The e-mail went out early this morning, and as expected, the layabouts who could only be bothered to earn 300 Elite status coins for NOA's version of Club Nintendo are getting a calendar. The real news is what they're offering the Platinum members—which is practically everyone this year, as many long-owned and long-registered games (such as Super Mario 64 DS) were grandfathered in when the service launched late last year.

Japan's Platinum gifts have been a source of envy for many a year and were behind the calls for Nintendo to bring the service worldwide. 2007 was particularly awesome, giving members a choice of a two-disc Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack or a Super-Famicom-styled Wii Classic Controller. Last year was a little less-than-thrilling, offering Japanese Platinum members a Mario hat or a gold-painted Wii Wheel.

That same Mario hat is now available to North American Club Nintendo Platinum members, along with what is I suppose sort of cool but still smells a little like a cop-out: a downloadable (presumably WiiWare) single-bout version of Punch-Out!! featuring Doc Louis.

Well, there's always next year, right?