A Wider Net

Nintendo’s creative master wizard, Shigeru Miyamoto, has blessed the gaming and pop culture world with Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, Nintendogs, and that is only the tip of the iceberg. He is often called the “father of modern gaming” and is largely responsible for the runaway success of the Wii console. It is safe to say that when Shiggy talks, people listen. And that point has been clarified, solidified, and immortalized by a recent Time readers poll that places Miyamoto clearly at the top of the list of “most influential people in the world”.

I don’t have a big idea around this announcement other than to offer some digital applause to an industry maverick and creative genius. But since we’re talking about him as a top “influencer”, we should really pay attention to his latest prophecy.

Wii Fit, Nintendo’s latest phenomenon, hits the United States this month after a rather stunning bit of success in Japan. I would have thought that a fitness game would have about as much chance of succeeding in the gaming world as George Bush does of properly pronouncing “Nuclear”. Apparently the “new” gaming world whole-heartedly disagrees. Wii Fit, which comes with a unique accessory called the Balance Board, compels gamers to get off the beanbags and participate in body-rocking aerobics, yoga, and sports games. It’s well-designed, fun, and addictive. It is also selling like crazy - there have been about 2 million copies of Wii Fit sold in Japan - nearly matching the sales of the Sony Playstation 3 - a console that is supposed to compete with the Wii itself, not one of it’s game/accessories. In the UK, stores have reported selling Wii Fit at a rate of one every 4 seconds. Will it catch fire in the US, especially so shortly after the release of the highest-rated, fastest-selling, highest-grossing media title of all time, the ultra-ridiculously-violent Grand Theft Auto IV? Almost certainly, since the Wii audience, which is the largest segment if the US gamer population, can’t buy GTA for their console.

But other than giving you a shopping tip (pre-order it), and wondering why it didn’t come out in time for Mothers Day or the critical New Year’s Resolution day, I mention Wii Fit so you can start planning it as an incentive gift, as an interactive audience attraction at trade shows and mobile exhibits, and as an investment in your employees work/life “balance”. “Wii Fit won’t make you fit”, says the most influential person in the world, but it will make you aware of your body. Let’s see how we can use it to make people aware of you.

Twofer tuesday (which is not a tradition at A Wider Net) continues with a wonderfully clickable snapable mighty morphing memory stick. Compatible with real Lego® bricks, these USB drives can take whatever shape and form factor you desire, provided you have the bricks, the patience, the free time, and the space next to your computer’s USB “inny”.

Put your logo on it. Wrap them in a biodegradable box labeled “Building The Future”, “Connecting With Your Audience”, or “We Make Your ____ a Snap” so they can dispose of the disposable slogan and keep the chummy tchotchke.

From Engadget. Manufacturer: Solid Alliance. Still looking for US resellers.

If you want your attendees to think you’re fun and a little wreckless, follow this three-step plan:

1. Put your logo on these

2. Put one at every seat

3. Serve lunch

Thanks again Gizmodo.

I managed to avoid posting over the holidays while I was on vacation, hanging out with family, and playing Rock Band while, strangely, our viewership actually went UP on this blog. To our readers who stuck with us through the holidays despite a brief lack of fresh content: THANK YOU.

I thought I should kick the year off with an oldie-but-goodie: 3D Viewers.

I found myself hanging around a friend during one of last weeks holiday gatherings who specializes in 3D of all sorts from the old nostalgia to the new IMAX movies. He was sharing some astonishing 3D still photos he had taken at various exotic places when he mentioned that he also produces 3D View-Master reels for corporations. It warmed my heart to hear that, not only are corporations recognizing the nostalgic karma they achieve by gifting these nifty contraptions to people, but they’re actually funding original relevant content for them.

If you’re interested in this stuff check out the official View-Master site, or one of these sites here, here, and here.
My friend’s site is also great 3D reference: Studio3D.com.

And as far as the relevance to New Year’s is concerned: Here is a View-Master reel that brings you into Times Square for New Year’s Eve at the Millenium.

Also, don’t forget about the American Paper Optics people. They specialize in branded paper 3D glasses, including 3D “fireworks glasses” used at (you guessed it) First Nights everywhere.

Yep, I wrote about these after seeing them at CES and thought they would make cool holiday gifts. Now all of Google’s Adsense customers will carry their brand around in their wallets. I’m still looking into how much storage they packed onto it and if it came preloaded with any Google-goodies (Googlies?)

