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Excitement for Wii U is building, but Nintendo is spending significant marketing money to ensure 3DS grows this season, too.
Speaking to MCV in her first interview since taking the role of marketing and PR director at Nintendo UK, Shelly Pearce said the firm expects the handheld to do good business for retailers.
We are spending significantly this Christmas – it is in peak season where 3DS will come into its own.
There is lots of excitement about our new console hardware, of course, but from a retail point of view a lot of dollars are going into tills this year thanks to our handhelds.”
Pearce, a 14-year veteran of Nintendo who previously ran European comms, said that the growing range of games – including new Mario, Pokmon, and Layton titles – will be championed in wide-reaching marketing campaigns to attract kids, parents and female gamers.
Those key Nintendo franchises will be promoted heavily with mainstream TV, social media, print and sampling as part of the 3DS masterplan.
We want 3DS to be up there as the No.1 Xmas gift for kids, and have campaigns ready to engage children, reassure parents, reach female gamers, and tempt older players back into games,” explained Pearce.
We’re targeting DS owners and non-upgraders who have held out for a new Layton – which has a massive audience amongst over 45-year-olds – to convince them to try 3DS.”
And when it comes to the much-debated issue of fresh competition for dedicated games handhelds from smartphones and tablets, Pearce was confident.
They are very different devices – we make dedicated video games consoles, those other devices out there aren’t games devices.
And we believe in our products, that’s the key thing. We have absolute confidence in how we deliver. We know people enjoy the hardware we make and the games for it – that’s what Nintendo is all about. Other devices aren’t necessarily good for games.”
