Entries Tagged as 'nintendo ds lite'

Nintendo 3DS Summit

April 4th, 2011 · 11 Comments

I have been a Nintendo Brand Ambassador for about 3 years now and have gotten to do some really cool things. Remember when they had a Nintendo DS Lite party for my friends and I and everyone got a free Nintendo DS Lite? Or when they threw a Wii Fit party for my friends and I and then I gave a Wii away on my site? How about when they took us up to the Hancock Center for free dinner and drinks then gave everyone a Nintendo DSi? Or when Nintendo and Netflix partnered and I threw a game and movie night? Not to mention all the fun things they’ve sent me in the mail over the years! Well, that was all awesome, but this past weekend? This past weekend takes the cake!

To celebrate the launch of the Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo flew about 120 Brand Ambassadors out to the Nintendo of America headquarters in Redmond, Washington. It was so fun to spend the day at the headquarters and to meet everyone. I have been really involved in the program over the years, but have had limited exposure to other ambassadors. It was interesting to hear other people’s stories. I assumed that everyone would be women around my age, some mothers and some not, but there were all kinds of people: Older, younger, families, singles. There were a lot of women, but if you look close you’ll spot a few men. There were also couples, who had kids at home, who were Nintendo Family Ambassadors going back like 4 years. A lot of the Family Ambassadors don’t even have blogs and are not into social media. And everyone was from all over the country.

To be honest, before going on the trip I was getting really nervous. I didn’t know any of the other Nintendo Brand Ambassadors and I’d be spending all this time with strangers! Well, I shouldn’t have worried. Everyone was very nice and welcoming. I met so many great people from all walks of life.

So, anyway…. we all gathered at the Nintendo of America headquarters for a day of learning about the Nintendo 3DS. If you haven’t heard the news about this handheld gaming device, the big deal is that it’s in 3D and you do not need to wear those dorky glasses to see it! We started out in this large, very white room. If you’re wondering why all my photos are in this room, it’s because we were not allowed to take photographs anywhere else. I mean, they were serious about security. We had to be escorted everywhere, even to the bathroom!


The always cute Justine is my main contact with in the Nintendo program

The day started off with with people from Nintendo of America and Brand About Town, the company that coordinates the program, welcoming us and telling us what to expect.

Next the President and COO of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime welcomed us and thanked us for our support. He told us more about Nintendo and about the Nintendo 3DS. He frankly addressed concerned that have been posed about 3D technology and childrens and took questions from the ambassadors. I’m sure Mr. Fils-Aime is a busy, busy man and it was nice that he took the time out of his schedule to meet with us.

Next we were broken up into groups. I was on Team Luigi. Each group was on a circuit for the day. My group’s first thing was to take a tour of the Nintendo of America headquarters, which are brand new, gorgeous and very green. They’re LEED certified, the floors are made of bamboo, the duct work and wiring is all in the floors, and they have the biggest living roof in the state of Washington. The walls are painted bright, primary, Nintendo-y colors and conference rooms are named after Nintendo characters and locations in games (Toad, Moo Moo Meadows). Throughout the lobby and other seating areas they had cushioned benches shaped like the plus-sign D-pads. Along one wall they had a bunch of-old school arcade games. Another wall had a time-line history of characters like Donkey Kong. We weren’t allowed inside this area and were told it’s where they train new employees. We also visited an area that displayed their licensed products. As we walked around we passed zen-like gardens and large bonsai trees. In their awards case, the highlight was an Emmy they won, just because all of the video gaming awards are expected.. but an Emmy? I thought there might be a mention of how they own the Seattle Mariners but there wasn’t. On this little field trip we also got to visit the Nintendo store, where each person got a $20 gift certificate to use and employee discounts on select items.

Back in the white room we started playing different games on the Nintendo 3DS system and did not stop til the end of the day! We broke up once for lunch in Cafe Mario and that’s it. Our first game was PilotWings Resort. This was one of my favorite games and really utilized the 3D effects. It puts you in the pilot seat (of an airplane, a hang glider, a rocketbelt) and has you accomplish tasks. The 3D makes it feel like you’re really flying!

