Nintendo, one of the largest video game companies in the world, is taking a subdued (some might say “boring”) approach to marketing their upcoming console, Nintendo Switch 2. It seems like a bold departure from a company that deals in whimsical mushroom kingdoms and grunty princess saviors.

Nintendo has a long history of their marketing being as colorful and playful as their games, so why is this softer approach the right move today?

Nintendo: The Polished Video Game Brand That Never Messes Up, Except When They Do

The Nintendo brand has gone to great lengths to appear polished and they go to even greater lengths to keep all their intellectual property (IP) aligned with that polished brand. They’ve got a reputation as being a bit of a mommy grizzly bear when it comes to protecting their IP.

For a time, Nintendo wasn’t just a brand, it became shorthand for video games the way “Google” is for searching the web. Moms everywhere still tell their kids to “quit playing that damn Nintendo” even when they’re playing a console from a different company. You don’t become the “Kleenex” of your industry by accident. Sure, the products have been “game-changing,” but Nintendo’s marketing has been as carefully calculated and consistent as any product over the last 40 years.

How Have Their Video Advertisements Changed?

Nintendo commercials have historically focused on the fun that people can have while playing their games and consoles. Take a look at this famous 1987 ad for “The Legend of Zelda” and the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

The commercial is very much…of its time, but the main selling point is the fun that the kids in the commercial are having. “The Legend of Zelda” is so fun that the kids can’t help but do a rap about it. As we are all wont to do with any fun thing we stumble upon.

Even though dedicated cellular devices have more processing power than Nintendo’s current console, there was a time when pushing power was the primary point to be made. You might notice an ageless Avenger in this 1991 spot for the NES follow up, Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES). The ad itself is over the top. The voiceover, the graphics, the children running up to a chain-link fence so they can catch a glimpse of the Super Nintendo– It’s a lot.

Fast-forward to 2006 when Nintendo released the Wii. It was a first-of-its kind console in that it was almost entirely reliant on motion controls. You would hold the remote in your hand and swing it like a tennis racket, and the avatar on the screen would swing its tennis racket in the same way. At least that’s how it worked in theory. Gamers quickly discovered that swinging your arm wildly without any thought was a pretty sure-fire way to win any game.

Their advertising could’ve focused on the new, incredible technology that the console utilized, but they let that aspect speak for itself, and instead, again, focused on the fun it provides.

The idea of two businessmen driving around with a Wii, stopping at random households, and saying “Wii would like to play,” is distilled from pure joy. There’s no other dialogue. No mention of the features or titles. It just shows people playing the games and having the time of their lives.

Their next console, which came out in 2012, was the sequel to the Wii, the Wii U. And Nintendo’s marketing strategy at the time reached its inevitable and annoying conclusion. Up to this point, the efforts had often focused on the wholesome, family fun that their consoles provide. With the Wii U, they removed all subtlety. The campaign showed kids sitting their parents down and giving them the hard sell on why they needed a Wii U. The reason being that family time has been declining. Throw in some weird jokes and interesting acting choices and this is what you get. Despite years of trending towards marketing to all ages, they also inexplicably seemed to be targeting a younger audience, casting very young children in the “family time” spots, and omitting adults altogether in others.

(“Stranger Things” fans: skip to 03:53. You’re welcome.)

You will be shocked to learn that the Wii U was not destined for commercial success. We know, right?

After the Wii sold over 100 million consoles (still the seventh most of all time), the Wii U sold just over 13 million. And to be fair to the commercials, there were many more reasons for this beyond Nintendo’s poor marketing strategy. For one thing, it wasn’t a very good console. Hardware shortcomings aside, the marketing certainly didn’t help. 

Let’s start with the name, which was wildly confusing. Despite clearly wanting to leverage the success of their previous console, Nintendo didn’t call it the “Wii 2.” They went for “Wii U,” which isn’t a Wii, but not its own thing either. That kind of branding might make someone think, “Why do I need this when I already have a Wii?”  The Wii U’s failure was financially devastating to Nintendo, and they absolutely needed their next console to be successful.

