Report: Nintendo Planning 'Biggest Ever' Marketing for Wii Fit Launch

[blackdelsol94]

OMG Nintendo is trying to take over teh world with this highly expensive marketing scheme!



Report: Nintendo Planning 'Biggest Ever' Marketing for Wii Fit Launch
Wii Fit is huge in Japan, and Nintendo of America wants it to be equally huge on this side of the Pacific.
Posted by James Brightman on Thursday, March 20, 2008


In the same note to investors that details his skepticism over retailer GameStop's revenue growth, analyst Michael Pachter also reveals that he's "learned that Nintendo of America intends to support the Wii Fit launch with the biggest marketing campaign in its history."

Further details on this campaign are currently not available but we've contacted both Nintendo and Pachter to see what information they can provide.

[Update]: Pachter has now informed us that Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime himself told him that. Pachter added, "It suggests to me that the marketing will be broad-based and mainstream, meaning beyond the normal online and game magazine ads. My guess is we will see advertising on TV during American Idol, Oprah, etc. as opposed to ads on MTV during Punk'd."

We also asked Pachter if he knew what kind of marketing spend Nintendo had planned. He answered, "I really don't know what the spend will be, but it could be 10 - 12% of projected sales. If we assume a retail price of $100, that's $10 million in marketing for each 1 million units sold. If they go mainstream (have Oprah demo the device), I could see them selling 3 - 4 million, maybe more. That suggests the potential for $30 - 40 million in marketing.]

Pachter notes that Nintendo's marketing approach reinforces his theory that hardware sales will shift away from specialty stores like GameStop and towards mass market chains like Best Buy. "...it is unlikely that such a large marketing campaign is intended to disproportionately benefit GameStop," he said. "Rather, we think that the Nintendo campaign is likely to feature key retail partners such as Target and Best Buy, notorious for attracting so-called 'couch potatoes.'"

Wii Fit is already a huge success in Japan, having sold over 1.5 million units through February since launching last December. The game is scheduled to hit North America on May 19 and Nintendo certainly hopes the game will help them carry momentum gained from Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the soon-to-be-released Mario Kart Wii.

[Danman1116]

Anyone else planning on picking up this game when it comes out? I think this could be a hit for the wii.

[tha_con]

Good investment Nintendo. While I hate the idea of this bullshit, it'll still sell.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my 2.5D Metriod on DS or Wii...it only took over a decade to get an amazing new Mario on DS....how long do I have to wait Nintendo?

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by Danman1116

Anyone else planning on picking up this game when it comes out? I think this could be a hit for the wii.

I'm going to wait and see what people think about it. Some of the games I've seen so far look pretty fun, and I can definitely see myself picking this up, I just don't think it will be at launch.

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by tha_con

Good investment Nintendo. While I hate the idea of this bullshit, it'll still sell.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for my 2.5D Metriod on DS or Wii...it only took over a decade to get an amazing new Mario on DS....how long do I have to wait Nintendo?

You have to wait until they are done taking over the world.

In all seriousness, hopefully we will see another 2D Metroid in the near future. Metroid Fusion for the GBA was new though (correct me if I'm wrong).

Until then, I will be satisfied with Metroid Prime. Specifically, MP3 is amazing, and it came out less than a year ago.

[tha_con]

Originally Posted by blackdelsol94

You have to wait until they are done taking over the world.

In all seriousness, hopefully we will see another 2D Metroid in the near future. Metroid Fusion for the GBA was new though (correct me if I'm wrong).

Until then, I will be satisfied with Metroid Prime. Specifically, MP3 is amazing, and it came out less than a year ago.

Well, I just feel that Wii Fit will market itself, much like Wii Sports did. I'd estimate that roughly 90% of the people who bought a Wii in the last 24 months bought it for Wii Sports alone. They will absolutely KNOW that Wii Fit is coming by word of mouth and / or a few commercials.

That said, I hate to say 'any true metriod fan'...but I have to say it. Metriod is not a 3D game, and I can't think of many people who prefer it over the 2D metriods. Yes, Prime was a good game, Prime 2 was a good game, and Prime 3 was an okay game, but Fusion and Zero Missions were infinitely better, and Super Metriod is probably one of the greatest games of all time.

