
Most long-haul aeroplane journeys are crushingly dull affairs, with ropey food, terrible in-flight entertainment and the added bonus of sitting in close proximity to a group of noisy and annoying people. Maybe that's just us!
However, for passengers on board Southwest Airlines flight #2482 the monotony of travelling in a giant tin can with wings was shattered by the fact that Nintendo of America decided to give away free 3DS consoles to all on board, along with a voucher to download Super Mario Maker.
That's not all; Mario Maker tips were gleefully dished out by "Nintendo fan and YouTube celebrity" (that's what it says here) iJustine, and Mario himself was on-hand to welcome the flight when it touched down in Los Angeles.
This rather unusual PR stunt marks the beginning of NoA's "Say Yes to Nintendo 3DS" campaign with Southwest Airlines which runs from today until through January 14th, and is open to U.S. residents who are at least 14 years old. Prizes include Nintendo 3DS hardware and games, and one lucky Grand Prize winner will be awarded a trip to New York for up to four people, which includes air travel (on Southwest, of course), a four-night hotel stay and a personal shopping spree at the Nintendo NY store.
[source businesswire.com]
Comments 84
That's a pretty good promotion. I'm enjoying Mario Maker myself.
iJustine is a fan of everything that can nab her sponsorships
Nintendo need to do this far more often. I don't necessarily mean give away systems but make press events and get that name back out there. This is advertising and good word of mouth!
I want FREE New 3DS XL !!!
But.... I want Pearl White actually.
I love Super Mario Maker enough to have double dipped, and I'm sure pretty much even walls know that much by now. That said, why giving away 3DSes to promote Mario Maker? I'll be more specific - why a version of Mario Maker that kept the good stuff intact but also castrated the online aspect? That's the equivalent of promoting a healthy diet by giving away Big Macs.
That is so cool! I never win contests...well I won an orchid at the company holiday party last night but nothing with games. So that must have been a very nice surprise.
very lucky! what did they get to play then? they cant of been able to download Mario maker on the plane!
@AlexSora89 That's a pretty poor analogy. If they'd been giving away 3DSs to promote The Last Guardian, then yeah, I'd see your point.
Um, wow. I wish I was on that plane.
Why didn't they do this with the Wii U version at launch?
Who? Don't care!
They can give total strangers a free 3DS, many of whom couldn't care less but can't have a decent eShop sale for us loyal Nintendo fans?
Maybe we'll get some more Miitomo hats instead.
I guess for Nintendo fans on that plane, they were flying to...
Applies Sunglasses
Cloud Nine.
And no one was able to charge them while on the flight
Talk about being at the "right place". May have even solved some issues regarding Christmas presents for some. It's sure to get some press coverage across the States so good for advertisement and probably cheaper than actual ad campaigns. Some pretty happy flyers.
Now if only that could be present in our comments section without the usual depressing, childish whiners.
@G-Boy That would have been one hell of a Carry-on luggage!
@G-Boy lol have you been hiding? the wii u is dead
@Markiemania95
Sorry, my joke might have been a worse analogy, but it was more, er, mainstream.
@kingc8 Are you serious?
Darn those lucky folks.
@AlexSora89 If you haven't noticed, Nintendo is pushing Mario heavily at the moment. Promoting Mario Maker on 3DS while Mario Run launches on smart devices is good synergy.
@AlexSora89
I think what they mean is, it's a healthy diet for your wallet. Because it is.
When I flew with Norwegian Air from Bangkok to Oslo/Oslo to Edinburgh 3 month ago,I didn't even get a drink of water.I knew when I booked it,they don't offer free meal or drink on board but it was the cheapest ticket.if I wanted the privilege of one meal I had to pay another 35 Euro.It's not until you're on board for 10 hours that you realise how ridiculous it is.To top it off,I was made to check in again in Oslo as they don't do connecting flights.After a 10 hour flight,I had to stand in queues for over 2 hours and only just made my next flight.Then I was told by an extremely rude boarding attendant,my carry on luggage was 3 times over weight and I had to pay or leave my luggage behind.Even though I was told in Bangkok that there wouldn't be a problem.