How Has Their Multi-Media Marketing Changed?

A focus of marketing to 1980s kids, of course, meant you had to have a poorly and painfully adapted animated series and Nintendo wasn’t above chasing the trends of the day.

“The Super Mario Bros. Super Show” was your typical Saturday morning cartoon fare of the day, in that it was objectively horrible and completely nonsensical. It only lasted one season, but this was back in a time when one season was—checking notes—65 episodes! Mamma Mia!

Mario’s continued success in video games like “Super Mario Bros. 3” and “Super Mario World” were so well-received, Nintendo went back to the animated adaptation well for two sequel series. And the less we say about the “The Legend of Zelda” cartoon from the same time, the better. Nintendo would get a lot more selective when it came to licensing their characters out, especially after the massive failure of the live-action film based on the Super Mario Bros. franchise.

Mario wouldn’t venture outside Nintendo hardware again until 2023’s “The Super Mario Bros. Movie.” It was a long wait back to the silver screen, but the wait proved to be highly profitable.

(Editor’s note: Everyone knows that Captain N: The Game Master was the best of the best. Reboot, please.)

How Has Their In-Store Marketing Changed?

An underrated gem in the video game marketing arsenal is the in-store kiosk. A few minutes actually playing the console is, and will always be, far more impactful than a series of thirty-second ads. Parents in Walmart or Best Buy would park their children at the Nintendo kiosk looking for an easy distraction while they shopped, not realizing they were feeding a monster. That five minutes of kid-free shopping could lead to months of insistent requests for a Nintendo. And Nintendo isn’t sorry about it. 

Some of their earlier kiosks looked like this one for the SNES which came out in 1991.

You’ll notice that it looks a little, uh, wacky. Now compare that to the kiosks for Nintendo’s most recent console, the Switch, which came out in 2017.

It’s a much simpler design with more universal appeal. While in 1991, video games were considered toys exclusively for children, today they’re for all ages. That is especially true because the kids who grew up playing SNES are still playing. Nintendo understands their customer base, and they know that simplicity is the way to market. When your target demographics have morphed to reasonably include ages 8 to 80, you don’t want to alienate anyone. You’ll see this shift towards marketing to all ages in their video advertisements through the years as well.

Going back to the drawing board and taking lessons from what did, and more importantly, what didn’t work hardware wise with the Wii U, Nintendo cooked up the Switch. It was a new hybrid console that gave players access to home console quality games on the go. The Switch’s new Joy-Con controllers acted as two halves of a standard controller, and alternatively as individual controllers for friends and family to get in on the fun anywhere.

The reveal trailer focused on the “play anywhere” aspect of the console. Much like the Wii commercial shown above, it was light on dialogue (meaning here that there wasn’t any). It showed people enjoying the console, and playing it in several environments. Other advertisements for the Nintendo Switch focused on the wholesome family fun aspect like their ads of the past, but did it in a much subtler way than the over-the-top style of the Wii U ads.

This commercial for the Switch depicts a believable scenario of a fun uncle giving his niece and nephew a Nintendo Switch game for Christmas, and them all playing it together. The tone is much more believable, focusing less on comedy, and more on capturing the feeling of playing the console with loved ones.

Learning From Mistakes

Cut to almost 10 years later, and Nintendo finds itself in a familiar position that they did when gearing up for the release of the Wii U: a wildly successful console needs a follow-up. The pressure is just as high, but this time Nintendo’s marketing tactics have evolved, and so far, they’re looking to avoid the mistakes of the past.  

Marketing a New Product…the Same

After enough leaks to sink an aircraft carrier, Nintendo finally confirmed what we, they, and the world at large knew. They are, in fact, making a successor to the Switch that would be an improved version: Nintendo Switch 2.

In the (incredibly sparse) marketing they’ve done so far, they’re clearly trying to avoid making the same mistakes they did with the Wii U. They want people to associate the Nintendo Switch 2 with the console they already know and love. They don’t want to differentiate it, but they also want to show that it is the new-and-improved version. It’s a difficult line to walk, but they’ve done it very well with the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer.

