Nintendo riddle PR: Wii release date?

[Rolf N]

http://press.nintendo.com/articles.jsp?id=9938

July 25, 2006 - The fourth quarter of 2006 will herald a new era for Nintendo with the launch of its remarkable new Wii™ home video game system. But that's not what this news item is about! How could that be, you ask? Perhaps the secret to the launch information for Wii is somehow encoded in the text of this news item.

Found while browsing arstechnica news. They have their own interpretation, but I disagree with them

Call me crazy, but I believe the #39 bears some significance, even though other PRs have included the same encoding. It's not that I can actually believe that right now ... week 39 would be the end of September AFAIK. But it's the only thing I'm currently seeing that makes any sense IMO, given the clues.

 

[JeffK]

My interpretation is:

They explictly mention 3 games in the press release:

"Nintendo DSâ„¢ owners are the big winners. Every week or so, another huge DS title hits, from the Touch Generations title Clubhouse Gamesâ„¢ to fan favorites like Elite Beat Agentsâ„¢ and Yoshi's Islandâ„¢ 2.

Oct. 9: Clubhouse Gamesâ„¢
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agentsâ„¢
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Islandâ„¢ 2

Look at the days of the month : 09, 06, 13

rearrange to get 09-13-06. The official launch date is September 13th!

 

[Rolf N]

My interpretation is:

They explictly mention 3 games in the press release:



Oct. 9: Clubhouse Games™
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agents™
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Island™ 2

Look at the days of the month : 09, 06, 13

rearrange to get 09-13-06. The official launch date is September 13th!

Hmmm ...!
That's a Wednesday. Any precedent for launching stuff on Wednesdays?

 

[darkblu]

jesus, zeck, i was about to call it a b3d day here : )

ok, here we go..

i personally find that FF paragraph in the release rather conspicuous - particlularly the james bond analogy they used rather randomly - and james bond has the proverbial numerical alias 'agent 007'. so i think it's gonna be on the 7th of... oops, ran out of space ; )

 

[Bad_Boy]

Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall.

 

[Rolf N]

Waaaaa! Got to retract my interpretation. Week 39 is in the fall but not in Q4
Or is it? 2006 started with a Sunday. Does that count as a proper, err, countable week?

 

[cthellis42]

Who cares about the Wii? I'll just be playing Elite Beat Agents!

 

[StefanS]

Or maybe it's all just a scam to get you to read the other games we have launching this fall. One of the two.

Nice move to keep those occupied who actually read press releases. It's a PR stunt.

Anyway, we need somebody who is an Da Vinci Code addict. Since that thing is very popular, Nintendo might have used that one.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

I've seen other articles on other subjects that basically just mock The Da Vinci Code, having no secret code but leaving readers to create their own (which they're surprisingly good at doing, creating convincing arguments for aspects never even intended by an article's author...).

My guess is they just put that in their to get people thinking, and maybe spread word of the article to generate hits, as all and sundry descend on the article to work out the clues. Heck, it even sounds very tongue in cheek with...

You might want to pore over it for a few hours before staying up all night to debate phraseology and comma placement with your friends online.

.

Mentioning Wii in with a game launch lineup means getting more people to rad it than would care to otherwise, and generate talk on when Wii is launching. But not including a real code, you create even more ideas and discussion, helping maintain the intrigue (and visits, and pundits reading software lineups) and thus the PR is very effective.

I say viral marketting (but a cunning approach, better IMO than wierd websites that don't even mention the products they're supposed to be generating interest in!)

 

[Rolf N]

You people are way too rational. You calm my excitement. You shatter my illusions. If that's what you wanted, well done.
*sniff*

 

[J_Saint]

My interpretation is:

They explictly mention 3 games in the press release:



Oct. 9: Clubhouse Gamesâ„¢
Nov. 6: Elite Beat Agentsâ„¢
Nov. 13: Yoshi's Islandâ„¢ 2

Look at the days of the month : 09, 06, 13

rearrange to get 09-13-06. The official launch date is September 13th!

Perhaps those are the launch dates for Japan, US and Europe? Sports Illustrated mentioned a launch date of 11/6 for US and Best Buy lists Wii games with 11/3 releases. Far from concrete evidence but just a thought.

