Nintendo To Lure Gamers With Desktop Marketing
- October 30, 2002 00:00 AM PST
Obsessed about Eternal Darkness? Why not enliven your PC life by downloading one of Nintendo's new GameCube desktop themes?
The European division of video game maker Nintendo Co. Ltd. and Stardock Corporation Inc. will on Thursday announce a partnership to offer buyers of Nintendo's GameCube consoles and games downloadable desktop software and themes in exchange for consumer marketing information."It is a way to make your experience of the GameCube a little more fun in return for registering a GameCube console and/or game online at Nintendo's Web site and giving demographic information," said Stardock sales manager Larry Kuperman.
Stardock, a developer of software programs to customize the PC desktop based in Livonia, Michigan, has created the Object Desktop Light Edition (LE) to give PC desktops a "Nintendo" look and feel for the GameCube and the Nintendo games Pikmin, Super Mario Sunshine and the newly released Eternal Darkness, Kuperman said.
Buyers of GameCube or the three Nintendo games receive a card within the packaging with a password or PIN (Personal Identification Number) on it. The user then goes to the Nintendo Europe Web site, enters the PIN and after answering some demographic questions, joins Nintendo's "24/7 VIP club" which allows the user to download the Nintendo GameCube Object Desktop LE software and themes, Kuperman said. As the user purchases new games, they will receive a new PIN for additional themes.
Desktop themes include icons, wallpaper, screen savers, taskbars and backgrounds that are designed to suit the individual identities of the games. "Our software entirely takes over the look and feel of the software. But it is also easy to remove if a user should choose to do so," Kuperman said.
Though the announcement is being made on Thursday, the PIN cards have been appearing in the consoles and games for the last two to three weeks, Kuperman said. "We wanted to make sure the product is out there before we start promoting it," Kuperman said.
Nintendo Europe intends to use the marketing information to determine what is important to the game-buying public as it designs and sells future games. "Understanding users' buying patterns allows Nintendo to focus on what their strengths are. The nice thing about doing Web-based marketing programs is that your feedback is almost immediate," Kuperman said.
Nintendo could use the boost in sales. The company is currently trailing Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 2 while battling it out for second place on the gaming console market with Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox, according to a study released Tuesday by research company In-Stat/MDR.
In 2001, the video game console market shipped 31.8 million units for revenue of nearly US$7.4 billion and is only expected to grow in 2002 with next generation consoles from Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft all now available in North America, Japan and Europe, In-Stat/MDR said in a statement. Sony is dominating the market with the company having shipped 40 million PlayStation 2 units as of Sept. 19.
According to the In-Stat/MDR study "Video Game Consoles: Sony Dominates While Nintendo and Microsoft Battle for Second Place," the all-important holiday shopping season will go a long way in determining the overall success of the GameCube since it has "always been driven by its franchise software" such as Mario and Zelda. By early 2003, Nintendo should have released most of its franchise software titles, In-Stat/MDR said.
Nintendo may extend its Object Desktop LE marketing program to the North American market but for the time being has not committed to such a move. "There have been talks between Stardock and Nintendo about offering Object Desktop LE in the U.S. but no decision has been made yet. I can only guess why this program is being launched in Europe first: perhaps the Northern European marketing team has been more aggressive in its pursuit of market share," Kuperman said.
Nintendo Europe, which on Wednesday was fined 149 million euros (146.6 million) by the European Commission for its role in a price-fixing cartel, declined a telephone interview and as of press time had not responded to questions sent over email.
