If you aren’t a giant Nintendo fanboy then you’ve likely never even heard of Club Nintendo, but it may well be one of the greatest services ever created. Basically, the service exists to give Nintendo owners an incentive to buy the products they were planning to own anyway, as each purchase nets you star points that can then be traded for fabulous merchandise. The club is a huge hit in Europe and Japan, and now it’s finally coming to America.

During Nintendo’s big press conference yesterday, the company announced that the loyalty service will make its American debut sometime this holiday season, meaning that expectant fans should keep an eye on the horizon these next couple of months. The service should work much the same way as it does in other regions, with actions such as registering products and participating in surveys netting you points to exchange for items such as Wii Shop Points, new controllers, memory cards, and even exclusive games.

In all honesty, this announcement makes me more excited than the DSi and Wii game announcements (ok, it doesn’t make me more excited than the new Punch-Out!, nothing is better than that), but this is indeed good news as well. Now, every time you buy a Wii or DS game and it turns out to be crappy, you can at least feel a bit better knowing that Club Nintendo is there to ease the pain of this unfortunate transaction. And besides, once you’ve had a look at all the goodies you can get through the club, you’re going to want in.