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I turned on my 3DS recently and saw there was an update waiting for me. I let 'er rip, and afterwards, was told that I should really load up the Streetpass app, because there was some new stuff waiting for me. For those of you who don't know, Streetpass enables 3DS owners to trade a small amount of information when they have their 3DSs on and they pass within a short physical distance of each other. They can then use these exchanges to collect various digital prizes and play games. It's a clever local-social mechanic that actually works quite well.
The update added several new games that could be played using Streetpasses, but not for free. Which is totally fine. Curious how much it would cost me, I selected one of the new games. Doing so conjured a small bunny rabbit holding a tablet, who then proceeded to give me my first ever on-console sales pitch. He checked prices on his tablet, gave me the pitch... it was polite enough, but I decided I was going to think about it, and selected "not now". The rabbit was visibly upset with this selection. Later, when I selected another game to get more information, he launched into a "get all four for the price of three" pitch, that read like an informercial.
Am I the only one slightly bothered by this? A lot of 3DS players are children. They're going to be subjected to this classic sales pressure scheme and bug their parents to buy these games so that they don't MAKE THE BUNNY SAD. It's sick. Sick, and pure genius.
Thankfully, I'm an adult, and these tricks don't work on me.
...
Alright, so I bought them. But because I wanted them, not because the bunny was sad, okay!
~C
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4 thoughts on “The Pitch”
cpdohert
Advertisers using hard sell techniques on children to push their products? Oh No! Quickly! Alert 1958!
coliver
Good point :). This just feels so much more explicit.
Schmuck Man
This feels a bit underhanded for Nintendo.
Thanks for reminding me I haven’t touched my 3DS in a month or so, I should play it sometime.
coliver
It’s actually seen some solid releases lately.