Norwegian Cruise Line Adds a Wii U to Every Ship in the Fleet

[Josh Engen]

Norwegian Cruise Line Adds a Wii U to Every Ship in the Fleet

Passengers aboard a Norwegian Cruise Line vessel will soon be spending some quality time with Nintendo's newest console.

Norwegian Cruise Line and Nintendo of America have announced a partnership that will place a Wii U on every ship in the cruise line's armada. The console will be available in the ships' atriums and teen centers, and Norwegian is planning to kick off a series of Wii U-centric events and competitions.

"Wii U provides one of the most social video game experiences you can have, whether you're playing with family members or friends," said Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America's executive vice president of Sales & Marketing. "The ships in Norwegian Cruise Line's fleet give people a great opportunity to experience Wii U for themselves, have fun playing Nintendo games and make some new friends."

Norwegian and Nintendo have had an ongoing relationship since 2007, when the Wii was incorporated into the fleet's entertainment package. So, the decision to upgrade isn't entirely surprising. But the console's current library isn't particularly cruise friendly, which may become a problem if Nintendo doesn't start selling units.

However, Richard Ambrose, Norwegian Cruise Line's vice president of entertainment, obviously disagrees with me. "The Wii consoles have always been extremely popular among our guests," he said. "The new Wii U systems are guaranteed to take gaming on board to the next level, and will surely be a hit."

Source: Press Release

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[Roxas1359]

Huh, I can see this being a good type of advertising for Nintendo. I mean I remember when I was little and the hotels would have N64 controllers on the TVs so that you could order N64 games to play in the hotel room.

 

[Lightknight]

Hmm, that's like what, 50 wiiUs?

The biggest upside of this is that it's actually some kind of marketing. The downside is I've been on those boats and I can't say that the teen center is the nicest place for a WiiU gamepad. But you are talking about a lot of advertisement for kids.

 

[Kenjitsuka]

"Norwegian Cruise Line Adds a Wii U to Every Ship in the Fleet"
A WHOLE Wii U per ship?!

Seriously, if I was on a cruise ship I'd be behind that thing all the time!

 

[Evil Smurf]

You know, that could be a deal maker when choosing a holiday for me. Too bad I don't live in Norway.

 

[AldUK]

A new strategy from Nintendo? Nobody is buying our console, let's sell to businesses! Whatever works for them, I guess. Though at this point I really feel like they should just focus on ruling the handheld market, since that's clearly Nintendo's strength these days.

 

[Daniel Janhagen]

You know, that could be a deal maker when choosing a holiday for me. Too bad I don't live in Norway.

I think "Norwegian" is just a name, and that they have nothing to do with Norway the country, but want to evoke some feeling of the tradition of seafaring norsemen.

 

[mysecondlife]

You know, that could be a deal maker when choosing a holiday for me. Too bad I don't live in Norway.

Do you live in Florida? That's where NCL is headquartered.

 

[synobal]

Big spenders, a whole WiiU pership. I guess it will give passengers something to do when their ships breaks down and they are getting towed in by the coast guard.

 

[Dragonbums]

I hardly doubt the Wii U's small library is much of a problem. You know, the benefits of backwards compatibility and all can really compensate for that.

On that note, it's a pretty clever form of advertising. At this point your shoving the console right into the faces of hundreds of potential customers that will finally know that the Wii U is actually a console and not a peripheral add on.


And as we all know, good word-of-mouth is a very powerful tool. (Now all they need is holiday adds. I mean the 2DS had fucking television advertisements.)

 

[Evil Smurf]

You know, that could be a deal maker when choosing a holiday for me. Too bad I don't live in Norway.

Do you live in Florida? That's where NCL is headquartered.

I live in Australia, no chance of me going on that cruise then

 

[Dragonbums]

A new strategy from Nintendo? Nobody is buying our console, let's sell to businesses! Whatever works for them, I guess. Though at this point I really feel like they should just focus on ruling the handheld market, since that's clearly Nintendo's strength these days.

Not a new strategy. The article even said that they've been doing this since the Wii in 2007, and that console was far from making low sales.

It might as well just be an upgrade to a solid partnership.

 

[Toastngravy]

Hmm, that's like what, 50 wiiUs?

Nope, 12.
The Norwegian Cruise Line currently has 12 active ships. Man I love the internet.


But anyway, yeah. With 12 ships, that's 12 WiiU's. Not anything spectacular or particularly interesting. Potentially good advertising as I (think) someone may have mentioned above me. Play it on the cruise line think "wow, we had so much fun with that lets look into getting one when we can". Not bad.

 

[AldUK]

A new strategy from Nintendo? Nobody is buying our console, let's sell to businesses! Whatever works for them, I guess. Though at this point I really feel like they should just focus on ruling the handheld market, since that's clearly Nintendo's strength these days.

Not a new strategy. The article even said that they've been doing this since the Wii in 2007, and that console was far from making low sales.

It might as well just be an upgrade to a solid partnership.

T'was sarcasm. I wasn't actually suggesting that Nintendo are going to shift gears and focus on selling their games systems to companies. That would be Microsoft levels of dumb.

 

[Dragonbums]

A new strategy from Nintendo? Nobody is buying our console, let's sell to businesses! Whatever works for them, I guess. Though at this point I really feel like they should just focus on ruling the handheld market, since that's clearly Nintendo's strength these days.

Not a new strategy. The article even said that they've been doing this since the Wii in 2007, and that console was far from making low sales.

It might as well just be an upgrade to a solid partnership.

T'was sarcasm. I wasn't actually suggesting that Nintendo are going to shift gears and focus on selling their games systems to companies. That would be Microsoft levels of dumb.

Second time today I missed sarcasm.
Damn you internet.

 

[OldNewNewOld]

I'm wondering if the title is right.

...adds A WiiU to every ship...
Is it really just 1 WiiU per ship? I mean, that's like nothing compared to the amount of people on the ship. I would understand 3-4 units, but 1 unit per ship is...
Oh well, at least it should be some nice advertisement for Nintendo. Hopefully more people will realize that the WiiU is actually a different console and not just a Wii gamepad.
With this and the games coming out by the end of the year, the WiiU should see a drastic increase in sales.

 

[SamTheNewb]

Yes, I'm sure you'd like to waste your entire time on a computer rather than enjoying the point of being on a cruise ship.

The point of being on a cruise ship is to be able to visit many destinations without the hassle of having normal travel between each city. There are, (depending on the cruise schedule) however, often whole days spent on the open ocean. That is when things like shuffleboard start to look fun.

 

[Doom972]

I wonder if they realize that this console isn't all about motion control like its predecessor.

Yes, I'm sure you'd like to waste your entire time on a computer rather than enjoying the point of being on a cruise ship. That said, if you can afford to go on a cruise ship I'm sure buying a WiiU isn't exactly going to break your bank account.

Maybe I'm just too miserable to accept technology when on traditional holiday trips.

Well they did say that it would be on the ships' "teen centers", which I guess is a place for parents to leave their kids when they want to go to the ship's casino, and other activities that minors can't participate in.