
Nintendo has a lot of money, and can spend it as it darn well pleases, but a press release from Nintendo of America has us a little baffled. It seems the subsidiary hired a survey company (they're not necessarily cheap, either) to quiz parents about how bad they feel about time they can't spend with their children; this data has then been used to promote Mario Party Star Rush and the accompanying free 'Guest' download.
The survey, conducted by 'Wakefield Research for Nintendo', quizzed 1000 parents in the US via email invitations. That's led to an infographic which shows that parents apparently worry about the limited time they play with their kids, have children that argue over what to play (as they all do), and suggests Ninty gaming is an answer to these woes. Weirdly the numbers aren't even particularly high in some cases, but the case is made nevertheless.
"Between busy school and work lives, quality family time is becoming more and more limited," said Meredith Sinclair, a lifestyle expert in play and family time. "What's so great about Mario Party Star Rush is its ability to bring families together to play something that everyone will enjoy. Families will be making an effort to schedule more game nights and to find time to play together."

If you're a parent and feel suitably motivated to now buy Star Rush do let us know. Surveys aside it is a good game, in any case.
Comments 61
This is a super obnoxious advertisement, yeah.
Once again Nintendo, give this series a long rest. The Switch will not be a good reason to say let's bring out another game unless it's dramatically different then the past 4 years or so.
What they aren't telling us is that parents will attempt to crush their children's heads between the 3DS screens when they lose.
Mario party ruins relationships.
Well, maybe looks disconnected between Family Time quality and Nintendo games. But, good job for Nintendo to survey trivial matters like that.
@Pikachupwnage
Well, depend of family member's personality. Hot temper or calm guy ?
@Anti-Matter Calm people have snapped.
Now drunk mario party? I bet mah boi @rjejr can guess whats happened with me on that
@Spoony_Tech I agree. It's a tired series now. They milked it dry years ago. They'll be better off porting the original with updated graphics to Switch.
Bit of a lame way to sell the game.
To Nintendo! The cause of and the solution to all of life's problems!
"We also forgot to mention you'll multiples 3ds' to play with everyone"
BS
We play Smash or Mario Kart at our house to get me and 4 kids playing at once. lol
Must... buy....Mario party....
Love the messaging here: The best way to be an involved parent is to force this party game onto your children. It'll be loads of fun making them have fun with this guaranteed to be fun game.
Good marketing to move an underperforming game. Guilt is always a good marketing tool. It is the same way Disneyland works. Parents think they can be too busy and checked out for their kids 360 days a year and then spend 5 days at Disneyland and make everything good.
Kinda makes me want to not buy a Switch.
Sorry Nintendo, but I'm going to get my kids into board games when it comes to family time. Sure, my kids will probably play video games, but board games are by far more interactive when it comes to multiplayer experiences. And I'm not talking about board games like Monopoly or Life, I'm talking about actual board games, tcgs, and miniatures.
The only reasonable conclusion I can draw from this is that working parents should play games during their commute... that way they'd be better at the games, so their kids won't want to play with them as much, which will save them the hassle of being repeatedly asked and they wouldn't have to put up with the arguing as much.
Question 1: Do you love your child/children?
Question 2: Do you consider yourself a responsible parent?
Question 3: Why have you not bought this game yet?
Question 4: Would you be willing to accept ridicule for not buying this game by parents who love their children?
Etc
Mario Party: Guilt Trip
Mario Party: Star Rush? Why?
...Why?
This advertising aside, I actually think star rush is one of the best mario party games in years. First one I've really enjoyed a lot since 7. I love how they mixed it up. My fiancé and I play it quite often. I think if they move forward with more changes not involving cars (gag...), mario party could be on a very good path.
@bboy2970 I LOVE it! Really one of my favourite 3ds games
It's marketing to families, using a survey commissioned by a family company. It's also a way to sell games. What's getting people so annoyed?
Thats kinda sick but then again, when your company value is hard to maintain, Im sure they would also sell handhelds to blind people based on a survey saying that
"42% of blind people confirm, playing the 3DS with audio only is alot of fun and brings peace on earth"
I think it's good advertising personally. I don't think it's so much guilt, as highlighting a modern day day problem, then proposing a solution.
I like to see Nintendo aggressively promoting their products. Anyone who says this is bad advertising hasn't got a clue.
Thank you Nintendo, for reminding us why the children of this age have problems... :/
@ironside1911 'Sick' is a bit of an exaggeration don't you think? What have the blind got to do with family time?
