Our PAL-region comrades down in Australia are set to be joining Club Nintendo at some point this year.

Nintendo have been running Club Nintendo (previously known as Nintendo VIP 24:7) for many years in good old Blighty (and most of Europe), with members being able to register codes found inside Nintendo-published games to reap benefits such as Wii Points, hats, game racks and other Nintendo-themed merchandise. Nintendo of Australia are also planning to bring Club Nintendo to the land Men At Work claimed to hail from.

Australian gamers have recently found that Club Nintendo invitations have been slipped into the cases of brand new copies of Mario Kart Wii. The service is expected to launch alongside Mario Kart Wii when it hits Oz on Thursday. We can only dream of the screensaving joys our Australian friends will be treated to at the service's launch...