 

[StefanS]

From Matt's blog

I'm leaving the realm of rumor when I state that Nintendo is scheduled to hold a Wii related event in September. Furthermore, Iwata himself has said that the price and release date of the machine would likely come in September. Now, the Tokyo Game Show happens to fall in late September. If the hardware is ready in bulk, what is to stop the Big N from announcing price and release date on or around TGS and then shipping everything a week later?

 

[Clashman]

From Matt's blog

While it would be really nice to see the hardware ship in September, it might be wise to wait for enough software to get finished and have a really solid launch lineup. It seems that as it is, a lot of developers weren't prepared for the positive press the Wii has garnered, and they might need a little more time to get something ready.

 

[OtakingGX]

You people are way too rational. You calm my excitement. You shatter my illusions. If that's what you wanted, well done.
*sniff*

Well, if you really want an irrational analysis, then I'll give you mine. I posted it on another forum, so I'll just copy it here:

My guess, from the article? October 8. I'll tell you why, too (and yes, it's convoluted!). Anyhow, there's this sentence that bugged me, right at the end of the first paragraph: "One of the two." It's just hanging out there, like it doesn't belong. Well, in Japanese that translates as: "ni no ichi." What do you find when you search for that term? A position in the game of Go. Apparently it's a peculiar point on the board where fighting rules that apply to the sides no longer apply in the corners.

So how did I get October 8 from this? Well, on the Go board 2-1 (ni no ichi) represents the row, then column. So that point is the second row, first column on the board. Look at October on the calendar. It starts on a Sunday, so it resembles a board with all the spaces. The second week, first day gives you October 8.

 

[Rolf N]

Well, if you really want an irrational analysis, then I'll give you mine. I posted it on another forum, so I'll just copy it here:

My guess, from the article? October 8. I'll tell you why, too (and yes, it's convoluted!). Anyhow, there's this sentence that bugged me, right at the end of the first paragraph: "One of the two." It's just hanging out there, like it doesn't belong. Well, in Japanese that translates as: "ni no ichi." What do you find when you search for that term? A position in the game of Go. Apparently it's a peculiar point on the board where fighting rules that apply to the sides no longer apply in the corners.

So how did I get October 8 from this? Well, on the Go board 2-1 (ni no ichi) represents the row, then column. So that point is the second row, first column on the board. Look at October on the calendar. It starts on a Sunday, so it resembles a board with all the spaces. The second week, first day gives you October 8.

That's the spirit!

Questions though. How do you figure it is October? And why would they launch a console on a Sunday? Don't weeks start on Monday?
My calendar counts that way

 

[darkblu]

Questions though. How do you figure it is October?

he knows because he figured out what month i had in mind ; p

ps: 7th of oct is the only saturday that is also a 7th in Q4. seems like a good launch day to me - people can start lining up from the previous day and stay in line till late on that day : )

 

[OtakingGX]

he knows because he figured out what month i had in mind ; p

ps: 7th of oct is the only saturday that is also a 7th in Q4. seems like a good launch day to me - people can start lining up from the previous day and stay in line till late on that day : )

That date also works with my theory as Go boards are omnidirectional.

edit: Oops, I was wrong. The date one the other side of the calendar that corresponds to the same position is the 14th, not the 7th.

 

[StefanS]

That date also works with my theory as Go boards are omnidirectional.

To add to the conspiracy: Remember that Wii is Nintendo's fifth home console which translates to Go in Japanese (though it is a different Kanji). Moreover, the title in the leaked screenshot supposedly showing the leaked Revolution name was "Go".

However, I think this is BS. But it's fun so let's create a rumour.

 

[Guden Oden]

Well, if you really want an irrational analysis, then I'll give you mine.

That was actually a rather rational analysis I think, although a rather crazy one. Still, I much enjoyed following its convoluted twists and turns, thanks!

 

[StefanS]

Nintendo fusion tour dates
Linky

Sept. 27 Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 28 Indianapolis
...
Nov. 11 Chicago

If Wii is not launched before the end of the Fusion tour, it launches Nov. 12th just one day before Yoshi Island 2 which was in the former press release.