Pre-awareness Wii displays for Best Buy?

by Blake Snow { Oct 24th 2006 at 11:50AM }

Click image to enlarge

A Best Buy employee who wishes to remain anonymous sent in the above pre-launch Wii setup for the retailer including a 22-page memo documenting which stores will participate in the promotion. The letter, written by VMSM (third-party Nintendo marketer?) and addressed to "Best Buy Retail Management," names 249 participating stores and includes installation instructions for two, four-foot "Coming Soon" billboards with one count-down clock. Billboards are expected to hit stores on November 1.

While it looks big, keep in mind those white boxes could denote existing inventory. More interesting, however, is the display copy: "When you hit a drum, swing a raquet or a bat, why should you have to press a button?" A new slogan that perhaps effectively communicates Wii's take on the game interface.

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

kc @ Oct 24th 2006 11:44AM

my game stop has the clock and a bunch of mock up Wii boxes and game boxes on the shelve.

crono141 @ Oct 24th 2006 11:45AM

I don't care about placeholder boxes. TELL ME WHEN THE KIOSKS ARE GONNA BE HERE!!!

jeremiah @ Oct 24th 2006 12:01PM

They should really put Nintendo on there a little bit more. Its a familiar name and logo...i think there is one logo on the whole display...not so smart if you ask me...EVERYONE knows nintendo...not the wii so much...just a thought...

Austin @ Oct 24th 2006 12:11PM

"When you hit a drum, swing a raquet or a bat, why should you have to press a button"

The should just take out the first part and leave it "why should you have to press a button".

Scuba Owl @ Oct 24th 2006 12:07PM

Fabulous. So where's this memo? I want to know if my local Best Buy will be participating in said promotion. To the mall Whomper!

BlindsideDork @ Oct 24th 2006 12:07PM

#3...yeah Nintendo would be a good idea, but also they are trying to reach EVERYONE and some ppl who don't know about the Wii but know of Nintendo might stray away from it if they knew it was Nintendo b/c some reason they think they are kiddy or not popular even though GameCube sold 20 million consoles, same as xbox.

So it has its advantages and disadvantages...

Am I the only one think that is such a SWEET looking display? mmm

SmoothiusMaximus @ Oct 24th 2006 12:08PM

3, that's exactly what Nintendo wants to avoid. The system isn't the "Nintendo Wii", it's just "Wii". They are trying to develop a new brand like "GameBoy", but in the console market.

The Nintendo brand has been plagued by various image problems since the N64. While Nintendo remains a very strong brand, it also gives the company a chance to start fresh and shed some of the image issues associated with Nintendo.

People aren't stupid and most will know that Wii is a Nintendo product, but without major Nintendo branding associated with the system, it makes it easier for people who passed Nintendo over years ago to consider Wii.

BlindsideDork @ Oct 24th 2006 12:13PM

# 7...cuz the controllers still have buttons on them, thats why.

Mikeawesome @ Oct 24th 2006 12:32PM

I want to know the store listings!

David @ Oct 24th 2006 12:19PM

I think this is fake. Misspellings ("sensative"), bad grammar, and even worse marketing copy than usual for a game product. Also a lot of distortion in the image where text has been added.

hilker @ Oct 24th 2006 12:29PM

Sure, Best Buy's going to put up a display in all their stores with "racquet" prominently misspelled. Sheesh, you guys'll post anything.

DG @ Oct 24th 2006 1:19PM

That's a good looking floor display, but man, could Nintendo possibly ape Apple anymore?

J.Goodwin @ Oct 24th 2006 12:39PM

Or, alternately, when I'm playing a videogame, why should I have to swing a remote control around?

The idea that using a remote control as an avatar of objects is a more natural interface than moving a joystick or pushing buttons is questionable at best. Neither one is a natural interface. One of the reasons that games are interesting is the need to master the interface, so that you can get the optimal feedback response.

In NiGHTS, that meant you needed to not just push on a multi-state analog pad, but you had to learn exactly how to do so in an optimal manner.

The only thing that makes a remote control a "better" interface is that because it appears to be a remote control, it is theoretically less threatening. I submit that a non-gamer watching a hardcore gamer playing Twilight Princess on Wii is going to be just as cowed as if they were watching them with a gamepad. You could make the interface a teddy bear, and that wouldn't change the nature of the need to master it in games.

Martin @ Oct 24th 2006 12:41PM

I saw the Wii box at GameStop. Is it really that big of a box, bigger than 360's box!!! I hope it is just a display box like the big game boxes, because I have to travel with my Wii since I am on vacation starting launch weekend.

David @ Oct 24th 2006 1:16PM

@ hilker: I missed "raquet" and also "intuative"

Otherwise, the Niven Marketing Group copyright language is odd, especially the date format and the small caps.

And I don't think a golf game is going to be the primary highlight of the Wii display. I also doubt 2 of the 4 rectangular signs would have the same text "A New Style of Gaming," and I can't believe one of the 4 selling points is "Expanding the Audience"...

