A few weeks ago, I read a post by Cowzilla called The Ladies Love Nintendo and Nintendo Loves the Ladies. Not quite the ugly friend of the hot girl anymore, are you, Nintendo? In case you were too uninspired to click on any of the previous links, here is the video from Cowzilla’s post:



Nintendo is targeting the casual gaming demographic. Shocker, I know. But, it seems, Nintendo is really making an effort to court the ladies. From grannies to sexy, singles. From those who are already hardcore gamers to those with a tendency to turn the DS to steer in MarioKart. All these women get invited to parties by their “alpha female” acquaintances then they each get a free Nintendo DS.



But it’s not just “alpha females” and their friends who love the DS. Famous girls play, too!







For these busy ladies, the DS obviously provides a little solitary getaway from their hectic lives.

Fun, thought-provoking, relaxing. The Nintendo DS! Like a soothing massage that makes you giggle. A hobby that could lead you to a hubby. “Like a Tupperware party for the 21st century.” Wait a minute, Nintendo, you don’t have to give your product away. I could totally hock it for you.



Product parties are a rite of passage for most American females. It works like this: a friend or co-worker tells you she is having a party and invites you. She adds on that she will be selling Avon/Pampered Chef/Longaberger Baskets/Sex Toys at said party…but, don’t worry, you don’t have to buy anything. Then you go and eat the free food, looking through a catalogue for the cheapest item you can find because, despite her claim, you do feel obligated to buy something. A Pampered Chef ice cream scoop for $19.99? What a steal.



These parties serve the companies and hostesses well. The company gets people to sell their products without having to pay them anything up front. The hostess gets prizes and discounts for meeting certain quotas.

My suggestion to Nintendo is to start utilizing this business model. Though I have always secretly vowed never to host a product party, I would make an exception for Nintendo. Perhaps they could charge me $500 for a Nintendo At-Home Sales Starter Kit which would include 5 Pink Nintendo DS Lites, five games their marketing research shows would appeal to women, and a pretty catalogue featuring more games and Nintendo-certified accessories.



Nintendo could then let me earn a 15% commission from my sales. Like all those other companies bank on, they could be fairly confident that I would put my earned money back into Nintendo purchases.

Come on, Nintendo, it’s a win-win.

Unfortunately, this plan would never really work. While the target would be women, Nintendo couldn’t exclude men. We could have another generation of traveling salesmen introduced into society.



What other flaws do you see arising from Nintendo product parties? Or do you think parties like this could actually be a good thing? Would your girlfrien/mom/granny go to a Nintendo party? Ladies, would you want to host a party like this, especially if it meant getting kickbacks from Nintendo? Gentlemen, would you want to get in on it or would you be willing to leave it to the ladies?