@ottospooky Cause we must get upset over everything Nintendo does now these days and put it under a microscope for scrutiny, regardless of how asinine or pointless it is. That's what "true" Nintendo fans do. heavy sarcasm
It's clever advertising to garner more sales. Exactly how any company should respond to increase sales for a certain game they're selling. Being aggressive and finding unique ways to reach consumers is what good marketing is all about. If people have a problem with this, they need to remove the stick from their rear and grow up. There are better things to complain about than Nintendo's marketing strategy for a single game.
@DiscoGentleman Sorry, but I really don't see why this is being perceived as so distasteful. It's marketing. Clever marketing at that.
I'd be more concerned with what Google and Facebook are doing with our personal information, without us even knowing.
An utterly disgusting way to advertise a product. I guess guilt is the only thing NoA has left to advertise yet another terrible Mario game.
If parents have a too little time to play with their kids, I don't see how playing video games with them is a solution. I don't like this sort of guilt-tripping advertisement.
Well they have a point. My best memories of spending time with my mom that didn't involve a road trip, involved video games. ...I finally work more than my dad so I totally understand why I never spent any time with him for the most part growing up.
Marketing a handheld version of Mario Party to families makes absolutely zero sense to me
Like, what's any normal middle-class parent going to do, go out and buy a copy + 4 individual 3DS consoles just to play one game, or just break out monopoly from the closet for way cheaper?
@HappyMaskedGuy I guess I cant argue after you wrote:
"Anyone who says this is bad advertising hasn't got a clue."
So, after this revelation I can hereby fully confirm, its a fantastic marketing idea. In fact, its a shame they didnt add a few more stats, so I have updated it a bit.
@Anti-Matter
Everybody votes channel, Miitomo, masters of it for many years.
Mario Party 11 for Nintendo Switch, anyone?
@BLP_Software They already have that drinking game - even bought it - "something something: Spin the Bottle". Played it when we bought it for about 5 minutes, then once more another 5 minutes when they had a free update. Decided it's not a family game, it's a drunken high school girl game, and I couldn't find any of those to play w/ me.
@Spoony_Tech
Here's a better Nintnedo survey -
Parents, do you feel guilty that you bought your kids a Wii U the past few years and now there are no games to buy them this holiday?
1. If so, what will you be buying them this Christmas -
PS4 Slim
PS4 Pro
Xbox One S
NES Mini (trick answer, you can't find one of those)
2. After buying them another console this Chrstmas, when will you buy a Switch?
At launch
holiday 2017
holiday 2018
After Wii U's 4 years, the last w/ no games, don't make me laugh
If Nintendo wanted kids to play w their families then they should have had another couch multiplayer Wii U game this holiday. Nintnedo Land 2, a real Animal Crossing game, Mario Sports, heck give Sports Club or Wii Fit U away for free on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving - promote it on the Gamepad - "Don't go shopping this BF, play thee great fun games free w/ your kids on us!" A lot of people will be jumping ship this holiday, they'll be lucky to get them back w/ Switch.
Thing is, Mario Party was exactly what got our family together many nights over many summers. 1-8 were freakin' golden in my book.
Then they messed things up with 9 and... we just never really went back to it.
@SmaMan
You can try Wii Party or Wii Party U. Wii Party offers better board games concept and I think you will like it. Happy Party games.
@G-Boy
You still complained about Mario Party Star Rush was being part of advertising. Star Rush is the newest Mario Party game so far. So, what games should be fit then ? Are you keep complaining with whatever Nintendo did, even you think it was good ?
Only sleazy shopkeepers in my homeland employ this tactic.

The translation is: "CRY, KIDS, mommy will buy it!!!!".
@rjejr
May I answer those questionary, pretend if I become a parents ?
Feel guilty after bought Wii U and no more Wii U games for holiday ? My answer will be: Nope at all. Instead, I feel blessed. Despite of lack of Wii U games, but my game choices are quite enough to be enjoyed together.
1. What will I buy for this Christmas ? Hm...tough choices but I will choose Mini NES, good for kids to know better about Nintendo history.
2. When will I buy Switch ? On Christmas 2017. Of course with some Family oriented games.
@HappyMaskedGuy The problem is that this tells you next to nothing about Star Rush, so there's no way for parents to know how it would actually solve those problems... it basically just gives a list of problems that make parents feel bad, followed by an advert for the game... essentially a guilt trip.
