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GAME ON! EXTRA

December 5, 2002

By Ian Bonds

To paraphrase one of my favorite movies, “Ah, I love the small of commerce in the morning”, or, in this case, the early evening. As a shinning example of commerce at it’s finest, Nintendo is going cross-country with a series of events known as The Nintendo Cube Club. These events, basically a giant marketing extravaganza, are used to promote Nintendo’s new holiday product, as well as some promotion for Panasonic and Snapple in various towns across the US. I recently hit the one in Baltimore, MD, and even though they wouldn’t let me take any pictures, here’s a recap of the events from within the Club this past weekend.

Nintendo, in its efforts to pack as much entertainment into your hometown as possible, is overtaking unused or abandoned storefronts and turning them into their Cube Clubs. What this means is in the interest of fitting all the cool swag and neat stuff, the space has to be large enough to simulate a Nightclub, but have most of the space taken up with gamers and games instead of dancers and glowsticks (though the music is the same for both). In Baltimore, this was no different, as Nintendo overtook a storefront in the busiest area of White Marsh known as The Avenue. To gain access, you either had to have gotten a “Admit Two” pass from one of the Nintendo reps wandering the Avenue in the prior weeks, or print one out from the website at www.NintendoCubeClub.com. I, however, was lucky enough to have gotten a sweet VIP Pass. While not really granting me any special treatment, if the crowds became too large at the store to get in, this would grant me automatic access. Besides, I felt kinda cool with it on. I dig things like that.

Anyway, once inside, it’s apparent that this is to generate interest not only in the upcoming games and products Nintendo has out for the Christmas season, but Panasonic as well. Each gaming area was equipped with a Flat Screen TV, and I couldn’t help but salivate as I gazed upon it, thinking to myself “yeah, my games WOULD look better on a TV like this." Not only that, but off in one of the corners of the huge room, there was a separate “listening lounge” full of Panasonic products like a Big Screen Flat TV, portable DVD players, and MP3 players too. Basically, this room is a good place for the kids to drop their parents off, as it was quieter than the loud music in the main gaming hall.

Which is, of course, the main reason anyone is there. The games. The hall was full of all sorts of Nintendo freaks, glassy eyed and vacant as their thumbs passed over numerous controllers playing all the latest product out this season. All of the game stations featured a playable demo of one game, and the wait for the more popular games was always lengthy. These games included numerous stations for RESIDENT EVIL ZERO, SUPER MARIO SUNSHINE, METROID PRIME, METAL OF HONOR: FRONTLINE (which features a split screen four-player feature VS. the PS2 single player option), DIE HARD: VENDETTA as well as playable demos for next years LEGEND OF ZELDA and 1080 SNOWBOARDING games. They even had two MARIO PARTY 4 stations where players could try out the WAVEBIRD wireless controllers while competing, as well as a few Gameboy Advance stations set up for those into the portable handheld’s new games like METROID FUSION and THE LEGEND OF ZELDA A LINK TO THE PAST/FOUR SWORDS. I tried to sample as many titles as possible while I was there, all the while jamming to tunes spun by a local DJ. Nintendo really tried to go for a “Club” feel, even having a local hiphop radio station broadcasting the evening I went from the club.

Also throughout the club were areas to sign up and win stuff (of course) such as free TVs, gaming stuff and more. Another sponsor of the event was Snapple, who was there giving out free bottles of their new flavors. It’s really weird to think how much thought went into the whole marketing of the event, though. For example, when you walked up to a gaming station with your Snapple in hand, ready to play a game, you had to find a place to sit your drink. Well, conveniently, right on the edge of the station is a little ledge just for sitting the bottle. Printed on the ledge? SNAPPLE in big, bold letters. They thought of EVERYTHING.

As for the games, some I had played, and some I had wanted to play, and the ones that are out now all seemed to be of the quality we would expect from Nintendo. As for my first impressions of the new Cube ZELDA game, as well as 1080 SNOWBOARDING…well, that’s a different matter. ZELDA’s gameplay is very similar to the Nintendo 64 versions of the games, but the cartoony graphics of the Gamecube version may turn off many of the fans. I’m still undecided on that aspect. 1080 SNOWBOARDING could benefit from MUCH tweaking of the control, as it was virtually impossible to do ANYTHING in that game other than fall down the hill on my face. Hopefully that will improve, as the graphics for that game are quite sweet.

When it was all said and done, though, I had a blast there. The best part is when you leave, though. They give a little Snapple “goody-bag” full of more promotions: a Snapple/Cube Club coaster (ooh, a coaster), a free e-card for Air Hockey (for the e-card reader for Gameboy Advance), a flier with Nintendo & Panasonic Products designed to “battle boredom!”, a Nintendo Preview DVD full of sneak peeks at upcoming games, and a Holiday guide featuring all the new product coming out much like the DVD, only in convenient book form.

Nintendo is still continuing the tour too. November 29th - December 7th they will be in San Francisco, Memphis and Cleveland, and December 12th – 21st they’ll be in Portland OR, Austin and New York City. For more details and passes, check out www.NintendoCubeClub.com and head to the Club. It’s definitely worth checking out.

*Don't forget to check out Ian's weekly video game reviews, too -- click here for the latest GAME ON! column.

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