From Everything USB

Information Aesthetics points to a really cool coffee mug that reminds us with every warm beverage that we need to take global warming seriously.

The image of the iceberg is gradually replaced by an image of a melted iceberg when the mug warms up. This would make a great premium gift from a green company. Does this mean we all have to switch to iced coffee?

Big3D - the big, er, 3D people famous for 3D motion lenticular billboards and soon-to-be-famous for delivering printed video clips have launched their 3D motion cups.

Big3D has been able to produce high resolution (9600dpi) lenticular 3D and animated posters and cards for years now, but they have managed to get the material thin enough to wrap around a drinking cup. They also, of course, have managed to handle the hairy math of creating a 3D illusion printed on 2D paper laminated in lenticular lens sheet and wrapped around an almost-cylinder. Part of me thinks it should not work - it’s just too many transforms from 3D to flat to cylinder. It’s as if they’ve created a perpetual motion machine or a time machine.

Unlike the perpetual motion machine and time machine, these things are real, they’re real cheap, and they’re real recyclable. Yes, these cups may appear to be wrapped in plastic, and they sort of are wrapped in plastic, but these are recyclable - unlike other lenticular cups. They even have a green statement on the page. Bravo.

I forgot to ask them if anyone has played the practical joke of creating a 3D virtual “mug handle” sticking out of the side of the cup.

EDIT - I stand corrected - the cups are made from polypropylene lens material with the printing directly on them - there is no paper, and the whole thing is recyclable. Slick.

I highlight a lot of USB drives. Perhaps too many. But they’re fun, practical, and now that you can launch applications from some of them, they’re a viable means of distributing easy-to-launch applications.

If you happen to work at a company whose name or product rhymes with, or has anything to do with, “chicken”, or “foot” then this one may be for you. There’s a bunch of fun jokes with this, starting with “open laptop, insert foot” and ending with “helping you get a leg up in 2008″.

Originally spotted at Whazatt Goes Chicken Huntin’

For those meetings and marketing programs that use taglines like:

“Developing Greatness”
“Opening the Future”
“Appreciating Greatness”
“Message in a Bottle”
or
“Greatness Over Time”

The wine bottle USB drive. An ingenious disguise, if you don’t want your polo buddies to know you’re a geek.

Foodies know what I’m talking about - an experience isn’t limited to the payoff. In the case of dining, the experience includes the anticipation based on the reputation of the chef and the restaurant, the ambience, the service, the scents, the sounds, and of course - the actual tastes, textures, and aromas of the food. But the presentation - the act and result of plating the food in a fashion that makes the meal look almost too good to eat - plays a role in that experience. Maybe presentation doesn’t affect taste as much as the bouquet of a fine red wine affects it’s reception by your palate, but it does affect the overall experience.

Take this ginormously over-engineered ring box below called the Euricase. It’s a box. It holds a gift item of value. And it might just be more interesting than the item itself. One thing is for certain, it is going to profoundly affect the experience of receiving this gift.

Inside the luxury container is an LCD display that cycles through a series of photographs. In the case of engagement rings, it would (I assume) feature photos that prove to the would-be ring-bearer that “yes” is the only correct answer to the ensuing question. Post-wedding, one would probably insert images of the wedding, as shown in the example or, more wisely, keep those “pre-proposal proof-you-should-say-yes images” in there to help answer the inevitable question years later “what was I THINKING?”

As LCD, OLED, and other display technology gets leaner and cheaper, this sort of living, active surface can be incorporated just about anywhere.

I would love to make a VIP pitch package using something like this - where the proposal, boards, and other materials are packaged within a video-encrusted case. Glittering and alive, the package would tell my story immediately upon opening. It would also make a terrific way to give a long-time employee a service award - their gold watch would be surrounded by vivid memories of their long career - something they can re-use with their family for years later.

In retail and exhibits, this type of package would make a great demo station for just about any premium product from jewelry to cellular phones. Gummy bears probably don’t need this level of presentation - they speak for themselves.

We do have a responsibility to make sure we don’t place these cheap displays in an application that could be considered a throwaway. In our (re)newly green-spirited culture we should make sure that the display has some residual usefulness after it’s role as a one-off “wow”.

Counterpoint: Ok, part of me wants to simply shout “Come on! Isn’t the ring enough, already?” I guess I like the packaging for applications when the “ring” isn’t enough.

Via Everything USB