The Wii U arrives in just five days. Anyone who frequents this site knows this already, along with anyone who follows any of the major gaming sites. But ask a person who solely watches television and he or she may not even know what the heck a Wii U is.
TV spots have been produced thus far, but as it turns out, they haven't gotten much airtime Which seems odd, especially for Nintendo, given their rich history when it comes to televised commercials. So what's the deal?
According to Tiny Cartridge, there are several reasons. For starters, Nintendo has determined that their non-hardcore offerings require little when it comes to advertising ahead of launch. Given their success with such a demographic, they probably know this better than anyone.
But what about hardcore users, who still constitute a considerable portion of Nintendo's fan base? Well, given how fast pre-orders sold out, TV spots for them seem a bit silly. Especially when one considers how such folk rarely watch TV to being with these days.
Though the other major reason has to do with politics. As you might recall, we just had an election. Not just for the President but numerous other offices as well. Candidates bought copious amounts of prime time ad space, leaving very little for everyone else. What little that was left was simply too pricey, even for Nintendo.