Blue Oceans Run Deep: Nintendo's Handheld Adverts

Written by Daniel Lloyd

Monday, 09 March 2009 08:59

nintendo-ds-lite-european-ad-white01 Nowadays, we're all too familiar with the terms "casual gamer," and "expanded audience." You may have even heard the term "Blue Ocean," which relates to Nintendo's business model for the DS and Wii which involved reaching out and getting non-gamers into thier products. Seems like this "Hey, let's get adults and moms into gaming!," attitude has only really come about in the past few years, but looking back, Nintendo has always had an eye on other demographics.

In the late 80s, Nintendo released the GameBoy. There's no need to explain the impact it had on portable gaming, and how popular it became. The GameBoy was a revolution. Almost every kid had one, or has memories involving one. But the Big N was also reaching out to yuppies and Wall St. types. Much like the iPhone does now, the GameBoy is a great device to pass time on a commute downtown. I still keep my GBC with me to rock some Tetris on the subway once in a while. Take a look at how serious business men (even Aussie business men!) were shown the joys of Nintendo's gray brick. High Tetris scores were definitely bragging rights around the water cooler, and if bay windows don't scream class, I don't know what does.

But the campaign didn't end with the original handheld. I never saw them in the wild, but found online are several ads for the GBA and Nintendo DS that definitely have a more adult approach. The black and white "FOR MEN" GBA ads are my favorites. At first glance, you'd expect to find a small sample of cologne or a vodka logo attached to this pictures, but really, Nintendo was telling the same kids that bought that first GameBoy, that it was okay to still play now that they've grown up. They didn't mean showing off the GBA's backlight either. Things had stopped being so business like, and were now much sexier

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. The DS launched with the slogan "Touching Is Good." No doubt, there were bound to be some more adult things associated with that tag-line. From the sexual innuendos, to the group of classy supermodels, the DS was something that could be enjoyed over cucumber sandwiches and tea. Women weren't left out either. There never was a GameGirl, but the DS has had several games that have been heavily advertised towards women. A slew of female celebs, from Nicole Kidman to Carrie Underwood, have pitched games like Brain Age and Nintendogs. Even Gamestop's unfortunate training video shows that the outreach to non-traditional gamers is in full force.

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Sure, we get peeved sometimes that too often the "casual" market is being paid attention to and us "hardcore" kids are left waiting to weather the storm. But hey, the more the people playing the better. It gives companies some more money, which could be used to afford taking risks on more creative, niche games. And all the advertising isn't that bad. Just check out this cutie rocking some New Super Mario Bros. ;)