Our next game was Kid Icarus: Uprising. This game wasn’t my favorite, but there was much excitement about it. First of all, every Nintendo 3DS gaming console with this game on it was tethered so it couldn’t be stolen. The reason? Kid Icarus isn’t available yet and is a highly anticipated release.

Nintendogs and Cats was pretty much the same as I remember Nintendogs being on the previous DS releases.. except you get a bonus cat with the game now. I always find this game to be so adorable, but question how much I’d really play it. I had fun walking my French Bulldog, Sophie, and feeding and washing her.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Super Street Fighter. Breaking all stereotypes, the ladies on Team Luigi really got into this game! Dallas has this game at home for the PS3 and I’ve never felt the need to play it, but here on the 3DS I really got into it! Of course, most the time I was just pressing a mish-mash of buttons and hoping I won! haha

Also, I didn’t really think I was “in to” car racing games, but I really liked Asphalt 3D. I was talking to a couple Nintendo employees and they told me that they liked Ridge Racer 3D even more. I ended up buying Ridge Racer when I got back to Chicago.

One other game I really enjoyed was Steel Diver. I have no photos of this game because it was in another room and I wasn’t sure if we were allowed. This game makes you feel like you are in a submarine and you have to physically spin around and shoot ships down before they shoot you. I almost bought this game. It was so fun… but not one you can really sit on the couch and play. You need space!

Aside from all the awesome game play, we also learned about Miis on the Nintendo 3DS. It’s much the same as making Miis on the Wii, except if you want, you can have the 3DS take a photo of you and then do it’s own magic making your likeness. One other difference is that you can now save your Mii to a QR code and display it anywhere. Others can then photograph the QR code and import your Mii. You can also save your Mii to an SD card.

Another new feature is called Street Pass, which allows you to exchange Mii characters and play games with them. The Nintendo 3DS now has a Mii Plaza, kind of how the Wii does. What’s cool now is that when the wireless is activated on the device, all you have to do is walk past anyone else with it activated and their Mii will show up in your plaza. Pretty cool! I already have 30+ Miis just from walking around our hotel and the Seattle airport!

We also learned about the augmented reality games on the Nintendo 3DS. I loved these. They’re kind of rudimentary now, but I think they have huge potential. You put a special card down on any surface and point your Nintendo 3DS at it. It creates a game in the real world. One of the games makes Nintendo characters spring up from the table. When you look a the table through the 3DS they’re there and when you look at the table, they’re not. So cool. You can even interact with them up to a point. See my face and hand above with Link!

There’s also a game called Face Raiders. The first thing you do when this game loads up is take a photo of someone’s (or your) face. Then these faces bounce around your real world, where ever you’re pointing the camera, and you have to shoot the faces. I’ve only played this game by myself, but I hear that if you are somewhere crowded and people walk by in the background, the game takes photos of them and adds them to the faces that you have to shoot! Can’t wait to play this at the train station!

At the end of the day we all had our Oprah moment! A Nintendo 3DS for you! And you! And you! We each got a shiny new Nintendo 3DS to take home! Such a fun and exciting day all round. I’m so thankful to have been a part of it! Can’t wait to take my 3DS to work and show it off!

Finally, we had to leave and head back to our hotel. Is that rain? Or tears that this day had to come to an end?

Update #1: Here are the official photos from the trip.

Update #2: I’ve been trying to keep track of stories and photos that other ambassadors have shared:

Disclosure: It might be needless to say, but Nintendo provided the airfare, accommodations, meals, Nintendo World gift certificate, and Nintendo 3DS on this trip. I was not paid, or even asked, to write this post.

