How Does Nintendo Immerse You In Their Brand?

NEWS

February 14th, 2011 by Chris Priestman

How Does Nintendo Immerse You In Their Brand?

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend an event in a nearby city called Bristol, England. The event allowed me to play the 3DS and some of the exciting titles for the upcoming device. Before I was allowed anywhere near a 3DS though, Nintendo had to get me immersed into their products with some hilarious results.

Upon entering the Arnolfini building where the event was being held, I was taken to a corridor that had been transformed into a Nintendo handheld museum of some sort. All the portable systems were present ranging from the dual-screen Game & Watch to the Game Boy and up to the DSi XL. It's surprising when you think about it, how long handheld gaming has been around. It has been an integral part of the industry, for Nintendo at least, for over 20 years!

Before any of us were allowed anywhere near a 3DS, we were herded into a room where a reenactment of a battle between Ken and Ryu from Street Fighter was displayed by some convincing lookalikes. It is a shame about Ken�s appalling wig though; he looked more like a buff, unkempt Barbie doll. I do worry about the future of gaming sometimes, especially after hearing someone say �Oh cool, Tekken!� at this point. Someone should have responded with a Shoryuken to the face. Oh well.

After the offer of pictures with the fighters, Claire Redfield suddenly burst into the room and announced the news that the T-virus had broken out in the next room.

Dragging us through the dark, virus-filled room (what if I turned into a zombie?) we were transferred to the capable hands of brother Chris Redfield. After being groped up by some �zombies� lying on the floor (this is a paying job!), Chris fended off the iconic sack-faced chainsaw-wielding maniac of the recent Resident Evil games. Everyone passed through safely, all except me that is.

This is due to Chris deciding that as I was not one of the frail looking geeks, I could handle a punch to the shoulder accompanied by a �Look out!� Fortunately for him I could handle it and proceeded to leave the room giggling at the absurdity of what I had just witnessed.

I was thankful after that bizarre experience, that I was then promptly escorted by one of the slender female hosts to the room where the 3DS' were waiting to be played. Oh Nintendo, you crazy people. I was not sure whether I was more put off or immersed into their brand, but it was definitely a laugh. Thank you Nintendo. Check out my full impressions of the Nintendo 3DS here!