/Android version here.
Here’s the rest of the bullet points from the app:
- Shop on My Nintendo Store: You can use this app to check out Nintendo Switch 2/Nintendo Switch consoles, as well as all sorts of other products, then jump directly to My Nintendo Store to make purchases.
- Get notified about sales right away: You can choose to receive notifications when products on your Wish List go on sale.
- Check in at events: You can use the app to check in at official Nintendo stores and events and earn any related rewards! You can view your check-in activity in the app.
- Hear about the latest Nintendo products and activities: You can receive news about Nintendo games, merchandise, events and more!
This app seems to be the app that Japan has had for a few years, but it’s finally been localised for other countries. So while it may not be “new” to some, it’s definitely new to those of us outside of Japan.
