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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.'"
Exactly how does one get to use Nintendo Wi-Fi?
They wait till Fall.
It appears as though Mario Kart will be the kick-off title for this. It doesn't come out till Nov. 7, that means 3 months before you will even be able to use this. Why spend the 30 seconds explaining something can't use right away, or even all that soon. Instead the teaser works perfectly to get buzz about it out in the public. Potentially tipping the casual gamer deciding between a PSP or a DS to purchase the DS, cause soon they will be able to play Mario Kart wirelessly.
Okay so you have ADD *AND* you're a cynical bastard? :D
:)
I guess you aren't the target market, but that doesn't make you right. Being
weird and artistic (rather than loud, obnoxious, brash and right to the point)
is odd and eye-catching.
The first thing you do is wonder why this guy is pushing the cart. And he eats a
banana.. and you wonder what is coming next. That's the whole point. Explaining
the movie at the beginning is ADD culture in action; listening to focus groups
and so on. Here's a hint; maybe this advert will be on at March Of The Penguins.
I think Nintendo are trying to hit up a little more mature an audience here, the
discerning geek or Nintendo-fan, and not the 11 year old.
Either way if you aren't a hyperactive junky who is munching his hotdog and
popcorn a good 22 minutes before the movie starts, you might be interested. In
fact the people who DO pay attention and ARE interested are more readily going to
be the kind of people who play games because they have staying power and attention
spans; they're very similar to the Japanese gamer ethic, that "hardcore RPG gamer"
who will sit and play Pokemon through 10 times until they get every damn animal,
patiently.
They're not going to be sitting there, fiddling the stylus for 10 minutes then
throwing the DS across the room and buying a PSP because they are irrationally
bored of it.
You understand or did I go on too long? Hey, look at me when I'm talking to you
Neko
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.