Topic: Does Nintendo need to market games better in Europe?

Because it really does feel like Nintendo of Europe just don't put as much effort into the marketing/promotion side of things as Nintendo of America do, and it really holds their popularity back in countries like the UK.

For instance, where are the European events? We don't have any equivalent to the Best Buy Wii U demos, no real hype around each new game launch, very little in the way of promotional stunts or things meant to grab headlines... it just feels like Nintendo of Europe seem to have stopped bothering with any form of marketing outside the odd TV ad and banner ads on websites. And something akin to a European Nintendo World Store would be fantastic...

Additionally, it seems like they rarely if ever run Wii U commercials to begin with. Seriously, in the entire year or so since the console's been out, I must have maybe seen exactly ONE commercial for the system or any game available for it, ever. We should be seeing ads next to mainstream TV shows on popular channels like ITV 1 and the likes, not the odd ad supposedly only run on a kids only TV channel I can't remember the name of.

So yeah, do you think Nintendo needs to market their games better in Europe and generally try and engage with their European fans more?

The answer is quite obvious. I don't understand why this is a question.

They need to advertise better everywhere at the moment.

The 3DS is actually doing slightly better in Europe than it is here in NA, it's mostly the Wii U that needs help over there. The Wii U is doing poorly in NA and Japan too, but still not as horribly as it is in Europe though.

Yeah, Nintendo really need to step up the advertising in the EU. I barely see any of it. But frankly, I'm often glad of that because of how nauseatingly patronising their adverts are.

The cookie-cutter designed-by-committee "my-family-is-happy-all-because-of-Product-X-and-you-should-buy-it-too! [everybody smiles]" style of adverts is something I'd previously hoped had died (of slow, deserved torture) in the 1950s. Nintendo is a creative company, often praised for its innovation, yet its adverts show no creative flair or style whatsoever. They're completely sterile, devoid of both life and sincerity. More worryingly, often what they do show fails to properly clarify the system's USPs, so still nobody understands what it is that makes it better than the previous console. Their suicidal old-name-plus-single-random-glyph naming strategy for consoles certainly doesn't help, but the actual advertising plays a much more critical role.

Nintendo really need to step up their advertising. They need to stop whatever the heck it is they're currently doing and go in a completely different direction. Be creative, be daring, make something that people remember - and want to remember, as opposed to shuddering at the thought. Sell it on what the console does, and what it plays, not who Marketing wants to believe will buy it if they cram enough of Demographic A's stiff, frozen smiles into their 30 seconds slot.