[Read more →]

Tags:·······························

Nintendo DSi XL + Other Cool Stuff

May 20th, 2010 · 6 Comments

Recently I was sent a Nintendo DSi XL as part of the Nintendo Enthusiasts program I have been a part of over the last few years. Lately the things I’ve been getting from the program have been really creatively packaged, which adds to the excitement of receiving them. The Nintendo DSi XL is a larger version of the Nintendo DSi. This is how the DSi XL looked while I was opening it:

If you want to see a size comparison, heres the Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo DSi XL.

If I still had a Nintendo DS Lite around here I’d line that up too, but my nieces are using them right now. It’s even smaller than the DSi.

The Nintendo DSi XL screen is much larger than the Nintendo DSi and the Nintendo DS Lite. Also there are games saved right on the hard drive. I’m getting back into Brain Age, which is a game I was addicted to when I first got the DS Lite a few years ago. And since the DSi XL has a camera on it, there are a lot more exercises in Brain Age that use the camera.

So over the years Nintendo has sent me a bunch of fun games for the DS (Lite/i/i XL) and hosted some fun parties – DS Lite, Wii, DSi. Here are a few especially creative things I’ve gotten in the last few months.

Like fistfuls of Lorac makeup and a Style Savvy game for the DS. My teenaged niece said this was a fun game to play.

And this? This was a fun package to receive in the office…..

…a 3 foot long dolphin! We joked how I should take it out of the box and ride home on the train with it at my side. Wouldn’t be the weirdest thing I ever saw on my commute. The dolphin came with the Wii game Endless Ocean: Blue World. I popped the game in a couple weekends ago. Fun.. beautiful graphics.

How about this:

A cooking package with a huge stock pot, an apron, a bamboo cutting board, the DS game America’s Test Kitchen: Let’s Get Cooking…. and…….. and?

ONION GOGGLES!

Have you ever heard of such a thing? We’ve used the stock pot a couple times and Dallas has played aroudn with the game. I should try to cook a multi-course meal just using the DSi game.. hm…. that’s another blog post, I think.

So, what’s in store next? Stay tuned!

And note, I am in the Nintendo Enthusiast program but I am not required to write about anything to do with it. Just thought this was some cool stuff lately.

[Read more →]

Tags:····

Christmas in WI

December 28th, 2009 · 5 Comments

On the day after Christmas we went to Oak Creek, WI to celebrate with my family. Jessica got a Wii Active Life: Extreme Challenge game for a Christmas gift and we all had a fun time playing it. The game comes with a mat, kind of like Dance Dance Revolution, and you have to jump and run on it to make your on-screen character do things.


Dallas & Steph


Mom & Jess

For the rock climbing game you have to use your hands.


Dallas & Rachelle


Mom & Dad

Amanda showed me Jessica’s wishlist for santa. It was more like a wishbook – multiple pages stapled together and inserted into an envelope.


Jessica’s Wishlist

I can’t remember what “schering” was supposed to be, but Jess really wanted Laffy Taffy. The end – “batadohede” – is potato head. This list kind of reminded me of Stephanie’s wishlist from a few years ago. Except Jessica is younger. As you can see, she is just learning to write on her own. But she is having fun doing it. She even made all of our place cards for the dinner table.


Stephanie & Dallas’s place cards


Grandpa & Richard’s place cards

Not sure why Jessica chose to call my mom and dad “grandpa” and “grandma” but wrote her own parent’s names out. She also got to choose where everyone sat. Jess put me on one side of her and my mom on the other.. and of course Dallas was as far away as she could get him. Ha. She also looked online with my mom to see the proper places for all the silverware and side plates and glasses and things.

After dinner we opened the gifts that Dallas and I got for Steph and Jess.


Steph opening a gift


Steph trying on her new belt


Jess opening a gift


Steph’s favorite gift from us: Purple Converse

We got each of the girls a Nintendo DS Lite game. Jess’s was some pet game and Steph’s was a style-related game. Most of Steph’s gifts were also style-related: a belt, earrings, fingerless gloves, a shirt, shoes. Seems appropriate for a 13-year-old. Jess’s gifts were more drawing/art-related: a stamp pad, book on how to make fingerprint drawings, stamps, markers, coloring book. And this also seems appropriate for a first grader. They seemed to both like their gifts, so that’s good. My mom and dad surprised us with a few gifts, even though we agreed not to exchange. And my brother gave me some fresh, squeaky cheese curds.

