Friday, February 24, 2006

Kaplan interviewed by Next Generation


Next Generation has interviewed Perrin Kaplan, vice president of marketing and corporate affairs at Nintendo of America and asked her about Revolution.
What are you able to say about Revolution's E3 showing, right now?

We will have enough games on show, that will keep people interested until launch. As far as the launch goes, we have so far said 'this year'. At some point soon we’ll be more specific about the date.

At this show and beyond, it’s about people getting a hands-on experience. If you play Revolution for yourself and experience the software, it's much better than me telling you about what our message is all about. It’s kinda like your own rollercoaster ride. It's always going to be different for everyone.

The idea is to get as many people as possible to try it and take that experience for themselves. See how it makes them feel.

Do you think the core games press will be convinced by Revolution?

I hope they will get it. The early reads at Tokyo Game Show were positive. Our request is, 'don’t think about Revolution just in terms of other things you have played'. This is so different - the other systems are apples, this is an orange.

You have to approach it in the spirit of innovation. Those who have played it realize that it is a whole different experience. It’s a little bit of self-discovery in learning how to handle a controller differently and how it works for you.

I think we have pointed this out enough times, so people will go into it with their eyes wide open.

Given GameCube's position in the market, is Revolution Nintendo's last chance in the console market?

GameCube’s reputation suffers much more than its game sales do. Not that it is the leader of the pack but it outsold 360 at launch and during the holiday period and it outsold Xbox.

We have a lot of bundle promotions that offer huge value. It’s far from dead. The perception of it is different from the actual sales and there is still a lot left life in it. Revolution will take a slightly different direction and we hope that it is a very competitive machine in that it offers something completely different.
GameCube’s reputation suffers much more than its game sales do.

What will be the main marketing thrust of the Revolution campaign?

The whole point about touching it and experiencing it and riding the ride is one of our biggest challenges and one of our biggest opportunities. Once it comes to retail, and the viral component of the campaign takes hold, we'll try to bring consumers in to try Revolution for themselves. The machine will be sold through traditional retail outlets, but this part of the campaign is important.

It was a key component for DS as well, and that is really starting to hit its stride.

What will be the 'killer apps' for Revolution?

We hope to have a lot of 'killer apps', rather than just one stand-out. Some of our third party partners have been really impressed with the controller and very excited about the possibilities. Companies like EA, Activision, Ubisoft and THQ are really loving getting a hold of this and creating an experience that is really new and different.

We tell them the direction we are going in, and they understand. They are excited by the chance to work outside the usual lines, they totally get it.

How much of the market will Revolution take?

We aren’t predicting percentages at this point. But I can tell you that we believe we are different and innovative enough to chart our own territory. If you look at the horserace we have high hopes of having a prominent position.

Let's talk about broadening the audience of gamers, which is a favored Nintendo theme. Who are we talking about?

Young teen females are one example. They have been pulled in by Nintendogs, which has been a great success. There are also people like myself, who I'd describe as dormant players. I used to play a lot and then it started to seem like the games all looked the same. Nothing was piquing my interest. But I loved Nintendogs and I love Brain Training. People want to be stimulated and these products are bringing them back in.

Games like Nintendogs are non-intimidating, affordable and different. It plays on the nurturing, emotional nature of the person. It's not really a game so much [as] an experience.

Not a lot, but some interesting stuff there. The mention of the "viral component of the campaign" is enough to merit a post, in my opinion. Maybe she only referred to what they have planned for the campaign. But maybe she is referring to such a campaign existing today.

Source: Next Generation

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

You need to know what viral marketing is Falafel. All three companies try to use it. As a matter of fact, every country in the world tries to use viral marketing. All viral marketing mans is word of mouth. It's when you infiltrate various cultures and the people themselves spread it amongst each other. All of these blogs show a certain hardcore gamer word of mouth has been very effective. So thier viral marketing has succeeded there. If Reggie makes it on Oprah and women in their 40s+ start talking about the game to one another then viral marketing would have succeeded there. Viral marketing isn't marketing things in secret or intentional leaks. Not even close.

Anonymous said...

Hmm... I jumped when I read the other consoles are oranges and ours is an apple, but then I reread it and saw the other consoles are apples and ours is an orange. I know she meant that they were not the same thing and should not be compared, but i thought it was a wierd coincidence that it followed the apple post

Anonymous said...

"They are excited by the chance to work 'outside the usual lines,' they totally get it."

Sounds like more confirmation of this theory of 3DH.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=1030

Anonymous said...

In this interview, Trudy Muller of Electronic Arts Canada talks about Revolution and the other consoles...

This quote puzzles me: "I'm sure that Nintendo already has a number of phenomenal design concepts built around 3D Pointing or Touch Sensitivity for their 1st party games".

The part of the interview concerned was clearly on Revo, not DS...

So, Touch Sensitivity for Revo?

Anonymous said...

^ It still could have been about the DS. I don't think there is a practical way to make a
TV into a touch sensitive screen.

And a lot fo the quotes can be either very shallow, or very deep. I think that some of the quotes you all read into are some shallow ones. A lot of talk about 3d is natural, because the controller can now be moved in 3-dimensions. The only really deep quotes I've sen are the ones by Shiggy on how he wants to move away from the television, and some others that I can't quite remember by him.

Anonymous said...

there's no other secret people, get over it , the revolution is all about the controller, THAT'S IT !!!!!!!!!! no headset, no projector, just a regular console with an amazing controller.

Anonymous said...

I don't mean to change the subject but do any one of you know a free file sharing program that lets you burn cds with the files (like audio mp3's, video and images)on it.

Something that isnt limewire

Falafelkid said...

You need to know what viral marketing is Falafel. (...) Viral marketing isn't marketing things in secret or intentional leaks. Not even close.

No, you need to know what viral marketing is. Read Wikipedia or Business Week.

Falafelkid said...

Oh, and thanks enigma7.

Anonymous said...

"Viral marketing and viral advertising refer to marketing techniques that seek to exploit pre-existing social networks to produce exponential increases in brand awareness, through viral processes similar to the spread of an epidemic. It is word-of-mouth delivered and enhanced online"

Wikipedia

Falafelkid said...

Viral marketing isn't marketing things in secret or intentional leaks. Not even close.

That is totally wrong. Viral Marketing is still marketing. It simply chooses much more specific outlets than mass media and chooses to tread more carefully, in order to incite the information spreading by itself, within a specific community. It draws on a number of techniques, but all can be called secret. Disguising it as a leak is also very effective (and common). Viral marketing is necessarily subtle and can never reveal itself as such. If you knew it was marketing, it wouldn´t spread as effectively. Not knowing for sure whether it is incited or not is a key component to this.