I could go on, this is a pretty bad fake, but I don't want to make the faker feel too bad. At least it's a pretty nice conceptual design.

Josh @ Oct 26th 2006 1:40PM

I agree that it won't necessarily be easier (not for all games) but it will definitely be cooler way to control for a lot of games. I think it's an interesting presentation that is sure to catch people's attention (assuming the picture is real).

GamerZero @ Oct 24th 2006 12:59PM

Don't you just love them fresh boxes!
You take that new box home,slowly unwrap it minding
not to rip any of the packaging.
You open that fresh new manual and sniff hard at
the pages to smell that new ink.
That fresh new console all cabled up into your
entertainment rig and switching it on for the first time is a breathless experience because you know it's your baby.
You remind yourself at the same time to give Joystiq
a week off so no-one diss's your baby and you lock
yourself in with pizza because the nights are going to
be long.
Then you come back to Joystiq and proclaim you're
not a fanboy atall.

Give me strength...

fifpb99 @ Oct 24th 2006 1:10PM

Wow -- good thing I didn't take pics of this like... almost a week ago.

http://gonintendo.com/?p=6989

Scott @ Oct 24th 2006 1:18PM

@ J.Goodwin (#12), you're forgetting that moving and swinging the Wii remote could look a lot more fun to people than pushing buttons and sticks.

unimental @ Oct 24th 2006 1:19PM

It's so "Apple" clean... love it.

Triz @ Oct 24th 2006 3:41PM

Best Buy in Roseville, CA already has thier display up.

The Poet @ Oct 24th 2006 3:44PM

I think that by Nintendo not using their name as much, is a pretty smart idea. Those of us who love NIntendo already know that the Wii is made by Nintendo. Those who Nintendo wants to reach, propably dont know that Nintendo is associated with the Wii. Just think about the Ipod. Nobody really calls it the Apple Ipod. They just say oh i have an Ipod (w/e model).

NATO_Duke @ Oct 24th 2006 4:52PM

Either way, its way too white and clean for best buy. I couldn't imagine them removing their normal shelving systems for this piece to stick out in the middle of the mess.

Markham Carroll @ Oct 24th 2006 5:07PM

Triz, is that the one by the Galleria, or is there another Best Buy in Roseville?

Senshida @ Oct 24th 2006 5:17PM

I hope they have one of those set up at the Best Buy in Roanoke, Virginia! (very likely if there is one set up in Roseville, California, because Roanoke is bigger)

I want to play Wii!! :D

Sploog @ Oct 24th 2006 6:00PM

someone should email niven and confirm whether this is real or not

wizard poop @ Oct 26th 2006 11:34AM

I'm so confused. Can I get an iMac or iPod at these Wii kiosks? I know marketing folk can be original at times, but I'm tired of them trying to cash in on the popularity and familiarity of other products, somehow associating themselves with certain trends and lifestyles. Maybe it's just the color scheme that's similar. The PS3 also falls victim to this by using the same font printed on their system and packaging as the movie Spiderman 2. Personally I'd have like to see Nintendo do something retro and have an old school NES style box with the Wii console inside. They definitely need to emphasize the fact that they're Nintendo and not someone else. I also realize that this kiosk is in now way indicative of the Wii's final packaging. Rant over.

Seth @ Oct 24th 2006 7:13PM

The Best Buy near me has its ad display in - essentially, it's just the white board with the countdown clock. I can't remember exactly what it said on it, but I think it may have just had the name of the system (Wii), a picture of the system and the controller, and then the countdown clock. Very simple, very elegant.

From what the employees told me, they expect to be getting in a Wii demo unit some time next week, with a PS3 one this week; they also thought their initial shipment of systems would be something like 40 PS3s (no word on premium/tard pack split) and 100 Wiis

Revo @ Oct 24th 2006 7:18PM

In addition to all the errors that have already been mentioned, take a look at the countdown clock. It only has hours, minutes, and seconds, and the hours section only has room for two digits. Apparently they'll only be putting it up on November 15th, not November 1st.

Or maybe this is fake. Yeah, I'd go with that.

Nicholas Sulikowski @ Oct 24th 2006 11:09PM

If this is a fake, it's a damn pretty fake. Bravo to the creator of it, despite the mispellings.

Anonymouse Rep @ Oct 25th 2006 8:19AM

Nope - no fake. I saw the page when I was servicing my Best Buy recently. It's only going to be in some stores - not all of them.

Perhaps you've seen the 2001 monolith that is the PS3 thing in your stores? Couple of shelves that say coming soon and an endcap. Store management is sort of ticked about losing that much selling space for something that they know they're not going to have in stock to sell.

The white boxes are something that all merchandisers do with their inline and endcap displays. Since these things are designed very generically - AND since the box art isn't always done when the layouts are designed - that's why white boxes are used.