August 15, 2002

8:05 AM

Game Boy (and Girl) indeed!The fine folks at Nintendo's Street Team are coming to a festival, concert, or amusement park near you (if you live in one of the eight selected cities.) Appearing like a cross between a robot and a human billboard, these cats attract kids like someone handing out free frozen twinkies. I saw them at the Taste of Dallas festival. Anyone else spotted them? Would you do it for $100 per day? Or would you be more like the guy that said "I would have paid Nintendo to do this job."?
posted by Ufez Jones (20 comments total)

The posted link should work. If not, a thousand apologies. Due to the cookie in my browser, I can't really tell. Will someone check for me? And, by the way, Twinkies that have been in the freezer are the only way to go, and they've been a favorite of mine for many years.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:08 AM on August 15, 2002

I'm getting the registration page. Gimme a sec, I'll fake up a hotmail address.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:11 AM on August 15, 2002

Wow. I live in Los Angeles but haven't seen this "Street Team" in action. I'm not sure what's a worse gig -- this or dressing up like a personified sandwich to entice customers to enter a Subway?
posted by herc at 8:12 AM on August 15, 2002

Crap, PST. I e-mailed it to myself, clicked on the link, and posted that one, thinking it would bypass registration. You don't need to use a real e-mail, as you don't have to confirm anything to read the article. Sorry 'bout that, fucking Morning News.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:14 AM on August 15, 2002

[e-mail]
Password: qwerty
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 8:15 AM on August 15, 2002

thanks, PST.
posted by Ufez Jones at 8:19 AM on August 15, 2002

It worked. And the latter. Nintendo, I have to say, is a marketing genius, because I've been a Nintendo loyalist since the NES, and still am. I love them like no other organization on earth, even though I rarely play video games and don't have enough money for a GameCube at the moment.

God. This is depressing.
posted by tweebiscuit at 8:25 AM on August 15, 2002

I would have paid Nintendo to do this job.

I love them like no other organization on earth.

Am I missing something here? Probably just a Gamecube...{sniff}
posted by gottabefunky at 8:30 AM on August 15, 2002

i used to play a lot of nintendo when the NES and SuperNES was around, but i shifted to the playstation when final fantasy did. (though now the series kind of sucks.) nintendo's current marketing seems to target a younger audience, though, and it doesn't really grab me. i'm thinking my next system will be a PS2. (really, moz! you're always on top of current technology, aren't you! the PS2 is only 2 years old!)
posted by moz at 8:42 AM on August 15, 2002

fwiw moz, final fantasy will be returning to nintendo in the future.
posted by zoopraxiscope at 8:53 AM on August 15, 2002

Why settle for frozen twinkies when you can have... deep fried twinkies!

Best restaurant ever. Yes, it's off topic, but oh so delicious.
posted by The Michael The at 9:05 AM on August 15, 2002

zoo:

i wish that ff would return to form, too. i remember reading somewhere that the makers of the game, at squaresoft in japan, had always wanted to do something "cinematic" (which explains the attempt at a ff movie). you can see a progression to more show as their series matured, particularly starting with ff7. ff8 was disappointing to me. you know, i've got ff9 but i haven't really played it much. (that's my fault.)

maybe i'm just hanging onto nostalgia. i do that a lot with games. ff1 was the last rpg my dad and i ever played together, and that meant a lot to me. it's my favorite of the series. 4 was great, and 6 (2 and 3 in the states). ah: games.
posted by moz at 9:18 AM on August 15, 2002

you better believe I woulda paid to do this! I've been kickin' it 8-bit style since I was self-aware. I'm still gettin' busy on Gunsmoke, Dr. Mario, Wheel of Fortune (although I'm running out of puzzles), Blaster Master, Super Mario Brothers 3, all Castlevanias...
posted by mcsweetie at 9:20 AM on August 15, 2002

More cool Nintendo publicity stunt action on August 22nd in the Bay area. Washington Park to be exact:

Nintendo Breaks World Record for Largest Bowl of Pasta

"To date, the largest bowl of spaghetti topped the scales at 2,564 pounds. The new record will weigh in at 2,700 pounds of pasta and sauce, provided by Bucca di Beppo. "

Mmmmmm... spaghetti.

Nintendo rocks. I love my GameCube. ;) Wish I lived in SF tho, so I could attend.
posted by tittergrrl at 9:34 AM on August 15, 2002

I can't say I would've paid Nintendo for the job, but I'dve done it for free (well, assuming they covered food, lodging and transportation).
posted by lia at 10:56 AM on August 15, 2002

one of my neighbors works for the ad agency in charge of this in dallas. they had a corporate event where they all went through the street team training. sigh, she got to play mario sunshine MONTHS AGO! argh!

if she could have got me in i probably would have quit my job without hesitation
posted by cody at 11:11 AM on August 15, 2002

Mmm... Spaghetti. I think I'll go to that, since I don't have a job or anything important to get to.
posted by Down10 at 11:23 AM on August 15, 2002

I was a finalist for the Atlanta Street Team. I stopped by a local Circuit City and made the audition tape with no preparation whatsoever, and was picked from the masses to be one of 20 candidates. I eventually won a popularity poll on the site (thanks to my online minions). It had no real influence on Nintendo's selections, but I still enjoyed pulling ahead of my arch-nemesis, Denise Gonzalez in the 11th hour, even if I did get the shaft otherwise.

I guess I wasn't peppy enough. Oh well. You must all check out this guy's audition tape. He rassles midgets, destroys a TV and gets more bonus points for listing his favorite type of music as "Rock and/or Roll" and his favorite movie as Rushmore.

Also worth noting, to be on the team, you must be available for 8-hour workdays EVERY Friday, Saturday and Sunday for about 2 months. I didn't feel too bad about missing out on that part of the deal. It would be nice to win this stuff, though.

Oh, and I haven't spotted our team, either... even though I've been to several of the free concerts downtown where they're known to hang out.
posted by El_Gray at 11:52 AM on August 15, 2002

Nintendo has a long and storied history... I'm suprised more companies don't have street teams though... It's pretty much the de facto way things are done in the music business.
posted by drezdn at 2:56 PM on August 15, 2002

that's a really cool link, drezdn. thanks!
posted by moz at 3:30 PM on August 15, 2002