"The mailbag is pushing the envelope here (bad pun intended) with its fourth straight week of non-stop letters, and they keep pouring in! Topics include Nintendo's marketing strategies, the download service, the Xbox 360's launch and how the GameCube hasn't gotten its "normal Zelda" yet.

I'm wondering, how is Nintendo is going to attract the casual masses and even non-gamers? They are going to need one heck of a marketing program to get this trough. I might be wrong on this, but I don't think I have seen a single Nintendo commercial since the days of the Nintendo 64 (I live in Europe). So do you think the big N will advertise Revolution a lot? If they don't, I dont undertand how the non-gamers will even know Revolution exists at all.
~revfreak

Nintendo's marketing has definitely picked up the pace a bit in the past months. Employing Reggie Fils-Aime and Jim Merrick to fill the role of Nintendo's marketing heads in America and Europe respectively has been, for the most part, largely beneficial to Nintendo's image. Is there still work to do? Of course, there always is. And to get all of those non-gamers and the casual masses, Nintendo is going to need to take its game up a notch. However, as seen with the DS, Nintendo seems to be striving to produce a suitable image for themselves in all territories, not just Japan. Also keep in mind that Nintendo doesn't have to do all the advertising themselves. Mainstream media outlets like CNN and TIME magazine have already cited some interest in Nintendo's next-generation console and people have undoubtedly taken notice. In addition, Revolution Report recently posted this story regarding Nintendo's partnership with Vital Marketing for improved urban penetration. So even though there's a ways to go, Nintendo is definitely putting forth the effort." [more]