Alright Nintendo has succeeded this generation with big profits on all the hardware etc...etc... But I'm thinking with 3DS and the next Nintendo console coming in the next 2-3 years. Should Nintendo take note of the success Microsoft is having with Kinect.

Microsoft announced the biggest ad campaign in gaming history. Microsoft would spend over 500-million dollars advertising Kinect. This campaign lead to events in Times Square, thousands of consoles given away free over TV and to charitable events. Appearances on pretty much every major talk show. I counted 7-Kinect Microsoft ads and 3-Best Buy Kinect ads during an hour or two of watching TV. Everywhere I look their are Kinect ads.

Now without any major software at launch, nothing getting an average of like 9 out of 10. Infact most games rating fairly low. Many consider Dance Central to be Kinect's killer app. With the lack of solid software Kinect has pushed almost 500k in two days according to VGChartz but Aaron Greenburg laughed indicating official numbers could be much higher.

I can't recall how many Wii's were sold in the first two days on the market in North America alone, but I think they were either alittle higher or about the same. But Nintendo did not invest nearly 500-mill in the ad campaign.

What if Nintendo launched a 500-million dollar ad campaign for 3DS and/or Wii2? Would the campaign boost sales as much as Microsoft is seeing. Is a big ad campaign something Nintendo should be doing with future platforms? Or should Nintendo continue to rely on word of mouth and local and cheaper advertising?

It would probably just lead to more frontloaded sales. Everyone knew what the Wii was after a few months. It didn't need a huge ad campaign. 

Yeah Nintendo did that four years ago for Wii Launch.

And they hit the rounds with talk shows, Ellen gave away Wii and Twilight Princess before the system was released, Nintendo hired the ad firm responsible for the Got Milk ads to come up with the "We would like to play ads." that aired everywhere for a while.

Microsoft isn't doing anything new or game changing here. The Kinetic is out now and it's not some massive breakthrough that's going to change the way we interface with machines, it's capable camera add-on for a five year old gaming console. And their ad campaign is just their typical blitzkrieg style saturation advertising. It'll push product no doubt, but again, it's not going to change much in the grand scheme in things. Best case is it'll help them out sell the Wii this holiday, by sinking half a billion in marketing that emulates the Wii's actual release four damn years ago.

Aww, I thought this thread was aimed at a diffrent direction.

It's funny cs all the stuff that MS has done to advertise Kinect, Nintendo has already done for the Wii long ago.

In particular, the Times Square, and the add campaigns that focus on a family happily playing the game, rather than on the game itself.

The only thing MS has done is spend a tit load of money, which is not something Nintendo should copy

Kinect a success?

Did it launched a year ago and already sold like 15 million units?

This.

I remember watching TV late 2006 and early 2007. I couldn't watch prime time programming without seeing a Wii ad.

Do they really need to, nintendo's wii has sold a lot more than both companies products, it seems that their advertising at the moment does exactly what microsofts does. the reason microsoft need $500mil ad campagian is because no one knew what kinect was and what it did imo.

I forgot that their was a Times Square showcase. Also Nintendo used Ellen I wonder how much Microsoft had to pay for Oprah. Does anybody know how much Nintendo spent on their ad campaign back in 06? Like many point out Microsoft has done almost everything Nintendo did and more.

But will that 500-mill lead to big enough sales to justify such a large ad campaign and if so would Nintendo be smart to out do them with 3DS and Wii2?

Why should they copy Microsoft? They've messed up with the advertising - I don't think they are ever going to sell enough Kinects Software to make spending all that money worthwhile.

Why should they? Microsoft is actually copying Nintendo, they just use more dough...