Metriod Prime simply isn't 'metriod'. It's missing so much from the 2D series...

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by tha_con

Well, I just feel that Wii Fit will market itself, much like Wii Sports did. I'd estimate that roughly 90% of the people who bought a Wii in the last 24 months bought it for Wii Sports alone. They will absolutely KNOW that Wii Fit is coming by word of mouth and / or a few commercials.

That said, I hate to say 'any true metriod fan'...but I have to say it. Metriod is not a 3D game, and I can't think of many people who prefer it over the 2D metriods. Yes, Prime was a good game, Prime 2 was a good game, and Prime 3 was an okay game, but Fusion and Zero Missions were infinitely better, and Super Metriod is probably one of the greatest games of all time.

Metriod Prime simply isn't 'metriod'. It's missing so much from the 2D series...

No, no, you are definitely not in the minority in that regard.

I think a lot of people miss the 2D Metroid, and in that sense I agree that they should keep the series going, in that form, at least on the DS.

However, Metroid Prime is about the best 3D adaption of Metroid that anyone could ask for, IMO at least. Personally I would rank the series 3>1>2. Without Wii controls, I would say 1>3>2.

I miss the 2D Mario and the 2D Zelda of the NES/SNES era, but we have to move on at some point, right? I mean, if I really want the old school feel, I have New Super Mario Bros. and Phantom Hourglass in my DS, but it would be crazy, IMO, to say one would rather have those two titles in place of Galaxy or Twilight Princess... so hopefully Nintendo can continue making both.

Anyways, I'm not sure if I did a very good job explaining my stance, but hopefully you followed me.

[tha_con]

Originally Posted by blackdelsol94

No, no, you are definitely not in the minority in that regard.

I think a lot of people miss the 2D Metroid, and in that sense I agree that they should keep the series going, in that form, at least on the DS.

However, Metroid Prime is about the best 3D adaption of Metroid that anyone could ask for, IMO at least. Personally I would rank the series 3>1>2. Without Wii controls, I would say 1>3>2.

I miss the 2D Mario and the 2D Zelda of the NES/SNES era, but we have to move on at some point, right? I mean, if I really want the old school feel, I have New Super Mario Bros. and Phantom Hourglass in my DS, but it would be crazy, IMO, to say one would rather have those two titles in place of Galaxy or Twilight Princess... so hopefully Nintendo can continue making both.

Anyways, I'm not sure if I did a very good job explaining my stance, but hopefully you followed me.

Actually we're both on the same page. I really really wish that Nintendo would invest the same amount of time on a new 2D Metriod that they did on NSMB, because if a new 2D Metriod was HALF the quality as the New Super Mario Bros, then it would already be better than 50% of the games on the market right now.

It's just really sad that fans have been asking for it for ages, and still haven't received it. We got Fusion, then we got the Zero Missions Remake, but I think we all want something with the 'updated' look, something more '2.5D' (think 3D models on a 2D plane).

Maybe someday

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by tha_con

Actually we're both on the same page. I really really wish that Nintendo would invest the same amount of time on a new 2D Metriod that they did on NSMB, because if a new 2D Metriod was HALF the quality as the New Super Mario Bros, then it would already be better than 50% of the games on the market right now.

It's just really sad that fans have been asking for it for ages, and still haven't received it. We got Fusion, then we got the Zero Missions Remake, but I think we all want something with the 'updated' look, something more '2.5D' (think 3D models on a 2D plane).

Maybe someday

Super Metroid was released in 1994, and Metroid Fusion was 2002, which is an 8 year gap. Presently, it's been almost 6 years since the release of Metroid Fusion, so I suppose we are almost due for another one?

Who knows. But a 2.5D Metroid is quite alluring... I can be happy with Prime for now, but a DS Metroid would be fantastic. Hopefully Nintendo is listening!

[Danman1116]

I think when I get home from work today I'ma see if I can dl Metroid from the Wii.

[blackdelsol94]

Originally Posted by Danman1116

I think when I get home from work today I'ma see if I can dl Metroid from the Wii.

You can download Metroid and Super Metroid from the Virtual Console... get Super Metroid!