If they just added a line to each point of the survey and/or expanded upon the advert at the bottom, then they could easily make the connection between the problem and the solution clear, which would make this a far better form of advertising.
Yeah, that's kind of insidious and manipulative, and this is the kind of stuff that just lowers my trust in and respect for big business even further. Money really is the root of all evil, and big business is evil's minion here on Earth.
Note: I'm not religious in the slightest; so don't interpret that as having some kind of religious connotations.
Sheesh people, it's an ad. You don't have to get in an outrage over it like it was racist, sexist, etc.
Calm down.
Seems like this would be a better ad for a home console multiplayer game. At least then, you don't need two systems to play the multiplayer mode, and it's much cheaper for parents as a result.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy This kind of "Ad" is a perfect representation of the building blocks and foundation of where we are at as a society and species right now as far as I'm concerned—if you can see the bigger picture here.
And, in case you've not been keeping up with current events, we're not in a very good place as a society or species. Maybe we could be something more and something better with a less insidious foundation rotting away beneath our feet and in turn creating a world full of largely selfish, greedy, and manipulative individuals that reflect such a foundation.
The corporate world has a lot to answer for, and indeed it's the inspiration for my user name to a large degree; it's supposed to be a reminder to be vigilant and watch out for such "impurekind" and their behaviours and actions—just like the example above to a small but still relevant degree.
My youngest purchased it at launch with some gift cards he got for his birthday. We've been playing it a lot. I think it's greatly improved over Mario Party 10 but the series is still a giant missed opportunity in my opinion. I think a "board game" style party game could be great but Nintendo approaches it lazily. I think they could have made better use out of the amiibos too.
I think the add is funny.
Also, the "guest" download is AWESOME! They should have done something like this for every game with multiplayer.
I find an article about this ad weirder than the ad itself to be honest.
I have been playing it a lot this weekend. I really wish they would have included online multiplayer because I don't have anyone to play with. I might even buy the Mario chess set at Target also. Then I can play that with friends when they come over to visit me.
@impurekind Dude, it's just an ad. This is nothing compared to some other thingsthere is in this world.
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy Yes, I know that. I'm just saying it's not all innocent, and there's no reason to simply let Nintendo off when it gets a bit slimy and insidious like this.
How about they bring together Mario party and Super Smash bros. Smash tour can be seen like a start that sucked. It will be the start of a new age for Mario party and ssb. Two full fledge games in one, now with a wide variety of characters to choose from 😬
@DiscoGentleman Always difficult to disregard your opinion buddy
I think the advertising could be more geared towards the use of these statistics to target key weak points in the market.
Advert pitch:
Two kids are rushed out the house by their mother or father into the car in the morning, bound for school. We see them grabbing their 3DSs. They are noticeably in a rush. When the car pulls up next to the school gates, we see the school is surprisingly empty. The dad/mum turns round smiling and switches on his/her 3DS. It is an hour until school starts. Fade out.....
@Palom Or the third game. That one's even better.
On topic, I've been having a blast with Star Rush. I really hope it sells well during Christmas since I love Mario Party and don't want it to die off, and Star Rush has finally turned the series in the right direction.
I think its a good idea. Good marketing. Psycholigically it might remind parents about possible negligence towards their children and offers a solution which they can build up on.
But lets face it if parents are too stupid to spend some quality time with their kids even mario wont be able to help them out ☺
@Baker1000 I'm new to the series- but I have enjoyed Island Tour, MP10 and Star Rush has been a very nice surprise... Already have ten hours on it- which is a lot for me.
@Rocossa- I have to agree with you, even tho I have three 3ds'... I bought them over a three year period. Even buying two 2ds' and this game would cost nearly $200. That said, it has been fun to play. I'd imagine that by summer, I'll have about 50 hours on the game, maybe more.
@rockodoodle the first I played was Mario Party Advance on GBA, and I enjoyed it. I also enjoyed Mario Party DS. I bought Mario Party 8 and just found it so boring and repetitive. Island Tour wasn't bad but I didn't enjoy it as much as the other handheld versions. Unfortunately I never played the N64 games but I hear they were really great. I think they sort of killed the series off in the GameCube era with too many releases. The format got stale pretty quick.
@Baker1000 Yeah, I can see how things might have gotten stale with this- but as I mentioned, I am new to the series and these have been fun for me.
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