We’ve all been waiting and watching to see what Nintendo will do next…and this interesting little “is it or isn’t it?” will likely be the spark to start plenty of rumors in the months ahead.
In North America, it seems that the Nintendo section at department stores has undergone a little change—namely, that the product sections for both the Wii U and the 3DS have merged. No longer do they exist under two banners proclaiming their respective consoles, but they’ve been given the same heading—simply, Nintendo—to indicate to consumers the company they’re buying products from rather than the hardware.
The banners are bright red, as one might expect, and feature new renders of iconic Nintendo characters. The bright red company name feels like a throwback, and it might be assumed that this has come about thanks to the 30th anniversary of Mario himself. But is that all?
It’s also possible that Nintendo is trying to get us to think back—way back—and remember its heydays. Classic Nintendo consoles were the Big Thing in decades past, and it could be that the company is looking to return to its roots in terms of image and marketing. After all, it has been quite some time since its previous marketing makeover, which we saw in 2008 when the logo changed from red to grey in order to bring focus to their new offerings, the Wii and DS.
Does this shift have anything to do with the future ‘NX’ device that is rumored to be the console to unite home and handheld? Or is it just a shift for the holiday season to make Nintendo’s section more visible to shoppers? We have no idea, but certainly we’ll be keeping an eye out in the months ahead.
