Recently, Nintendo introduced four new mini-games for download to the Mii Plaza on 3DS, making ongoing use of the StreetPass system both desirable and enjoyable. These games are available for individual or bundled purchase, and despite the fact that Nintendo has spent virtually zero marketing dollars on advertising the news games, the addition has generated ¥400 million in only a month!
Nintendo President Satoru Iwata believes that this experiment—a new strategy for the company in terms of its handheld system—has worked:
“With the 3DS, there is the StreetPass Mii Plaza, which you can use to play games with Miis that you meet by walking past other people carrying a 3DS. However, because people were growing tired of playing the same couple games, we have, in fact, brought four new StreetPass Mii Plaza games! Four new games have been added, where you can buy one game for ¥500 or all four games at a discounted price of ¥1500.
One month has passed since we added these new StreetPass Mii Plaza games, and we did not use any type of mass advertising. It was written on our homepage, with information about all the new content included in the update. You are also made aware when you visit the StreetPass Mii Plaza for the first time after the update, but we didn’t use anything like television commercials to advertise.
However, in this state, we have generated a lot of income from our customers. Furthermore, a lot of the people who are playing and enjoying the new games are communicating and advertising through outlets like Twitter. Thanks to this, the circle of customers is growing bigger and bigger, and interestingly, sales were a strong ¥400 million in only a month.”
That’s ridiculously impressive, considering the purposeful lack of advertising—but it’s also noteworthy that Iwata mentions the direct influence of traditional social media in the success of these games, despite the Miiverse’s presence on PC and smartphones.
