If someone on your wishlist has his or her heart set on a Nintendo DS and you can’t find one anywhere, you might consider GameStop’s reservation program. GameStop is promoting a reservation program focusing specifically on the hardest to find console colors: cobalt/black, crimson/black and metallic rose. You’ll have to pay $129 in advance at a GameStop store. Sure, it’s not nearly as fun to open a package with what amounts to a rain check, but at least recipients can be assured they’ll have a Nintendo DS Lite in their hands sometime between the projected delivery dates of Dec. 28 and Jan. 15.
Archive for the ‘Nintendo DS marketing’ Category
GameStop Promotes Nintendo DS Console Reservations
Saturday, December 20th, 2008Free Shipping Day Dec. 18
Thursday, December 18th, 2008Dozens of merchants are participating in the first Free Shipping Day, which organizers hope will be an annual event. It’s Dec. 18, and initially only retailers offering free shipping were to be included on the promotional Web site, but later some where added that will offer “discount expedited shipping” so they can guarantee purchases will arrive by Christmas. EB Games (also Game Stop) is participating, with free two-day shipping on orders over $39.99 with code FREESHIP2DAY. Kmart also sells Nintendo DS products and is offering free shipping on purchases over $49. Toys R Us also has free shipping on purchases of $49 and up. Browse the Free Shipping Day site to see more specifics and stores.
Club Nintendo Goes Live
Tuesday, December 16th, 2008
Mario Game Rack
Club Nintendo is replacing My Nintendo, and last night the Club Nintendo site went live. It looks pretty cool. By registering products and completing surveys, you can earn “gold coins” that you can redeem for Nintendo-themed products. (Generally, one game earns 30 points and there are a lot of items to be “purchased” in the 500-800 coin range.) I have my eye on the Mario DS holder. If you have an existing My Nintendo account, it should transfer smoothly. Mine did at first, but now it’s being a little wonky (returning me to the login screen.) Update: It’s fine now.
Pretty in Pink, Clueless, Mean Girls Basis of Pending Nintendo DS Games
Monday, December 8th, 2008
Teen Angst on DS
If you’re as old I as I am, you’ll remember the 1986 John Hughes film Pretty in Pink
Clueless seems to be targeted to preteen or teen girls, as it reportedly has a fashion and matchmaking focus. Mean Girls is more of a puzzle game with a simulation-style game based on social cliques, which of course need to be perpetuated. (Although Patrick Dempsey sure did well for himself after playing the geek in Can’t Buy me Love.) Pretty in Pink sounds like it could intrigue the (cringe) older set, with a hidden object puzzle game not unlike MillionHeir.
Now, I’ve got to go find my Pretty in Pink soundtrack. I have it on cassette and CD. Psychedelic Furs, anyone?
Issue with Personal Trainer: Cooking Amazon Preorders
Thursday, December 4th, 2008If you preordered Personal Trainer: Cooking from Amazon.com by Nov. 23 to take advantage of the $10 preorder bonus good off a future video game purchase, check your shopping cart carefully during your next video game purchase. I blogged about the preorder deal, as did numerous other sites. In fact, I preordered Personal Trainer: Cooking myself. But instead of a $10 credit, I got an email reminding me to use my $5 credit. Whaa? I e-mailed customer support and they wrote back, in part: “We sent $10.00 promotions for some of the more expensive video games, and $5.00 promotions for the less expensive. However, as a one time exception, I applied an additional $5.00 promotion to your account to add to the $5.00 promotion you already received.” Well, that’s nice, but as my elephant-like memory and the many other sites’ posts about the $10 preorder bonus confirm, the $10 credit was truly a part of the original promotion and should be honored, and not as a “one-time exception.” So, if you preordered, be sure to contact Amazon and ask them to apply the promised discount to your account correctly.
Create Your Wish List at Nintendo.com
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008I previously wrote about Nintendo’s holiday promotion where you can have “Mario” call or email someone with a limited wish list of Nintendo DS games. Well, if a cringe-worthy “Italian” accent isn’t your style, Nintendo also offers a more traditional wish list feature this year. It’s called the Nintendo Giftcenter, and its slogan is “The world you wish for.”
I followed the instructions to build a wish list, choosing up to six games from 25 popular titles. You can also sort the games by topic such as “Animal Lovers,” “Mario Fanatics” and “Music Groupies,” but, gee, there’s only 25; it’s not that intense. Then I got to customize an e-card by choosing from various messages and designs. I was prompted to have my wish list emailed to someone, and, being in my 30s and having a strong sense of entitlement, I chose my mom. We’ll see how that works out come Christmas.