Once again I point to Wii and SPM, both are examples of Nintendo products that were not hyped weeks before launch. Maybe you have forgotten but Nintendo did try hyping Metroid Prime and guess what, it didn't do much. Also mass advertising at this point of time is stupid and frankly stupid from a business point of view because they already have a supply problem with Wii's so why advertise a game to an "expanded" base if people can't get systems? What you do is hype it enough to establish it in the minds of current Wii owners and when supply is above demand, you have an attractive lineup of games. Whether you want to believe it or not, Metroid will NEVER begin to compare to Halo in demand, so it would be a waste to blow all that money on big deals. Once again I point to SPM, did that have huge blockbuster advertising? No. Did it sell great? Yes it did. Nintendo FINALLY has a product that the games can sell themselves.
Guess what? Smash Brothers is not the norm either, and really it has little hype beyond the "hardcore" base. It isn't going mass market so I fail to see the comparison, is it because it has a site that keeps tabs of new items, levels, and characters? Please, give me a break, no one pays attention to the updates besides its current base.
Metroid Prime 3 would more than likely sell as many copies with or without a big advertising drive, but I think its impact will be tremendous later on if the controls are great. Guess what? That is what really matters. Doing big huge extravagant, 100 million (Or whatever) dollar advertising campaign isn't going to change that either way. Metroid Prime is sadly a game that will remain stuck as a small but still loyal user base until Nintendo decides to make 50 player multiplayer modes with shark flame throwers and a run n gun single player. It is a franchise that is already pigeon holed and doesn't have the benefit of being a new IP or an extremely successful one. Nintendo needs to do what they've always done sell the game to its core and let the word spread, that is what happened to Wii and that is what CAN happen to Metroid Prime 3.
To Nintendo's credit, they are at least shaking things up with MP3 without getting extravagant, but starting to light the hype fire. But no, that isn't good enough, at first they were doing nothing but now that has changed to they aren't doing enough, even when history shows Nintendo usually waits until a game is almost available to put marketing behind it. Until Nntendo changes the gameplay of the series, buying Pepsi advertisements isn't going to do anything besides burn a hole in their wallet in order to satisfy a bunch of whiners who refuse to admit they are jumping the gun wanting to do something that will make no dent in the already sold out Wii sales. Face it, the mainstream gamers who drool over Halo have their minds made up and nothing is going to change that, which is why we need a new franchise if Nintendo hopes to recapture that segment. So instead of flushing marketing dollars down the toilet maybe they can invest it in something else.
In conclusion, if Nintendo hasn't started a decent marketing blitz focused on at least the user base, I will gladly join the choir. Until then I see Nintendo trying something new and out of character to advertise the game, and while maybe not the greatest it shows they care and are starting to hype it. Beyond that I really don't expect much else from them until VERY close to release. They have a great grapevine going now, something MP1 and MP2 didn't have, so lets let them use it. It worked with Wii, it worked with WarioWare, it worked for Zelda: OOT and it worked with Super Paper Mario, so let's back off and realize that Nintendo MAY actually know what they are doing this time. Hard to believe, I know, they only sold 9 million units in a year.
Remember this: The more money that is poured into marketing means the more money a game has to bring in to justify continuation of that game. It is a fine balance and not everyone can pour millions into marketing, especially with a game that marketing has failed to propel it in the past.
Topic: Metroid Prime 3 Revolutionized (Read 396599 times)
