Nintendo is doing something bold and new with their advertising: featuring famous people in their commercials. Gosh, I’m sure there are a lot of other publishers that wish they had come up with that idea. The campaign is called, “Play As You Are,” and it will show off Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL handhelds along with a slew of different games. By slew I mean five. They’ll show five different games. The ads will feature Gabrielle Douglas, the awesome Olympic gymnast and medalist, Dianna Agron from Glee, and Sarah Hyland from Modern Family. Not bad Nintendo.
The interesting part of this campaign is that they’ve chosen womenfolk as their celebrity spokespeople. Why would they do that? Are they trying to target a new audience for the gaming market? Has the industry finally realized that women like to game and would like to see themselves represented in gaming?
The campaign information explains that they’re featuring women, “…to show how all kinds of women and young girls can explore their interests and express their individuality using the portable Nintendo 3DS – whether they consider themselves gamers or not.” This is making me a bit nervous. It sounds too good to be true. Something has to go horribly wrong here.
Is Nintendo going to trot out old stereotypes about women by having them play cooking and fashion games covered in pink? Maybe I’m getting worried about nothing. Gabrielle Douglas will be playing New Super Mario Bros 2, a game that players will remember for its gross misuse of the word “new” and not much else. Mario’s in it, you hop around, grab coins; same old same old. Dianna Agron will be playing Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone and Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. So far, so good.
Finally, Sarah Hyland will be playing Style Savvy: Trendsetters where you can make “fabulous looks” and manage a clothing boutique. She’ll also play Sparkle Snapshots 3D where you can take pictures and decorate them. Sigh. So close Nintendo. And you were doing so well.
More about the 3DS and 3DS XL.
