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tapedeck

Nintendo TV advertising...Your thoughts

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I couldn't help but be impressed by Nintendo's use of megastar Nicole Kidman as the TV face for Brain Age. The advert was well directed, short and simple and really got across what the game is about. (Not hot women increasing their knowledge!) Infact, there seems to be much more focus on the gamers rather than the games than ever before.

 

Rewind to the early to mid 1990's when Nintendo adverts briefly featured 'celebrities' like Rick Mayall or Nigel Manson.

Videogame adverts were mainly showcases for the graphics with set pieces being shown, (such as Mario leaping on goombas heads in 16-bit glory) this was a common factor with all game advertising in the early 90's.

 

This of course has remained throughout the years. As much as Sony changed the breadth of the gaming landscape, the advertising was often too heavily focused (or not focused at all) on the games. Sony's advertising for the Playstation brand seems, at times, to aim to confuse people as much as possible.

Microsofts advertising seems to go down the other route (similar to the 90's) of showing as much of the game as possible. No doubt then what the selling point is there. It's therefore interesting to see how Nintendo advertising has changed.

Prolifically bad in the late 90's (whilst thou get the girl or play like one?), they seem to have been forced into good advertising by the graphical limitations of the DS and Wii. The focus is on soft, homely backgrounds mainly consisting of white interiors (Llewellyn Bowen standards naturally). The white backgrounds completely fit in with the Wii and DS colour schemes. (And the iPod's saturation). But by NOT showing the games as much and focusing on the gamers reaction - it's almost intruiging to non-gamers and gamers alike. Nintendo advertising has moved on vastly and they seem to offer the most 'adult like' videogame adverts curently on TV. Nintendo print adverts have always been clever and humorous - yet their TV commercials are now on such a level that, if they run for one minute to twenty seconds - the viewer doesn't feel alienated nor confused.

 

So should they stay as they are and keep the fine balance of footage and gamers. Or do you still think Nintendo have a long way to go?

Thoughts anyone?

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I have to say that I hate that Nicole Kidman advert, just too corny for me.

 

I admit that I do prefer Microsofts way of advertising. The Gears of War trailer that hit last year was amazing. It showed the games graphics while at the same time being beautifully directed and thats what I like to see from videogame adverts.

 

I hate all of this messing with your mind rubbish that Sony started doing. The PS3 adverts are some of the worst I have ever seen. I remember when they showed the This is Living advert at the cinema and me and my mates, aswell as people around us, all said "What the hell was that?!!" It just didnt make sense.

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I think Nintendo have done a fine job in getting the Channel 4 Friday night spot. They should swap some DS -> Wii advertising on their.

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I think Nintendo have done a fine job in getting the Channel 4 Friday night spot. They should swap some DS -> Wii advertising on their.

 

I think they have. They're those ones with the Father and Son playing golf, football and others while the Mum watches... it's all a bit cheesy but effective in the 5 seconds it has between shows

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I'm sick to death of those TV ads which are just basically people sitting in bizarrely, sparce white apratments fondoling Nintendo products (including the Nicole Kidman ad). Sometimes some bad dubbing is included just for the hell of it.

 

We generally need more game ads like that Forza 2 ad. Something that is simple and eye catching but isn't afraid to ignore ADD-addled teenagers in favour of a slightly more subtle, more mainstream message.

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I respect Nintendo for what they do, but the Forecast Channel is not a bloody selling point!

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does anyone remember the original zelda commercial?

 

when i first saw this thread's name in that grey bar it was cut off so i thought someone made a thread hoping for a nintendo tv

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I respect Nintendo for what they do, but the Forecast Channel is not a bloody selling point!

 

Every feature of a console is a selling point to someone. Maybe no one will buy it JUST because of Forecast Channel, but it certainly shouldn't be left in the dark.

 

I really like Nintendo ads, but there are hardly any here in Portugal.

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I like the adverts, I find it funny how the adverts that are apparently crap and people are complaining about are aimed at casual gamers, yet you fail to mention any of the ads that are for non casual such as Mario strikers (or whatever its called), I thought that showed some nice ingame footage and catered to hardcore gamers.

 

And about the forecast channel, sure it isn't a selling point but to a casual user it would be useful, that part isn't aimed at you its aimed at Casual Joe who has a family and kids who doesn't have time for hardcore games.

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*Thinks tapedeck is addicted to people's thoughts*

 

Stay away from my thoughts!

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*Thinks tapedeck is addicted to people's thoughts*

 

Stay away from my thoughts!

 

He doesn't eat food, he lives by absorbing other people's opinions.

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I think their advertising scheme is one of the best I've seen for a console. They're alot more welcoming to anyone, whereas a 30 second clip of Mario jumping on a Goomba really isn't going to appeal to anyone who doesn't already like video games.

 

Both consoles advertising have done a great job of getting the Wii and DS as household names, nowadays everyone knows what a Wii and DS are (for the most part) whereas the Playstation Brand and Xbox Brands are both still pretty exclusive in comparison.

 

Showing the reaction of playing games is far better then showing the games. People who don't play games can relate to people having fun while swinging a Wii Remote or whatever. I honestly believe Nintendo's advertising campaign is something we'll look back on at the end of this generation and see it as one of the main reasons for great Wii sales and as revolutionary in many respects to gaming.

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The adverts for the Touch Generation games do a good job of appealing to a range of age groups, but Nintendo need to do something different for their other games. The Mario Football ad, for example, was just too cheesy. Hopefully the adverts for Metroid 3, Smash Bros etc will appeal to the younger generation more, and include more in-game footage.

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I like fellow gamers thoughts and I really do believe that the thoughts and opinions of many long-term Nintendo gamers are far more crafted than many others in this industry. We've seen the highs and lows of this company afterall. And in a world where horrific, soul-destroying comporate existance owns all, Nintendo are almost an 'anti-corporation' and something in which we can all gain the innocence of harmless play in. (Ok, I'll stop now...)

 

I believe we will see the same opinion Jammy. People will look back and say that the current adverts were part of the Wii and DS success stories. - Innovative in this field. -

And yeah Mike, I hope the inclusion of celebrities is something that isn't used all of the time as the main draw. Like Iain Wright and son - They were just cheesy. I still think Nicole Kidman was a good idea in regards to getting females into gaming though.

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Every feature of a console is a selling point to someone.
Guess you're right, but the Forecast Channel makes the gamer in me think 'Come on!'. But then again, I have a Wii already. It's not me they're after.

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The adverts have a really good overall feel. Very punchy, audio and visuals wise, and nicely paced too. They tell you exactly what most people would want to know (which is what a game is not only how it looks) and dont bog you down with over a minute of FMV. The exception for this rule was FFIII on DS but the advert for that sucked balls, i think. As far as Wii goes, I really like the little bit at the end, with the "ping" and the two little water ripples. Very slick and memerable and most importantly NOT ANNOYING. The one for the DS is equally good.

 

As for things like the forecast channel, i think that it is very important for new or non-gamers that they know what is available to them if they get the Wii. They are quite short adverts if I remember and I'd have them over any furniture or fucking insurance advert any day.

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