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Dawn Of The 2DS: Why Nintendo’s Newest “Misstep” Is Their Smartest Move Of The Year

When Nintendo announced the 2DS, gamers ‘round the globe froze like so many deer in headlights. Is this thing real? Is today April 1st? Has Nintendo finally gone full-on crazy? And as is usually the case with aberrant Nintendo news, the editorials started flooding in. “Out of touch! Leaving the console race!” And of course, the ever popular “Doomed!”

Bad Publicity, What’s That?

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Reggie

Another thing that doesn’t seem to be getting across to 2DS doomsday prophecizers is that in this case, any and all attention drawn to the 2DS is good attention. The parents buying this thing aren’t reading gaming blog criticism – they just need to see it on their local news in order to be sold on its kid-friendliness and competitive price tag. The local news, on the other hand, may in fact decide to run something on the 2DS precisely because of the controversy it’s caused amongst gaming inner circles. Just like the Wii before it (though clearly to a lesser degree), the 2DS is making enough ruckus for its name to be butchered on ABC news. For Nintendo, that simply draws more attention, and more awareness. It’s very Apple-like in that way.

Beyond that, the general flood of editorials and opinion articles, negative or positive, also drum up attention around 2DS. This article is a perfect example, though I feel like positive feedback tends to exists whether something is controversial or not. Pieces like this one from The Verge, on the other hand, are the ones that stir the pot. Though I personally think that this fellow’s opinion is severely off the mark, that is besides the point. Nintendo’s possession of the bald-faced audacity to release such seemingly wacky product designs gets people talking. If every company got as much written about them as Nintendo does when the chips are down, there would never be another bankruptcy again.

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