Nintendo UK has shared that they see the Wii U as a “fantastic proposition for both families and gamers” in the lead up to the Christmas season.
The Mario Kart 8 + Splatoon Wii U Premium Pack will dominate TV and radio advertising campaigns running in November and December, with the value bundle to target families and children.
“It’s a really exciting time for us because in the Wii U we have a console that really feels like it’s a fantastic proposition for both families and gamers,” Nintendo UK marketing manager Chandra Nair explained to MCV. “The potential was always there from the beginning, but now we have such a compelling line-up of games and that line-up of must-have titles just keeps growing.
“Mario Kart 8 continues to be popular week-in, week-out, even after all this time. And Splatoon is still a relatively new title and something that kids have been pestering their parents for, so we anticipate that bringing these two fantastic games together in one value bundle should be a popular move. We’ll be tagging the bundle in all our Wii U kids’ TV ads in November and December, as well as our November radio campaign.”
With Star Fox Zero and The Legend of Zelda Wii U delayed to next year, many have shown concern that the Wii U has been left without a blockbuster release to drive hardware sales over the coming months.
“As Miyamoto once said: ‘A delayed game is eventually good; a bad game is bad forever’,” Nair responded. “Nintendo’s development teams focus on creating the best experience they possibly can rather than what effect a delay will have on console sales. We all know from generations gone by that Legend of Zelda titles are a huge undertaking. They are passionately anticipated and any kind of extension to the development time will inevitably lead to disappointment for the fans. But the fans also know that the end result will be worth it. Star Fox Zero was recently delayed to Q1 2016 and Mr Miyamoto expressed his apologies to fans via a video. But many fans have reacted in a positive way, pleased that the game will have the time it needs to be as good as it can be, but also genuinely relieved that they will have the time to sink into intense adventure games such as Project Zero and Xenoblade Chronicles X.”
But will Koei Tecmo’s survival horror and Monolith Soft’s expansive RPG prove enough? Nintendo believe that lack of a system seller is only proof that the company won’t risk releasing a game until they’re absolutely ready to do so.
Nair continues, “There’s this old-school expectation that a company has to launch their most high profile software title in November, otherwise it doesn’t have a system seller for Q4. This definitely isn’t the case especially since the Nintendo audience is so broad. We will always focus on releasing games when they’re ready and this has led to us having some of the highest review scores in the industry. You’ll have seen that we’ve been driving desire for Splatoon and Wii U with kids and parents since the summer. We’ve been doing the same with Super Mario Maker since September. Both of these titles have heavyweight TV campaigns during October, November and December, and will absolutely be driving hardware.
“In terms of new titles we have several key releases coming up. Project Zero: Maiden of Black Water might not be a huge hardware driver, but it’ll lead the way in the ghost-horror genre. Similarly, Xenoblade Chronicles X is the spiritual sequel to one of the best JRPGs of all time, and you can be sure that this highly anticipated title will break boundaries all over again. We’ve also got Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Animal Crossing: amiibo Festival, which will continue to strengthen our family proposition in the run up to Christmas. On top of this, many of our customers can only affort to buy so many titles a year, so we’re in an enviable position whereby many of our Wii U owners have yet to play all the classics. There’s plenty to enjoy for Wii U owners and an array of reasons for newcomers to buy a Wii U now.”
