EEDAR: Rhythm Paradise's mass-marketing campaign essential

Market advertising techniques such as those used by Nintendo to promote the US versions of Rhythm Paradise and Cooking Guide: Can't Decide What To Eat? are essential in gaming's new mass-market world, according to EEDAR analyst Jesse Divinch.

Rhythm Paradise, known in the US as Rhythm Heaven, employed an aggressive marketing campaign featuring celebrity singer Beyonce, which Divinch expects to have exceeded USD 6 million dollars.

"Rhythm Heaven is a fairly standard game in terms of features, but its sales performance has been nothing short of amazing due to Nintendo’s ability to leverage an effective marketing campaign using a celebrity," said Divinch.

"With videogames now becoming a mass-market entertainment product, publishers must realise that to truly reach the mass-market audience, they must use mass-market techniques (such as celebrity endorsement) to market their products," he continued, noting that the campaign is similar to Michael Jordan endorsing Nike sneakers and Ozzy Osbourne promoting World of Warcraft.

"In this new gaming market, when targeting a mass-audience, it is not always the best products that succeed, but often what the consumers believe is the best product," said Divinch. "Using celebrities in a mass-market media campaign is certainly one of the most effective ways to create the perception of being a must-own title."

"In fact, the Guitar Hero/Rock Band war is a perfect example of how Guitar Hero was ultimately able to gain mass-market acceptance through celebrity endorsements and advertisement even though editorial reviews indicated that Rock Band was a better product."

Last week, Nintendo revealed that Rhythm Paradise has reached 1.9 million units sold worldwide. Personal Trainer: Cooking, which used a similar marketing campaign with popular actress Lisa Kudrow, has recorded 1.84 million units sold.