Nintendo accelerates Wii U push with 5,000 kiosks at US retail
Consumers will be able to either play certain titles or watch videos about them
With the Wii U launching in under two weeks on November 18, Nintendo of America is kicking its marketing into the next gear. In addition to new TV spots that show "How U Will Play Next" the company is introducing 5,000 Wii U kiosks to retailers like Target, Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart and Toys 'R' Us. GamesIndustry International actually already saw one of these at a New York Best Buy this weekend.
Some of the Wii U kiosks will enable consumers to get a hands-on game play experience while others will supply specially created video content that highlights Wii U's games and features. Some of the titles being spotlighted at retail include Nintendo Land, New Super Mario Bros. U, Sing Party, ZombiU and Rayman Legends.
The consensus from analysts is that Wii U is likely to sell out this holiday season, but as the console enters 2013 and Microsoft and Sony look to further cut prices, Nintendo could be under much greater pressure.
You really have to get the GamePad in your hands to understand the Wii U. I finally found a kiosk over the weekend in my quite little corner of the world and played some of the Rayman Legends demo. Yes, for the first few minutes the size of the controller and spacing of my hands were awkward. That took about two minutes to dissipate. After playing about 10 minutes, I was really enjoying the experience and eager to see how other games would feel with the setup. Unfortunately, Rayman was the only playable game at the station, and I question the wisdom of letting people try out the console with a game that now won't be out until March (NintendoLand seems like a natural alternative).
Any developer who decides to snub this machine is really only doing themselves a disservice. The console is as capable as the other current gen systems (and can probably be pushed much further), and having the GamePad with that extra screen handy really feels like an empowering way to tackle a game.
Posted:6 months ago