The trailer is wordless apart from the console’s name appearing on-screen. There’s no dialogue or voiceover. The Nintendo Switch just transforms into the Nintendo Switch 2. It showcases the new features and improvements without drawing attention to its differences. Sure, it’s got some new bells & whistles, but it’s still a Switch.

From a design and hardware perspective, they’ve taken a bite out of Apple’s approach. How are you supposed to market 17 different iPhones? Well, when people already like iPhones, you just highlight what got better, but show that it’s still the same product at its core. The Nintendo Switch 2 showcases gradual improvements over more radical changes. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

The Lack of Marketing Materials Is Part of the Strategy

According to company, the Nintendo Switch 2 is coming in 2025 (though these things seemingly always get delayed). That’s this year if you’re keeping track. And the only video that they’ve released is the trailer shown above. They’ve also published a press release on their website in which they say that the console is coming this year (without giving a specific date) and list several live events in April, May, and June where people can try out the console.

A hand holding some playing cards in front of a white background.

The press release also teases “Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2,” Nintendo Direct being the conference that they hold two to three times per year. This is expected to be when they’ll first showcase the Nintendo Switch 2 in real life, rather than a computer graphics trailer, as a way to kick off their in-person events around the world which start just a few days later.

When you clicked on this blog, were you prepared for the unabashed excitement of a press release? One that teases a live-streamed event, in which they’ll show a product that you can sample at a later date, and then even buy at the end of the year? I bet not. When laid out like that, it might not sound exciting, but what Nintendo is doing is creating intrigue and building anticipation. 

Even in the alleged year of the console’s release, they’re holding their cards close to their chest. Their trailer shows how the Nintendo Switch 2 differs from its predecessor in appearance, but again, they’ve said nothing about the features or content. That is in part because they don’t want their customer base to think it’s an entirely different product. However, it’s also because they’re not bashing the public over the head with all things Nintendo Switch 2. They’re just quietly floating things out there, and teasing the teasers.

Keeping the Name

Nintendo has always given their consoles unique names, but again, lessons from Wii U’s failure stopped that trend. For the first time in their company’s history, Nintendo simply kept its previous console’s name, and added a number to its successors. This helps avoid customer confusion and communicates the new console as the direct successor to the Nintendo Switch.

When you’re looking to capitalize on the success of a previous product, keeping the name and adding a number does a lot of the heavy lifting in terms of marketing. Calling something the “2” of whatever the original was inherently implies improvement. The same way a sequel to a film you love makes you think you’re going to get more explosions, more action, and more “Godfathers” than the original.

Leveraging the Nintendo Switch’s Massive Install Base

There are over 150 million Nintendo Switch units in the wild, and Nintendo want to entice as many of those folks as possible to upgrade. So the question becomes, how do you get your previous audience to transition to the Nintendo Switch 2? Two words: backwards compatibility.

They’re using clear marketing to communicate to people that their shiny new console will be able to play all the games they’ve invested hundreds of dollars into. That’s backwards compatibility. 

Another reason to market the Nintendo Switch 2 to the Nintendo Switch’s current install base is you can use the promise of new versions of games they already love to get them to opt into the new console. You may have noticed the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer features one game, which looks to be a new version of “Mario Kart.” Why “Mario Kart” and not a new 3D Mario game or a new Zelda adventure? At the time of writing, “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” has sold over 67.5 million units, so needless to say, Nintendo Switch owners love that game. Simply teasing the idea of getting a newer, bigger, and more visually impressive sequel to your previous console’s bestseller, which is exclusive to their new console, is sure to move a few units.

Nintendo Shows That, Sometimes, “Boring” Can Be Exciting

The fever pitch for the next Nintendo console was already high, and it’s been high for a few years, as the Nintendo Switch has been showing its age for quite a while. With people already palpably excited about what’s next, Nintendo knows the hard part is already done. It’s why they are using safe, and if you are so inclined to call it, this you can, boring marketing. When your customers are already excited to buy your product, then your marketing doesn’t have to be all pomp and circumstance.

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