Great day with the family, eating, playing and exchanging gifts!

[Read more →]

Tags:·············

A Free Nintendo DS Lite for Everyone

April 11th, 2008 · 51 Comments

A few months ago I was asked if I’d like to become a Nintendo DS Lite brand enthusiast. Thinking it was someone who wanted me to schill for free product, I sort of ignored the emails.. but in the end they tracked me down and I agreed. Basically, all I had to do was accept a free Nintendo DS Lite. And that’s it. I wasn’t required to blog about it or take surveys or do anything really. For a year we are stay in contact and sometimes they’ll send me a game or accessories. After the year everything is mine to keep. Of course, I’m blogging about it now, so I’ve done what they wanted… but whatever! Free Nintendo DS Lite. Plus, this is less “Nintendo is great, buy their products” and more “Hey, let me tell you about this cool thing that happened,” which is what I’m about to do in the next paragraph. :)

Part of my agreement was that I’d host a party with Nintendo. They were trying to target adult women who don’t usually game, so I needed to invite 25 – 30 of my “girlfriends.” Oh, and every one of them who attended would also get a free Nintendo DS Lite. See, it pays to be my friend!

While compiling the invitation list I realized that 1) a lot of my friends are dudes, 2) a lot of dudes will offer to wear a skirt and shave their face in order to score free electronics, 3) a lot of my close girlfriends don’t live in Chicago. Or even Illinois. But, I think I did a good job coming up with different women from all of my different friend groups. And they all got along and we had a totally fun time.

I was kind of afraid because I’d only met people from the marketing firm one time.. and then I had to tell 30 people about the party.. and what if it wasn’t not cool? Or you were punked and there’s not really a party? Or there was a party but it was all marketing and presentation? Or what if it’s in a really lame place? Well, it was none of that. A really beautiful West Loop loft space was rented out and decorated stylishly. Seriously, I wanted to live there. Also, there was really fantastic food provided, red wine, white wine, and champagne. Not once was there any people saying how great Nintendo is or schilling. The people that worked there were really nice. There was a photographer (we had to sign releases) and a food/bartender. There were four women who were roughly our age and dressed in black skirts and black tops and high heels. I wasn’t sure at first about their cocktail-y attire, but they turned out to be super nice and down to earth. And you could just tell that they’ve played the games like crazy. They knew everything about the games and seemed to really enjoy playing them. I guess that’s the best marketing of all. It’s cool that Nintendo has recognized that we don’t have to be told that they’re fun, they just show that they are. They let the product speak for itself. I also like that they said “you don’t have to do anything” (blog/survey/feedback/etc), because you know we all don’t like being told what to do, but if you say we don’t have to, then we will. Some companies are so clueless about word of mouth and guerrilla marketing, though.. the stuff that can’t be measured with solid metrics.

There were four couches set up in the space and at each spot there were several Nintendo DS Lites with different games in them. So, you needed to play each game at each station to get a charm for a charm bracelet everyone was wearing. After you got all the charms then you got to play WII on some flat screen TVs. When guests left they got to choose if they wanted a black or a pink Nintendo DS Lite. And everyone got Brain Age 2. Pretty much everyone told me they had a fabulous time playing the games, that the food was great and that they enjoyed the company. And, of course, everyone was thrilled to have a new Nintendo DS Lite!

I’ve never considered getting a handheld gaming system, but I find myself playing the DS all the time. At home, on flights. It’s pretty fun. I do wish I’d had the chance to choose the color, though. I for sure would have picked black. Instead they sent me a pink one a few months ago, and not only that, it’s bedazzled with rhinestones in the shape of a heart. Seems like it’s geared more towards a tween than an adult woman, but hey, it was free, so I’m not complaining!

[Read more →]

Tags:···