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Nintendo Hires Walking Gamers

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the he's-got-style-he's-got-flash dept.

Plug1 writes "CNN.com has an interesting article about nintendo hiring people to offer free samples of their games. Stephen Pellitier "will wear a 15-inch flat-screen TV on his chest and a pack of batteries on his back. With a game console and joysticks dangling from his waist, he will spend his weekends inviting passers-by to play games."" imagine the possible pickup lines involving joysticks, buttons, and playing with them! The potential for being beaten on the streets is just amazing!

32 of 289 comments (clear)

  1. there goes the 'kiddy system' argument by SirSlud · · Score: 3, Funny

    After all, grab the wrong joystick at this kiosk, and you could end up in a very adult situation!

    --
    "Old man yells at systemd"
    1. Re:there goes the 'kiddy system' argument by FFFish · · Score: 3, Funny

      Wonder what the uptime is..

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    2. Re:there goes the 'kiddy system' argument by acceleriter · · Score: 3, Funny

      But Taco's "joystick" is certainly no X-Box controller by any means, if rumors be correct.

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      CEE5210S The signal SIGHUP was received.

    3. Re:there goes the 'kiddy system' argument by Yorrike · · Score: 4, Funny

      This is the exact reason why I would have called members of the team "Walking Adverts for Nintendo Games", as opposed to "Nintendo Human Interactive Units", for you see, my naming idea acronyms nicely ; )

      --

      Looks can be deceiving. Or CAN they?

  2. Beaten on the streets... by ralian · · Score: 3, Funny

    Dude, this guy's probably spent so many years honing his 1337 sk1llz on Street Fighter that he could take any punk ass that tries to take him down... or at least, he thinks he can... ;)

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    -raph

    1. Re:Beaten on the streets... by chill182 · · Score: 3, Funny

      By this logic I should be the greatest skateboarder, soldier, knight, pilot, plumber, vampire hunter, hedgehog, motocross champion, fighting robot, burger chef, magician, cop, car thief and race car driver that ever lived.

  3. Drug dealers do this !!! by Kasmiur · · Score: 5, Funny

    They get kids to sell to other kids. Now apperently Nintendo are taking this route. Whats next offering the first game free?

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    -THIS SPACE FOR RENT!
  4. Nice target by The+Turd+Report · · Score: 3, Funny

    How long until some kids beat this guys ass and take the game? My bet is for less than a week.

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    Michael Loves Me!
    1. Re:Nice target by teamhasnoi · · Score: 5, Funny

      How long until someone beats up the kid, takes the game, throws it through the window of the store, sets the store and a marching band on fire, carjacks a car, runs drugs for a mob kingpin, researches the Republic to get Conscription, raises an army and invades Nebraska and the Temple of Nod? I'd say 15 min.

  5. "I've programmed button #1 for rapid fire!" by Dr_Marvin_Monroe · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...and the number one pick-up line.....

    "My joystick's been 'ruggedized' for exceptional durability and long lasting play!"

  6. Dream by discstickers · · Score: 3, Funny

    I'm sorry, but that's my dream job. I'd take near-minimum wage to have that job.

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    I have a shitty sig!
  7. Monitor Inversion? by Cyno01 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Will the guy be able to invert the monitor so if he gets bored he can play himself?

    --
    "Sic Semper Tyrannosaurus Rex."
    1. Re:Monitor Inversion? by daddymac · · Score: 3, Funny
      Will the guy be able to invert the monitor so if he gets bored he can play himself?
      He doesn't need the monitor to play with himself. Besides, eventually he'll go blind from it and won't be able to see the monitor anyway.
      --
      If something I said can be interpreted two ways, and one of the ways makes you sad or angry, I meant the other one.
  8. Did I just read that? by jcsehak · · Score: 5, Funny

    The potential for being beaten on the streets is just amazing!

    must... get... mind... out... of... gutter...

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    c-hack.com |
  9. The Amazing Walking Bilboard by Calimus · · Score: 5, Interesting

    We all knew this was going to happen at some point. We are already a walking advertisements (nike hats, shoes, shirts, etc..) it's really about time in this day and age that human advertising machine became interactive.

    Think about the future this could bring, We advance from having a flat screen on the front and batteries on the back to an imbeded LCD/plasma screen in the chest and runs right off the electricity created by the brain. The games/advertisements are stored in the brain as well and just played back from memory.

    Who needs walls and signs when the human body could do it more efficiently.

    Of course, when this happens for real, I think it will be time to check myself out of the gene pool.

    --
    Trying to be different, just like everyone else.
    1. Re:The Amazing Walking Bilboard by SirSlud · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The more this proliferates, the more people there will be like my friend, who's taken to removing logos from everything he wears - even gifts, etc.

      Remember the ying and yang - as this kind of thing becomes more popular, the counter-advertising culture will have to take _their_ campaign to a whole new level. This is what I'm most interested in seeing.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    2. Re:The Amazing Walking Bilboard by BlackGriffen · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Yes, the future of advertising, yesterday. People walking around wearing placards are as old as advertising, this just happens to be an interactive placard.

      "Think about the future this could bring, We advance from having a flat screen on the front and batteries on the back to an imbeded LCD/plasma screen in the chest and runs right off the electricity created by the brain. The games/advertisements are stored in the brain as well and just played back from memory."

