Warning! DS Lite press boxes booby trapped!

31 Comments by Christopher Grant Jun 8th 2006 8:05PM
Filed under: Nintendo DS

A cautionary warning to any members of the esteemed gaming press who have not yet opened that package from Nintendo that's sitting on the counter ... beckoning you. If you're faint of heart, allergic to trumpets, or if white LEDs give you an embarrassing rash, please do not open the package! Instead, take it immediately to the closest postal facility and mail it to us immediately so we can, ahem ... properly dispose of it.

Luckily for him, Joe Hutsko -- TV Guide's gadget guy -- suffers from none of the aforementioned afflictions. No matter, his carefully booby trapped box was busted! After some MacGyver work using nothing but, uh, his fingers and a faulty wire, he got the thing breathing just long enough to capture the beast on film. The video shows the carefully orchestrated package ~~detonating~~ trumpeting its opening with great fanfare! Yay!

[Thanks, Joe]

(Update: embedded video of "the opening" from Penny Arcade, after the break. Completists can check out a similar video at IGN. Thanks, Eric)

Tags: DS Lite, DsLite, joeygadget, Nintendo

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(Page 1) Reader Comments

Eric: Jun 8th 2006; 8:17PM

Craig from IGN has a video online on his blog
http://blogs.ign.com/craig-ign/2006/06/07/20932/

and also Penny Arcade
http://www.penny-arcade.com/ (scroll down)

Lao Boy aka Eapolis: Jun 8th 2006; 8:17PM

Penny arcade also posted a video about this but its just the opening of the box:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

Sabre: Jun 8th 2006; 8:18PM

Ok wait...so I also saw this on the Club IGN forums for one of the editors and thought it was a joke. But is this actually legit? They came like that?

Lao Boy aka Eapolis: Jun 8th 2006; 8:18PM

Argh, Eric beat me to it!

Pixelbox: Jun 8th 2006; 8:19PM

That's pretty funny. Someone at Nintendo has a sense of humor, although it feels a bit like they're trying to butter-up the Internet community. (Hey, it would work on me!)

Maybe Sony should try something with this. They sure could use some publicity that paints them in the quirky-funny-friendly light.

bv: Jun 8th 2006; 8:33PM

The mailman that disarmed the wires in his box was probably a sony fanboy.

Jason: Jun 8th 2006; 8:35PM

Mine is here:

http://www.etoychest.org/images/stories/100_2278.MOV

Charlie: Jun 8th 2006; 8:53PM

Pixelbox: "Maybe Sony should try something with this. They sure could use some publicity that paints them in the quirky-funny-friendly light."

I don't know, the Nintendo fanboys would shout and scream that Sony copied Nintendo.

Pixelbox: Jun 8th 2006; 9:06PM

"...the Nintendo fanboys would shout and scream that Sony copied Nintendo."

Sony's knee-jerk reaction to the Wii controller had criticism from all camps, as I'm sure you know. Seems only the most enthusiastic Sony supporters deny that the PS3 controller was directly influenced by the Wii.

At any rate, yeah, if Sony did the noisy box thing, some Nintendo fans would cry afoul. But Sony could be quirky and goofy in many other ways. They sure need something.

bassbeast: Jun 8th 2006; 9:32PM

Wow, that's pretty late for press. My wife got hers over two weeks ago. It's a sweet little system.

Andrew: Jun 8th 2006; 9:39PM

Sony tried the graffitti campaign and the shit hit the fan. I don't think they'll try anything that risky next time.

deft: Jun 8th 2006; 9:56PM

you know what would've better, the Zelda "You got 'X' item" song.

Kwyjibo: Jun 8th 2006; 10:11PM

Awesome!!! This is so cheesy it's cool.

Shagi: Jun 8th 2006; 10:30PM

"you know what would've better, the Zelda "You got 'X' item" song.

Posted at 9:56PM on Jun 8th 2006 by deft 0 stars"

Deft you deserve a star for that!

Do do do dooooooooooooo!

Christian: Jun 8th 2006; 11:03PM

For the price of the PS3, if they gimmick the box like so, it had better be nude triplets jumping out of the box then pleasuring you while you play!!

Will: Jun 8th 2006; 11:21PM

Ok Nintendo should so do this to all of their boxes, imagine the reputation they would receive, I would happily buy a Nintendo product to open it up to the sound of fan fair, or even better open my zelda TP case to hear the infamous *You've Found An Item* tune thing.

jOEfRO: Jun 8th 2006; 11:26PM

Sony will probably pack the ps3 with a mexican trio to play a nice little trumpet tune.....

Thomas Averin: Jun 8th 2006; 11:33PM

that will make it worth $600 XD

Moogle: Jun 8th 2006; 11:40PM

Will, think of how disappointed the people whose boxes broke or had dead batteries would be. As a press thing this is great. For the consumer, it'd be funny, but too problematic. Also people would object to paying extra for packaging. Me, I'd recycle the LEDs and sound chip. :)

As far as Sony goes, with the attitude towards them (and their inflated ego r.e. PS3), I think everyone would call it pretentious. Also doesn't hurt nintendo's case that the lite's already selling so well in japan.

Omar: Jun 9th 2006; 1:08AM

KABOOM!!!!!!!!

Paul Roberts: Jun 9th 2006; 1:24AM

Kind of thing that gets you package blown up.

cringer8: Jun 9th 2006; 1:28AM

When I read the story, I thought, "that sounds a little egotistical." But when I saw the video I laughed...then watched it again. How cleverly sarcastic. Nintendo knows the people they're shipping those to. Good call.

Etheo: Jun 9th 2006; 2:47AM

That was sweet. Good call on the zelda tune ;)

Justin Brogan: Jun 9th 2006; 4:24AM

I hope nintendo decides to send me one, however I'm probably not high enough on their PR list to justify sending DS Lite over.

Rare Hare: Jun 9th 2006; 5:07AM

Very funny :-). And I do agree that the Zelda item tune would have been *PERFECT*. It probably would have been enough to make pull a quick 180 and thrust the box proudly into the air while smiling at an imaginary camera just above me.. no matter who was around to witness it at the time.

Insomnia Bob: Jun 9th 2006; 5:44AM

If sony DID copy this marketing...what? trick? gimmick? neat smile-thing? ...what sound could they possibly use?

'Riiiiiidge RACER!!!!!1four"

ZekeS: Jun 9th 2006; 8:29AM

Seeing that it's an upgrade to the DS, I think the upgrade 'fanfare' from Metroid would be more appropriate. Cool, nonetheless - and I LOL'd :P

32_Footsteps: Jun 9th 2006; 9:33AM

At 9:56 PM last night, deft won. Seriously, deft just won.

The only thing I could add is that the other appropriate song would have been the original "You get a piece of the Triforce" music from the original. Seems like nobody remembers it anymore, but it always puts a hop in my step.

Aaron: Jun 9th 2006; 1:06PM

Every DS Lite box should do that, it would be wicked.

Marc: Jun 9th 2006; 4:37PM

Oh Thank alot Joystiq!

You just basically told everyone what happens to the box.

4CR was much more secretive, which is why i love them. You need to entice readers like they do.

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