Another week as a Nintendo fan, another marketing blitz. Or not, as the more honest statement would be. As loyal N-Fans, we have become accustomed to second-rate marketing presence in Europe. Actually, that is not fair: it's a third rate presence at best.

Alright, that's not fair either. Nintendo do market in Europe, but it's not often that we Nintendo fanboys are in a position to see it. For example, in a recent announcement Nintendo announced a rather large budget for the UK to promote the Wii and DS to the masses. Newspaper advertisements, TV spots during prime-time adverts and a nationwide poster campaign combine to form what is hoped to be a blitz on the unwary consumer.

And still we complain.

Print advertising aside, the chances of a Nintendo fan seeing a Nintendo advert are slim at best. As a general rule, I do not watch prime-time television and nor do any of my Nintendo-affiliated buddies. We are all hooked to DS Mario Kart and multiplayer Smash Brothers, so there is no time for such trivialities as television �unless, of course, there is a Nintendo console hooked up to it. However, the great unwashed as a whole is glued to the television at this time, watching either Constipation Street or Hollyawful. Therefore it is the perfect time to aggressively tap this thus-far untapped resource.

Even posters and advertising in the newspapers will not satisfy the rabid Nintendo fanboy. But believe it or not, passing through my local village I nearly fell off my bike as I saw an advert for the DS Lite and Brain Training adorning the poster box of the dilapidated bus stop �and looking rather spanky at the same time! I could hardly believe my eyes: Nintendo? Advertising? Surely you jest, sir! But there it was, bold as brass: a pretty girl, engrossed in training session with one of the greatest handheld machines ever made. Still, I found myself feeling a little jaded. Even though I passed by many more posters with different faces playing the DS, I felt a great apathy �"It'll never work" I told myself. "It looks stupid! No Nintendo fan would ever sit around looking like such a numpty!"

And then realisation dawned. The advert was not aimed at me.

In fact, none of the advertising is aimed at us Nintendo fans, it is all designed to draw in the curious, the casual and the confused with familiar and appealing imagery. I am not of course defending the ill-use of the �3.50 (and Nintendo of Japan expected change from that, thank you very much) Nintendo have spent on advertising in Europe over the last few years, but now it finally seems they are getting it right, we still see fit to criticise. All this work they are putting in is not for our sakes at all, but for their own �remember my previous article about profit? Nintendo have an existing user base, and now they are trying to expand it, and by doing so it may seem they are ignoring the pre-established fans.

But why advertise to existing fans? The odds are that these users are all fully aware of forthcoming games and products and have little need for further information. An investment in these consumers would be a waste. The best means of keeping these gamers onside is to deliver on promises and keep the titles rolling out week in week out so that these people have a reason to be proud of their choice.

And that ladies and gentlemen is exactly where Nintendo fall down.

The best marketing as anyone in business will tell you is by word of mouth, not flashy advertising campaigns or celebrities on the last dregs of their fame pimping a new release. Keep your existing customers happy and they will spread the word to their friends and family ad infinitum; there will be no need for marketing budgets beyond a minimal amount. But Nintendo do not, it seems, treat their existing customers with the same care and effort they put in finding new users.

Games are inexplicably delayed: prices in Europe are inflated well beyond the normal expected rates of VAT and regular customs duty and there are still too many Japanese and US exclusive titles that never see the light of day here due to the lengthy translation process. Meanwhile Sony fans gloat and laugh with scorn at their Nintendo-aligned friends as they play a steady stream of mediocre to poor titles that make up for the absence of quality with an abundance of frequency.

So while our friends with their Sony consoles rub their hands in glee, we resort to sullen obstinacy and wear the ill-treatment as a badge of honour. We tell our friends that although we are third-rate consumers to Nintendo that we are still the Elite, still the chosen ones, as they look at us with disbelief and incredulity at how little we have to be proud of. If we put our time to better use in telling them how great our consoles are rather than ruing our affiliation, then perhaps we would see an upturn in the fortunes of the company in this region.

There is much to be thankful for, despite protestations to the contrary. True it may be that the Wii is most expensive in Europe, but true also it is that we will get the Wii long before the PS3. The Wii and DS may not have the graphical power of their rivals, but many are now being converted to the innovative ways in which games can be played thanks to the pioneering spirit of Nintendo, the DS sales figures alone speak volumes in the debate between graphics and gameplay. It is true also that we in Europe receive games far later than our American and Japanese friends. There is no adequate answer to this, perhaps we might argue that the quality of the first-party offerings, juxtaposed against those of our rivals is some small justification. But this sounds rather hollow.

There is no right or wrong answer in this debate, and that is why it has raged for so long. Nintendo may not be pandering to its core gaming demographic, nor doing enough to keep happy the newly converted. But on the other hand, I don't see any of you standing out in the middle of the street screaming "Nintendo are GREAT!"

Iun Hockley
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