So bit of advice,never ever fly with Norwegian Air.Far and away the worst airline I've ever been with.
Unfortunately everyone ignored the flight attendants' request to turn off all electronic devices during takeoff, and the electrical interference caused the plane to drop out of the sky.
@OorWullie
Unfortunate story, bro.
Sorry to have hear that happened. Advice taken.
Nintendo how about reward loyal customers who buy tons of their games more often. All we get are "discounts" on eshop games that were overpriced to begin with while others get free handheld systems.
@SLIGEACH_EIRE
I agree with you 100%.
My Nintendo is a disaster, and Nintendo's treatment of Wii U is an uber disaster.
@iGen
Fun fact: I've never taken a plane in my entire life. The only countries I've sort of seen so far are Switzerland (I live not too far away from the Italian-Swiss border) and France (again, it was a daily deal - we went to Nice and came back on the very same seaside).
Wait, it's not as fun as I thought it would be. Woe is me. Point is, I could never take advantage of the promotion, but it would have been healthy for my wallet. I mean, I own a 3DS already, but a spare one wouldn't have hurt, either.
@thesilverbrick
The Mario 3DS/iPhone combo wasn't lost on me. I wish they could just allow the 3DS userbase to contribute to the broader Maker community, that's all.
@Don I agree. More than half of those people on that plane won't even play the system and probably give it away to somebody as a Christmas present.
@iGen Cheers.It was an awful experience,I wouldn't wish it on anyone.Actually I would,I'd wish it on that boarding attendant haha
How horrible! I wasn't on that flight!
Seriously though, that's a pretty cool PR stunt. I don't mind flying other than the inevitable security that's involved (though I've never flown across the pond, either).
Didn't they do this a few years back with the WiiU too?
@Peterjr1 as are all YouTube/Twitch/etc. "Celebrities"
I saw iJustine in the photo and I guessed how she must've been sponsored to do this. I swear she has like 10 3DS's at this point. Still this is pretty neat. I can't help but think how they would've had to download it before takeoff. And the lack of a charger + the ability to charge.
So lemme get this straight, there were giving out 3DSs and Mario Maker on the plane as a way to combat boredom, but rather than give a physical/pre-loaded copy of the game they instead gave people a voucher to download it from the eShop. Which they wouldn't have been able to do because they were on a plane.
@Mogster
Because playing online during in flight is very dangerous for plane navigation.
Oh, wait. How about the guy who played Switch inside the plane from the first trailer ?
@SLIGEACH_EIRE As far as marketing is concerned, "loyal nintendo fans" don't need persuading to buy everything nintendo releases
@OneBagTravel Why not? Several airlines feature charging stations.
Say what you want about Norwegian, but if I remember correctly they do have free Wi-fi on-board...
@maceng 3DS does not come with a charging cable.
Can't tell if the pic is staged/fake or not...
also, lol @ the person by the window on the right, not really caring.
I go on flights almost every two months where's is my free 3ds.
@Ersatz Reported for bad puns!
My first thought, did they get chargers?
I love IJustine, but her "love" for Nintendo has always felt a little...far fetched...
I'm flying Southwest during the campaign! Now I'm hopeful they'll do this again...
I'm willing to bet 90% of the people in that picture didn't even know what they were getting - nor care. Funny how the demographic most interested in the 3DS (25 or younger) are the least likely to benefit from something like this. Now had it been at a university, school, basketball court, Afterschool clubs, Disneyland, Anime conventions, football field and anything else young people generally flock to - this would have had a bigger impact. Let's face it: the people on that flight want nothing to do with video games. What do you think they're flying to get away from!?
@Raylax Extremely accurate, unfortunely.
SOOOO COOOOL! What lucky people. I wish they had video footage of the surprise moment.
@OneBagTravel Nope, but they were giving some charger in the plane. Look at the picture more closely.
