Super Smash Bros

Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy

One of the most anticipated games of the year is Nintendo's next Super Smash Bros. game, with a somewhat abridged version coming to the 3DS this fall and a full console release for the Wii U promised by the holiday. It remains to be seen if the Wii U version will hit that target in the wake of Nintendo’s often sliding timetables, but Nintendo has done a great job marketing the game so far. So much so, that I thought it deserved a closer look.
Namely, a pair of videos were released this weekend exemplifying what I’m talking about. First, there’s a new character reveal showcasing returning fighter Captain Falcon, and newcomers Lucina and Robin from the Fire Emblem series.
Fighting games present a unique opportunity that other titles lack to reveal fighters like this one by one. But seeing as Super Smash Bros. is possibly the most beloved series out there and one with a seemingly infinite amount of characters to choose from, this tactic works extremely well. While it may come as no surprise when Mortal Kombat X announced that Raiden was returning for the new game, Smash Bros. has effectively built up this “new challenger approaching” reveal system that generates tremendous anticipation for the game.

As seen in the video, they were probably always going to have Captain Falcon in the game, as he’s a staple of the series, but stretching out his reveal until now left many guessing if we would return or be replaced. And the addition of Lucina and Robin delighted many Fire Emblem fans, and now that game boasts four characters from that series.
The second video is one Reggie Fils-Aimé made to the EVO 2014 audience ahead of the Nintendo-sponsored Super Smash Bros. finals at the show. In it, he expresses gratitude for the dedication competitive fans of the series have shown over the years, and offers a friendly challenge to them using lingo from the scene (“no Johns” means “no excuses,” a term coined via an excuse-making competitor from years past).
This is perhaps the most interesting aspect of Nintendo’s marketing campaign for the new Super Smash Bros, as they’re doing a complete 180 from EVO 2013, when they were at one point actively trying to put a stop to competitive Super Smash Bros. at the event.
EVO organizer Joey Cuellar explained how Nintendo almost wiped Smash Bros. completely from last year’s gathering:
“They were not only trying to shut down the stream, they were trying to shut down the event, the smash portion of the event,” Cuellar said. “It’s their IP, they can do what they want and they didn’t present us with any options to keep it open. We’re not going to press it any further, it’s their IP. We respect Nintendo’s decision to protect their IP, and we’re going to comply with their legal department completely.”
Nintendo eventually bent, allowing a Melee tournament to happen, then broke, also allowing it to be streamed online, but it was a messy affair, and everyone was extremely perplexed about why Nintendo would be trying to stifle competitive play of their own game.
Now, it seems Nintendo has reversed course completely, and is actually using EVO as a launching pad to generate even more excitement for the new Super Smash Bros. Yes, you could say that perhaps they just had a road to Damascus moment last year, and now they want to please fans, but the marketing opportunity is too obvious not to be an additional factor for them.
Nintendo has now figured out what Blizzard and Riot Games have known for years, that interest in the competitive scene of a game only increases interest in the game itself. Nintendo has even gone so far as to support Gamecube controller play in the new Super Smash Bros, something the fighting game community went crazy for.
Nintendo is learning, and between their character reveals and their newfound support of competitive Smash play, they really could not have concocted a better marketing campaign for the new game.
That said, the final product has to deliver, living up the quality of past games, and also be delivered, hopefully by its promised 2014 date. Nintendo often has little trouble getting fans to like them, even after making mistakes, but their eternal battle against their own release calendar seems to remain their greatest foe of all.

Source :- http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2014/07/14/nintendo-has-a-rather-fantastic-super-smash-bros-marketing-strategy/