Nintendo haven’t been very good at marketing over the years—I think people are still confused if the Wii U is an expansion for the Wii…—, but they know they need to change that to stay in the game. The Wii U isn’t faring all that well, and the only way to get it back on track is to push out a AAA game and make sure everyone wants it.
Not only is Nintendo going to be marketing Mario Kart 8, but it’s going to be doing so for the rest of the calendar year, or at least that what Nintendo UK brand manager Roger Langford told MCV:
To herald the launch of the most hotly anticipated Wii U title to date we will have marketing activity pre-launch as well as post-launch moving through the summer and into peak season.
Commercials, internet ads, and more will be flying around. By the time Christmas rolls around we might be sick of Mario and his 150cc kart.
In a way, this is the Wii U’s last hurrah. The Wii U is selling worse than the Dreamcast was, and that was canceled, and Super Smash Bros. is coming to 3DS first, making it a less impactful game. Mario Kart 8 is the chosen one.
The question left to be answered is, will this marketing campaign be well executed? It’s been a while since we’ve seen a memorable Nintendo commercial. But that could change quite quickly with Mario Kart 8.
