Mario Phones Home

“It’s a me, Marketing!”

Nintendo has a lot of things going for it. Well, mainly two things, the Wii and the DS.

Since its release, the Wii (aka Money Printer) has seen some stellar sales figures, at times outselling the PS3, Xbox 360, and PSP combined.

While many consider the Wii the most coveted item since Goosebumps books, Nintendo’s DS Lite handheld has been raking in literal boat loads of cash since its release. With the US release of the DSi on the horizon, it’s no surprise to see the Big N trying to exhaust its warehouses full of DS systems.

To help convince your friends and family that a DS is the ultimate gift for the holidays, Nintendo has put together a clever marketing scheme. By logging on to their Mario Wish List site, you can have Mario place a call to the gift givers in your life and explain several things.

For starters Mario (Charles Martinet in all of his Italian stereotype glory) will call your person of choice and let them know he is calling on your behalf. He will then tell them what color DS you would like and up to three Nintendo first-party titles, complete with some funny references to each game.

There are a few things to do with this feature such as labeling the person being called. You can have Mario refer to them as a parent, friend, or my personal favorite, love bunny. You can also select from a few things you would consider an undesirable gift, such as a pair of socks, and Mario will work that into his routine as well.

This marketing tactic will likely go down as a fun gimmick more than a sales driving concept. However, comparing it to other “have Samuel L. Jackson call your friends and tell them to watch Snakes on a Plane” ideas, I’d have to say that this one works rather well.

At the end of the day it’s all about calling your buddy Skeeter and having Mario refer to him as your love bunny, and that’s okay. When asked how he felt about the service, Mario stated: “With a Nintendo, ev-e-rybody wins! Wahoo! Let’s a go!” From there the interview ceased and we proceeded to have a fun filled evening of golf, tennis, and kart racing.