How the crap is Nintendo gonna show how awesome glasses-less 3D looks in non 3D commercials and billboards? Says one senior official from Japan, “We are constantly discussing how to market the product. Our internal PR departments are saying that we should use cinema advertising, because cinemas are capable of showing 3D movies.
“But our key point with 3DS is that you don’t need glasses, which you obviously need to use in cinemas. So we think regular marketing and promotional activities will be very tricky for us. I think that a lot of awareness about 3DS will be spread by word of mouth.”
The comments come only a month after Nintendo struggled to show how impressive the technology is during their E3 press conference, only to wow crowds afterwords with hands-on time. For me, the most impressive segment of the conference before I got my hands on the thing, was in hearing several developers genuinely express their excitement about the technology.
Tricky, yes – but they can still push the system on the power of the hardware too, the 3D level can be adjusted. Maybe the catch has to be you can have games like this on a Nintendo portable but now in 3D!!!!!!!!!
The only way I could think of that wouldn't be crazy expensive would be something like the trailer they showed, with characters and stuff coming out of the screen. I would love to see Nintendo Power do an article showing a bunch of screenshots in 3D, and they could include a pair of red/blue 3D glasses, but say something along the lines of "Imagine this, but without the dorky glasses." Again, that would be really expensive though.
They need to have demo units in as many stores as possible, including stores that don't usually have demo units. Other than that, I imagine them doing the characters flying out of the screen thing on commercials.
I think getting it on jimmy fallon was a great step in the right direction. Once they get closer to release date they should put a demo unit in every toys"r"us and game stop in the country. I think another thing to do would be to sell the 3DS to platinum Club Nintendo members a month early to showcase the device and generate the buzz.
This is all they need…
One sign in the store that says "New DS available now".
That will start the ball rolling and it will not stop until it has achieved world domination.
If it is as good as it should be then it won't need elaborate marketing. Or any marketing.
Another quick thought. They should use a similar model they used in Japan and Europe to get people to put their wiis online. Give out 500 3ds points for getting someone to buy a 3ds and the purchaser gets 500 too for mentioning you when they register it.
In theatres it'll say put on your 3D glasses. Have a 3DS trailer right before the other 3D trailers where you need glasses.
Since they really can't (reasonably) show the 3D effects, I would probably stick with what they did during E3. That promo with Reggie and the guys was really funny, and I think it got across the idea of 3D without actually having to show 3D. It kind of leaves it up to the imagination just how cool the 3D will be.
This is completely irrelevant but I wish you can download E3 game demos via WiiWare or DSiWare store
@Legend: I second that! Same goes for any platform.
In terms of the advertising. I could see some kind of major Nintendo event in every major city to showcase the system.
Honestly, I think the best advertising they could do is to just start sticking it in Gamstops and Walmarts and Targets and stuff starting maybe a month or so before the release of it. Judging by E3, most people who play it will be convinced to buy one, and then they'll go tell their friends how cool it is leading them to go either go play it and start the cycle over, or immediately decide to get one.
As for traditional advertisements? Perhaps something along the lines of the E3 trailer would be best. It was rather amusing and people certainly are remembering it and liking it, so why not? They obviously can't show the 3D effect on TV, so just go for something stylized and a little silly that gets the proper point across.
I agree with the Nintendo rep… they should not do any advertising that requires 3D glasses, because the whole point is that you don't need glasses, and people are stupid and will not read or pay attention to the fact that you won't need glasses with the real thing. I think they should just have some TV spots with a CGI image showing how the 3D effect pops off the screen, and state about 1,000 times that no glasses are necessary. Emphasize that glasses-less 3D is here now. Or maybe they could create magazine ads that use holographic effects to demonstrate the 3D effect of the system, but I imagine that could be expensive.