      Yeah, but what will the screen show when he checks out that hot chick walking by? Memories of his first time? ;)

      BlackGriffen

    3. Re:The Amazing Walking Bilboard by CaffeineAddict2001 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Your friend is a walking anti-advertisement advertisement! It's like anarchists who form an "anarchist party" or punks that say "Wearing a uniform is for robots" meanwhile, they are wearing a punk uniform. You are pretty much like everyone else, right down to your monkey DNA, get used to it.

    4. Re:The Amazing Walking Bilboard by SirSlud · · Score: 3, Insightful

      THe next time you see somebody with a shirt without a logo, stop and remember whether you think, "Hey, that guys must hate logos cause he's not wearing any."

      Chances are you won't. You cant advertise if there is no message on the creative. Duh.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
  10. Pick-Up Lines by akiy · · Score: 5, Funny

    5. I'll make all your Final Fantasies come true.
    4. You sure set off my Chrono Trigger.
    3. Want to see what I can draw in Mario Paint?
    2. I'll be Link, and you can be my Zelda. ... and ...

    1. Want to play with my Mario?

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    http://www.aikiweb.com - AikiWeb Aikido Information

    1. Re:Pick-Up Lines by JFMulder · · Score: 3, Funny

      Don't you think "little plumber" is bit pejorative? Maybe you should introduce her (no pun intended) his big brother Luigi instead.

  11. Re:obligatory comment by stoolpigeon · · Score: 5, Funny

    booth-babes has been sitting all bored after E3

    Yeah- hot women have absolutely nothing to do unless there's some kind of geek convention going on.

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    It's hard to believe that's how Micronians are made. Why don't we see it right now by having you both kiss one another?
  12. National Exposure by pudge_lightyear · · Score: 5, Insightful

    After the great dot.com bust and 9/11, advertising has gotten pretty tricky. I imagine that budgets are tight, media options are somewhat slimmer, etc.
    The neatest thing about this campaign is that sure...this may not work, but it made national news because it's a new idea.
    So...they spend a couple of hundred bucks to pay a few guys to walk around crowded areas on weekends. Pay a couple thousand on hardware...probably about 500 for each. And reap the (probably small benefits) associated with this campaign. But...the national exposure this should generate because of the fact that it's new and wierd would probably have costed hundreds to thousands of times what they spent on the few kids and units.

    --

    Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor
    1. Re:National Exposure by cancrman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      > I imagine that budgets are tight, media options are somewhat slimmer...

      If anything there are more choices for advertising media than ever. Been to a bar lately? Advertisments over urinals (I have seen GTA3 ads on these), postcards by the doors, coasters, swizzlesticks, matchbooks. It's all fair game these days. My company used cars wrapped in ads to get their message out. There is a company were you can lease models to hand out product samples.

      TV, radio, internet (banners, spam, popups), print (magazines, newspapers) outdoor, sponsorships, 'guerilla media' (Bars, wild postings, samplings, elevator LCDs, floor graphics), LCDs in checkout lines. Christ, even the divders in the supermarket checkout lines have ads on them.

      Advertising is becoming so commonplace and persistant that companies need something to differentiate themselves. Hence this new campaign by nintendo.

      It's fucking brilliant.

      I'm a media planner and I wish I had the opportunity to come up with this idea.

      --
      The sole purpose of the Internet is to get porn and bomb making plans into the hands of children.
  13. Nintendo's Street Team by Radnor · · Score: 4, Informative

    The Street Team's website can be found here. They have people in LA, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, Atlanta, and Dallas.

  14. Privacy Concerns? by anthony_dipierro · · Score: 3, Funny

    Doesn't anyone have concerns about Nintendo collecting information on how good of a game player they are? Sure, you say, you might have nothing to hide, but what about others that do?

  15. Re:Beaten up? by morgajel · · Score: 5, Funny

    you may be tough, but you still look like a frickin teletubbie.

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    Looking for Book Reviews? Check out Literary Escapism.
  16. Slashdot 2012 by Patrick13 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Walking Video Game Class Action Suit Victory

    The 13 surviving "walking video game" employees had a major victory in court today when Dr. Robert E. Burdick, medical expert witness for the class action suit showed that the flat panel screens used to display the games on the "walking video game" employees actually exposed its wearers to 800 times the amount of radiation as would typically be used in a dental x-ray.

    Nintendo's defense panel had no comment, except to say that their medical expert would also be testifying as soon as his chemotherapy treatments permitted.

    In other news, the goatse.cx troll is still actively spamming the slashdot comment boards.

    --
    ::.. check out some Cell Phone Reviews
  17. Duck Hunt? by nullard · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know it's for the original NES, but just immagine playing Duck Hunt like this. Passersby might freak out.

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    t'nera semordnilap
  18. Obligatory comment. by MongooseCN · · Score: 3, Funny

    Hey baby want to push some of my buttons?

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    Outdoor digital photography, mostly in New Engl
  19. Re:$100 a day, $35000 per year?? by Latent+IT · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah, and half the kids who took this job are thinking, "Wow, that's like... two games a DAY!"

  20. Oh, come on... by Mulletproof · · Score: 3, Funny

    I have two words for yas baby...

    "Force Feedback"

    Er, right. I'll be going now.

    --
    You need a FREE iPod Nano