nintendofreak247

I've been observing Nintendo's techniques when it comes to marketing the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U lately, and in the wake of Nintendo's failure to meet expected Wii U sales, ideas have been dawning upon me as to how Nintendo can revamp their marketing strategies and hopefully make the Wii U a success.

Recently, Nintendo's Wii U marketing has been a tad casual. It focuses on families (mainly with younger children). In practice, there isn't necessarily anything wrong with this. However, Nintendo has been failing to tap into the hearts of the veteran gamer. The gamer that's been playing their consoles since back in the 80's and 90's. Most gamers have a warm spot in their hearts for Nintendo, since they've been a part of our lives for so long.

What I'm proposing here is that Nintendo has a hidden ace-in-the-hole that they haven't decided to tap into for some reason: the nostalgia factor. The inducing of warm, fuzzy feelings in one's heart from remembering good times in the past. Good times playing Super Mario Bros. 3 on NES or Ocarina of Time on N64. These are cherished memories for many people.

Allow me to cite this video as an example of the nostalgia factor executed masterfully:

Not only does this fan-made commercial remind you of past games (and past memories), it shows you Super Mario Galaxy, and you feel like you're being reintroduced to an old friend after several years. And you want to get to know them all over again. Because that's what the nostalgia factor does. It tugs at your heartstrings and makes you yearn for what once made you happy.

Now then, onto how the nostalgia factor can potentially aid Nintendo in this dismal time. The Wii U is a fantastic console. It's set up to have some fantastic games throughout the course of the year. The only problem is that consumers, for some reason, seem to see the Wii U as something that's detached from it's older console brothers. The key in luring the gamer demographic for the Wii U is reintroducing them to the Wii U with a heavy dose of the nostalgia factor.

Film commercials showing children playing older Nintendo consoles like the NES in a 1980's setting, then maybe segue into newer consoles as time goes on, showing the children getting older along with the consoles, and finally stopping at the Wii U. Start with something like the original Legend of Zelda for NES when the commercial starts, and go through the games such as Link to the Past, Ocarina of Time, Wind Waker & Twilight Princess until it stops at the new Zelda for Wii U.

Another possible way to do this is by reintroducing the businessmen from the original commercials for the Wii. Here's an example of them in action:

These commercials were done extremely well, displaying what you could do with the Wii, and showing gameplay at the same time. Not only that, but they were very popular back when they were shown, and got people talking about the Wii. What I think is that they could bring these two back, driving in the same little car with the same music. They get out of their car, go up to somebody's door, say:

"Wii would like to play...with U."

They then hold up the Wii U GamePad, and showcase something like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U. The concept is genius in my opinion, and I think something like that would really make some buzz around the Wii U.

What do you guys think?

Wii U

• Rayman Legends will most likely sell best on Wii U, and the Wii U version will be the preferred version in comparison to Xbox 360 and PS3. This will reinforce Ubisoft and Nintendo's relationship. (This one came true.)
• The Wonderful 101 will get good reviews, but it will only sell fairly well. It won't be a system seller, but people will regard it as one of the Wii U's best games.
• Sonic Lost World will be received as well as Sonic Colors was, and it will sell a good amount.
• The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD will sell decently, and get good scores.
• The Legend of Zelda for Wii U will be revealed at E3 2014.
• Watch_Dogs will sell better on PS3 and Xbox 360, but I expect the Wii U version's sales to be on par with the sales of the PS4 version. It will sell fairly well on Wii U.
• Super Mario 3D World won't be a system seller like New Super Mario Bros. U was, but it will obviously sell well, thanks to its release date during the holiday season. It will be just as well-received as the other recent Mario titles, but critics will view it as more of the same.
• Mario Kart 8 will be a system seller, and it will move a decent amount of Wii U units. The online interactions within Mario Kart 8 will be seen as a big step-forward for Nintendo games. DLC will be introduced over time.
• Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze will be received even better than Donkey Kong Country Returns was, and it will sell well.
• Wii Fit U won't sell as much as the original Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus, but it will garner attention from the casual crowd, and get more of them interested in Wii U.
• X will be well-received by JRPG fans, and will sell rather well. It will be regarded as one of the Wii U's best games.
• Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games will probably have sales on par with Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games, if not less. It'll get decent scores.
• Super Smash Bros. for Wii U will be the big system seller for Wii U, which is no big surprise. It will move several units, and make Nintendo doomsayers keep quiet for a while. DLC will be introduced over time.
• Bayonetta 2 will sell pretty well. Review scores will be good, and it'll be praised by fans of the series. It won't sell extremely well though, and will be regarded as a cult hit.
• Wii Party U will do well with the casual crowd, but it'll mostly go under the radar for other gamers.
• If Nintendo knows what's good for them, a new Metroid title for Wii U will be announced or hinted at by E3 2014.

Wii U Virtual Console

• The introduction of the 'Onett Times' community on Miiverse is probably building up to Nintendo of America's eventual localization and release of Mother 3 on either the 3DS or Wii U eShop. 3DS eShop is more likely.
• Another possibility is that Nintendo will release the original Mother for NES as EarthBound Zero on the Wii U eShop.
• Nintendo 64 games will be available on the Wii U eShop by either Holiday 2013 or the first quarter of 2014.
• The first eShop GameCube title will be released for Wii U within the second half of 2014.
• This title will probably be one of the GameCube's launch titles, such as the original Pikmin or Luigi's Mansion.

Nintendo 3DS

• The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds will sell very well, and will be regarded as one of the best portable Zelda titles to date.
• A Link Between Worlds will more than likely be followed by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask 3D. I predict a reveal at E3 2014, and a release during Holiday 2014.
• Pokemon X and Pokemon Y will do for the 3DS what Pokemon Diamond and Pokemon Pearl did for the original Nintendo DS. It will be a worldwide phenomenon, and sell 3DS units for a long time.
• Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS won't sell as much as the Wii U version of the game, but it will sell well, thanks to the amount of 3DS systems that will be sold by this point. DLC will be introduced over time.
• Mario Golf: World Tour will probably sell just as much as Mario Tennis Open did. It will more than likely go under the radar over time, but it will be received well-enough.
• Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney will be well-received by fans of Layton and Wright alike, and will encourage the future releases of more Japanese 3DS titles.
• Bravely Default: Flying Fairy will sell a decent amount, but not a whole lot. It will be well received.

Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console

• Game Boy Advance titles will be introduced by the end of the year, or early 2014.
• Pokemon Red and Pokemon Blue will be released at some point during 2014.
• There is a chance that Mother 3 will eventually be released on the 3DS Virtual Console.

Other Things

• Miiverse will be introduced on Nintendo 3DS by the end of the year. It will also have a dedicated smartphone app by early 2014.
• Gameplay video sharing on Miiverse will be introduced around the release date of PlayStation 4, or to be more simple, in Holiday 2014.
• At some point during 2014, Nintendo 3DS and Wii U eShop accounts will be linked.
• The eShop will be accessible on PC and smartphones by the end of 2014. A dedicated smartphone app will be introduced in time as well.

Any thoughts?

Well then, looks like it's finally official.

http://majornelson.c.../24/xboxreveal/