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Nintendo Launches Wi-Fi Campaign for DS
The Inquirer has the word that Nintendo has launched a massive theatre-based advertising blitz for the DS. The campaign launch features a trailer length film entitled "The Sad, Agonizing Tale of Bhuvan Ganguly". From the IGN Story: "'There is a great element of surprise to this ad,' says Nintendo's advertising manager Kelli Koenig. 'The spot opens on a very dramatic situation that you just wouldn't expect to be related to video games or Nintendo. The spot clearly demonstrates Wi-Fi as it relates to the Nintendo brand with a nod to Mario Kart DS and it does this in a magical, clearly ownable by Nintendo kind of way.'"
Just what we need, more advertising before movies start.
Nothing like wasting your customers time (up to 20 minutes) to get them to come back for more.
I hate the arrogance and huberis of making someone spend a punishing amount of time just to get the "privalage" of spending their hard earned money.
It's not as bad as some people make it out to be.
o xoffice_sales/
What movie came out last summer?
The Passion of the Christ.
So people who don't usually watch movies, watched that one, and made last summer a REALLY big one.
http://money.cnn.com/2005/06/16/news/newsmakers/b
The ad in question, for those who didn't bother to click on the IGN article.
This campaign isn't too bad of an idea so far. The ad is a little obscure, but the launch of the WiFi network is still two or three months away. Something like this may pique the interest of fans, but it will be explained in more detail closer to the holidays. Besides, if the launch of Nintendo WiFi Connection is as successful as many people expect, news should spread rather quickly by word of mouth. I know a lot of people who are eyeing the DS to see how Mario Kart and Animal Crossing will turn out as online games.
Making people curious (as you seem to be ; as am I) is also one goal in today's marketing, and they apparently succeeded in it
And yes, I laughed out loud when Alone in the Dark started with that amateurish text scrolling at the start.
If I'm not mistaken, AnimalCrossing DS will be the first title. It's reported that you can use any 802.11b connection and Nintendo will be making a DS router for the less techy among us.
There seems to be some questioning here around Nintendo's Wi-Fi plan. It just happens that Nintendo Power's August issue discusses it, so a quick summary is probably called for. If you're wondering why I have Nintendo Power, hey cut me some slack, it was free:
"The wait for Wi-Fi is nearly over. And if you're wondering if it has been worth the wait, consider this: In a few months, you'll enter a cafe in your home town, plop down with a cup of joe, fire up your DS and challenge a group of friends across town or strangers scattered across the globe to a friendly Mario Kart DS race."
Sift through the marketspeak and, to me, it seems to indicate that Wi-Fi will begin rolling out by having hotspots in public venues, probably through arrangements between Nintendo and those venues. I think there's real potential in that kind of play, making it into a kind of quasi-arcade experience -- it drags portable gaming out of the living room and basement and out into public, which could turn out really cool. Think about it -- videogaming originated, as a mass-market phenomonon, in arcades, where you had spectators and a ready environment to talk games with people you never met. This could go a long way towards reviving gaming in a social context. (It could also crash and burn, but I'm so happy to see Nintendo trying something really risky for a change.)
A little further along, the article talks about Wi-Fi on Revolution, seeming to imply that eventually it'll be available at home.
And that's about it; one page on the tail end of three on the new DS Mario Kart.
Nintendo "Ni-Fi" will be available at any regular wireless hotspot, meaning you can play at home, at Starbucks, internet cafes, wherever you can get wireless internet. For those with no home wireless router, Nintendo is also offering a USB plug that acts as a router for the DS, and I assume also for the Revolution. The service is free, but the first game for it won't be coming out until fall.
Nintendo does NOT use a proprietary protocol for it's internet service. It uses plain old 802.11b.