Nintendo’s stellar Kirby event fills the sky with lameness
Thursday, September 18th, 2008 at 6:25pm by Jack
Nintendo’s super secret event at places with “Kirby” in their names turned out to be a bubble show. Nintendo reps, armed with bubble machines that produced Kirby-shaped pink bubbles, descended on America this week to fill the air with utter lameness.
Reports from most blogs panned the event, which was basically a glorified ad for Kirby Super Star Ultra. I saw that even in the tank Nintendo blogs, like GoNintendo, were at a loss. Press release after the jump.
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Kirby™, the loveable, powerful, spherical pink Nintendo character, is making a comeback in a big way. Today thousands of pink, lighter-than-air mini-Kirby clouds took flight in the skies above four U.S. cities with neighborhoods that share the Kirby name. This celestial festival celebrates the Sept. 22 launch of Kirby’s game for Nintendo DS™, Kirby Super Star™ Ultra.
“We brought Kirby back in way that helped our ‘super tuff pink puff’ literally take off,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. “To date, more than 20 million Kirby games have sold worldwide, making Kirby one of our most popular characters. Kirby Super Star Ultra is a game that will please both veteran and new gamers alike.”
Residents of Kirby-named neighborhoods across the country might have noticed legions of Kirby characters floating through their skies today. These Flogos, as they are called, are creations made from environmentally friendly soapy bubbles and lighter-than-air gas. Kirby images floated over:
* Norwood Park next to Kirby Middle School in Birmingham, Ala.
* The historic Kirby’s Mill in Medford, N.J.
* The Kirby Gate shopping center in Memphis, Tenn.
* Kirby Park in Kingston, Penn.
“We gave our one-of-a-kind creations a special look for this special Nintendo character by adding coloring to our bubble mixture for the first time ever,” said Greg Stanhope, Director of Sales for Flogos. “Kirby deserved a uniquely creative event.”
For more information about Kirby Super Star Ultra, visit www.KirbyKirbyKirby.com.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Effing stupid.
September 18th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
lol’d at the title.
laaaammmmeeee.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
I feel sorry for anyone that actually showed up at those places.
September 18th, 2008 at 7:17 pm
I…I just don’t get the point of doing this. I honestly don’t think this will have attracted any new customers to the game.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:04 pm
good thing i read this. i was about to file a report of a pink ufo flying over my house.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
Yer mom had a kirby… it sucked too.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
I wholeheartedly disagree! Those bubble things are awesome and I have a picture of one on my iPhone wallpaper right now .. no joke!!
September 18th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
Kirby Bubbles, that’s cool, I want to make a few now. Don’t be hating on the kirby bubbles.
September 18th, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Don’t take this too literally, fellas. I still love Kirby, bubbles or not.
September 18th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
Eh, not suprising or awesome, but cute
September 18th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
YAY bubbles……
September 18th, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I think those are pretty cool. A nice new interesting marketing plan.
props to nintendo from me.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:10 am
More importantly than the floating bubbles is what Nintendo has been telling us for a couple of months now. Here is a game that I for one am just hearing about today. IT COMES OUT NEXT WEEK. From the mouth of Nintendo, “We are working on a new Mario game, a new Zelda game, a new fill in the blank game”. You will hear about it when its ready. No more screens with pushed back release date after release date. Once the game is ready, you hear about it and then its released.
Freakin awesome on Nintendo’s part. I could see this as a way for third parties to not be cannibalized by Nintendo. When I hear a new Mario game is coming, I for one don’t buy any third party games until after the new Mario. I just get so consumed with the new Mario that nothing else looks good until after. If Nintendo keeps a tight lip on their own IP, it could be potentially good for third parties to fill in the Gaps between the First party IP. Just a thought.
September 19th, 2008 at 12:38 am
Mark makes a good point, indeed. Though we’ve known about this game for a while, I suppose it has made some people aware.
And hey, I’m not hating on the Kirby bubbles. I just don’t really understand the point. I mean, I guess it’s neat and nabs attention and stuff, and makes some people aware of the game (like Mark, for instance), and I suppose it probably wasn’t too expensive. I just think there might be better ways to go about it.
Perhaps if they hadn’t announced it at all beforehand, it would have been really cool, kind of viral, you know?
September 19th, 2008 at 4:53 am
is anyone else wondering…
HOW THE HELL DID THEY MAKE PINK KIRBY SHAPED BUBBLES!
wow!
thats awesome!
I am deeply amused… wow
thats crazy
i mean… wow
it’s probably cos I am Australian, but how the hell?
sweet
September 19th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I’m amused by it. That’s pretty neat stuff.
September 19th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
“We brought Kirby back in way that helped our ‘super tuff pink puff’ literally take off” this quote makes me less amused with the bubbles and cammie. this was a cute pr stunt, but i doubt it helped him or brought global awareness to his new game. i hate when someone says lame things like this to promote a game. just present the bubbles, talk about the game, smiles, clapping, sells millions. the end less the lame……and how do you make kirby bubbles? it’s like cube fireworks…..magic!
September 19th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
umm. That sounds like a huge waste of time and money, but when you’re nintendo, you got money to waste. I thought that it was going to be more than just Super Star Ultra. I thought that Nintendo would premier a new Kirby Wii game at the events that is similar to that of Kirby 64 but more open world. Still featuring the kick ass dual power up.
September 19th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
Outside of the hype that was given to it, this is actually a cool idea. I think the “lameness” tag is a bit extreme. It’s Kirby, which means cute, and this was cute.