Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Jenny Lauck and Stefania Pomponi Butler, both of them "Alpha Moms (influential matriarchs)" and Wii Ambassadors, sat down with Electronic Gaming Monthly's podcast crew to chat about Nintendo's efforts to attract mothers to its consoles. Though they didn't take to the Nintendo DS, both women were eager to talk about how much they enjoyed titles like Cooking Mama, Wii Play, and, yes, Boogie.

When asked about the often touted complaint that casual releases like Wii Fit and Wii Sports are pulling resources and funding away from games meant for the hardcore audience, Ms. Lauck reasoned, "I don't think developers are going to start ignoring them. I think there's definite room ... for both markets."

She continued the argument on her blog with an analogy that puts these irrational fears into perspective: "I think studios should stop making lame sitcoms and focus solely on new episodes of Lost, for example. But you know what? There's a market for sitcoms, and even though I'm a hard-core supporter of Lost, there are other genres out there that other people watch."

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Remember those Wii ambassadors, the people who got to drag their friends along to top secret parties to enjoy the Wii long before the rest of us got our paws on one? Turns out most of them weren't gamers at all -- which explains why we only heard from a few ambassadors. While one ambassador in each of Nintendo's eight selected cities was identified as a hardcore gamer, the other two were decidedly not. NoA's George Harrison said, "The vast majority of people were not video game players, or had potentially a negative attitude about video games. But we identified them as people who were influential in their community."

So Nintendo took the Wii on the Tupperware circuit, spotlighting what they called "alpha moms" and offering them the chance to host Wii parties. They also looked for sprawling, multigenerational families who could show off the appeal of the Wii to all ages. All this to sell the consoles? Not even that, Harrison explained. The parties and press served to get the word out to everyone, not just gamers, and just to get people to pay attention when the advertisements started. It makes sense -- how much attention would the average mom pay to a commercial for the latest game console? Nintendo felt that this unorthodox viral marketing campaign was a good way to fight that and get everyone to pay attention.

With the insane sales and subsequent console shortage, we can only say good game, Nintendo ... something's sure working!

The first of the "Wii Ambassadors" has had their party, and the invitee has written a blow-by-blow runthrough of the event. Though absolutely no recording device of any kind were allowed (seriously...he was actually frisked), he still manages to paint a crystal-clear picture; that is, a picture of awesome. From the last-second delivery of the rendezvous point to the van ride with the taped-over windows, and the absolute chaos of the party itself, it's a hell of a read.

Particularly impressive to him were the two new additions to Wii Sports: Bowling and Boxing. Does anyone else think that two player Punch-Out-like boxing action with the Wiimote is heaven on Earth?