John Gaudiosi is a national journalist who has been covering the video game business for more than a decade. In addition to blogging for WRAL.com, he also writes for Wired Magazine, The Washington Post, The Hollywood Reporter/Reuters, Playboy Magazine, Xbox.com and Yahoo! Games."South Park" Targets Nintendo Wii
Just a month after developing an entire story around the "World of Warcraft" game with the help of game maker Blizzard Entertainment, the "South Park" creators have turned their attention to another gaming phenomenon--Nintendo Wii. The first of a two-part episode is currently airing on Comedy Central. Unlike the "World of Warcraft" episode, which focused solely on that massively multiplayer online game and had a lot of humor that only gamers would get; this Nintendo episode was done the traditional way--without the approval of the company.And unlike the "World of Warcraft" episode, which was pretty tame by "South Park" standards, this new show has Wii as the central story line, but intercuts that story with everything from sex change operation jokes to homosexuality. Clearly, this is not the type of comedy Nintendo, a game company known for kid-friendly games like "Mario" and "Donkey Kong," would approve of. So far, the first of the two-part story is nowhere nearly as funny as the "World of Warcraft" episode, which actually used in-game footage to tell the story.
The new show focuses on Cartman, who can't wait to buy Nintendo Wii and EV Games, so he buries himself in snow to be awakened by Butters on November 19, the launch day. An avalanche happens, causing Cartman to be lost until 500 years later (a la "Buck Rogers and the 25th Century"). The fact that the Wii, which hasn't even shipped, has been the subject of "South Park" is good for Nintendo from a marketing perspective. Anyone who watched that show knows that 90 percent of the ads are for videogames. The Nintendo Wii episode was packed with ads for Sony PlayStation 2-exclusive "Final Fantasy XII" and Xbox 360-exclusive "Gears of War." There were no ads for Wii shown, although with this type of free in-game placement, it's not like Nintendo needs it.
posted by John Gaudiosi at 3:02 PM
3 Comments:
With the release of playstation 3 and all of the new X-box games i'd say that not only does the Wii need the southpark praise but commercials on top of it. That system has the potential for disaster especially if kids get tired of waving that controller around. I have to admit, it is an attempt for something new but i'm not sure we want something "new" right now. It should be noted that the episode was a direct tie in with gaming and evolution and that in the future, we don't have time for that stuff. Sort of a crucial point to be seen in the next episode I imagine.
what are you talking about? Wii is going to be sold in gangbusters, and perhaps more for it's price and innovation than anything else. The DS has done well, despite better tech in the PSP, and I am betting Wii will do better than the 360 or the PS3 based on that same perspective.
I agree. If you can remember, when the Nintendo DS was announced, EVERYONE thought it was the most retarded thing in video gaming. But the DS has left Sony's technically superior PSP in the dust. Sony apparrently did not learn anything from that experience, as the PS3 is just as overpriced, over hyped, and not - exactly - innovative as their undersold handheld.
I'm pretty sure it will meet the same fate.
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