@kingc8 Well, Amazon neeeds to hear the news. They are not carrying a single 3DS unit in their inventory. Not even their exclusives.
Not a fan of Southwest Airlines!! Rude attendants and poor food. Would rather walk! Sad!
Imagine the disappointment when they find out the plug isn't included.
iWho?
@Rhydas
That may be the point. Nintendo's trying to be the everyman video game company, and not just for nerds.
@Nin10doh
Guilty as charged! Lock me up.
@DarkmarkUnited
It's an American based airline and all passengers are American! Fact!
Please don't turn wi-fi on.
@OneBagTravel They'll have to purchase a charger when the plane lands. Every single one of them.
@Captain_Gonru They might for a little while, but not for very long. No way they'd keep producing it for more than another year when the Switch is coming out.
@AlexSora89 It may be as simple as Mario Maker is their main holiday game this year. Pokemon is smashing records without much help so Nintendo is trying to get sales in other areas. I'm sure the hope is those people will go out and buy Pokemon and a few other catalogue games with the free system.
And you know what the best part is?
None of these people will ever connect with each other through a 3DS... Because the game they're promoting (Super Mario Maker) can't share levels online! This was the completely wrong audience to target. They should have targeted people who they know will pass by their peers frequently.
Oh yeah, better hope Nintendo also gave out free chargers... Otherwise, they essentially just gave out a lot of high tech paperweights! The stupidity of not including a charger comes to the surface once more...
@Captain_Gonru Pretty sure they said the DS wouldn't replace the GBA, and look how that turned out. But yeah, Switch sales will determine how long it lasts. Regardless though, the 3DS is aging, and isn't gonna be around for long, no matter how the Switch sells. They might produce games for it for another year or so, though.
@DonaldTrump LMAO! That sounds exactly like him! Now we just to uncover another one of your scandals with one of the flight attendants...
How generous! At least it's the ugly red model no one wants. That's the only one that continues to sit on store shelves around here. That thing is the color of cheap ketchup. But hey, if it's free, why complain, eh? Lol
@Nintendofan83
About time Nintendo realized that Pokémon games need little-to-no advertising.
@PlywoodStick
I'm a married man. Liars/cheats coming out to try and hurt my family. Not nice! Nasty women!
Being a Nintendo fan, I always check out the Nintendo section when I'm shopping and I've noticed a lot a bare shelves in the Nintendo console sections at Target Walmart and Best Buy.
wish i was there
That guy in the front seat is totally thinking about tapping that. haha
And less than a week from now, no one will remember except those on the plane.
@DonaldTrump
The first president in world history who is indistinguishable from someone posing as him on the internet.
@DonaldTrump
Mr. President! If you build the wall high enough, you'll be able to keep immigrants out...
and Southwest Airlines, too!
@elmadin Comment edited.
This is good promotion for them, and hopefully they do something like this with the Switch. This is something they should have done with the Wii U when it was in the beginning year and the sales were down...would have helped them get the word out on it! I've seen nintendo do stuff like this before, as well as Sony and Microsoft have even done this...it's a good business sense to do so to show that you actually DO care about the consumer and not just the money that's in their wallets! Good job nintendo, now if you would have given out the actual retail game on the plane, to where the passengers could play it (not many airlines have internet to download it), that would have probably been better for them!
Damn, they gon' be on eBay real soon. lol no charger anyway.
But why can't things like this ever happen to me?
@Gobelee Probably just did. Two new members of the Mile High Club.
@Rhydas
What century do you inhabit?
A plane full of people got free 3DSs. Nice. Lucky people. I thought to myself how are the Nintendolife regulars going to react to this knowing full well it will be a whole heap of complaining when I click on the link? I wasn't disappointed.
@k8sMum 21st. Come join us sometime.
Did they give them chargers as well?
@maceng Okay, let me study the picture, while my charging joke goes over your head.
The 12th is fast approaching...
They guy centre left likes what he sees.
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