cammie-dunaway
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Here's where Cammie Dunaway literally went
For many, working at Nintendo would be a dream job, helping to promote a brand that's been synonymous with wonder, fun and innovation for decades. So what could draw former EVP of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway away from the company? We've got the answer, straight from a recent press release: "After three years guiding kids through the virtual world of video games, Dunaway now is taking on the real-world entertainment of KidZania. Mexico-based KidZania is a global entertainment and educational phenomenon where kids explore and run a kid-sized city, complete with streets, buildings, businesses, vehicles and more." No, we're not not shitting you. Cammie Dunaway quit Nintendo to be the mayor of a city of children in Mexico. We'll be sure to bring you the scoop when she drops a boulder on Piggy.
Cammie Dunaway leaving Nintendo on October 1
Nintendo of America EVP of Sales and Marketing Cammie Dunaway will leave her position at Nintendo for a job outside of video games on October 1. Presumably it will be in one of the many industries whose executives aren't mocked daily on the internet. Dunaway joined Nintendo in November 2007 after holding the Chief Marketing Officer title at Yahoo and marketing jobs at Frito-Lay. "We appreciate Cammie's contributions to Nintendo and the role she played in bringing the Wii and Nintendo DS experiences to millions of people," NOA president Reggie Fils-Aime said in a statement. "Her team and the rest of Nintendo of America remain focused on our goal of maintaining the incredible momentum Nintendo enjoys heading into the busy holiday season." Fils-Aime then moved on to the task of taking Dunaway's name ... off of her office door.
Nintendo explains Vitality Sensor's absence at E3: show was too 'loud and stressful'
At E3 this year we were absolutely sure that Nintendo would finally release the details of its finger-trapping peripheral, the Vitality Sensor. The company revealed the thing the year prior and, well, it sure seemed like time to make it official. But, that didn't happen, and Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway (star of the 2009 Vitality Sensor reveal) told Game Set Watch why: there was just too much other stuff. Yes, Nintendo "had a really packed agenda" and was too busy showing off another Metroid sequel, another Zelda sequel and, shocker, another Kid Icarus sequel to make room for something that is actually new. She continues that E3 is "noisy and adrenaline-filled, and loud and stressful, and it just didn't seem like the best environment to introduce a product that's really about relaxing." So, here we are, left sitting alone, index fingers coldly exposed to the elements, forced to find other ways to relax on our own.
Nintendo continuing work on Vitality Sensor, 'really about relaxing'
Nintendo wowed E3 audiences this year when it unveiled the Nintendo 3DS. However, the Vitality Sensor, a mysterious peripheral for Wii announced at last year's E3, was missing from the lineup. What happened to it? Nintendo EVP Cammie Dunaway told Game Set Watch that Nintendo is "continuing to work on the Vitality Sensor." The reason for its absence? Nintendo had too much to show, such as the two dozen games showcased for the 3DS. "We realized we had a really packed agenda," Dunaway admitted. Fans upset about the Vitality Sensor's absence won't have to wait until next year's E3 to find out more about the device, however. "We decided we'd think about other venues that would be more appropriate," Dunaway explained. "[E3] is noisy and adrenaline-filled, and loud and stressful, and it just didn't seem like the best environment to introduce a product that's really about relaxing." But Cammie, will it help you be better at interviews? You wouldn't want Ubisoft to outdo Nintendo, would you?
Gaijin Games 'can't wait' to work on Bit.Trip.Runner for 3DS
Did you know that quite a few developers are working on games for the Nintendo 3DS? It's true! Here's this enormous list of games if you don't believe us. Not on that list, however, is Bit.Trip series developer Gaijin Games. That said, in a recent interview with Gamasutra, Nintendo executive VP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway said that the studio "can't wait" to start working on bringing Bit.Trip.Runner to the 3DS. Just think about it: colors, explosions and music all working in tandem -- but in three dimensions! All kidding aside, the idea of Bit.Trip.Runner on the 3DS sounds like pure insanity. Pure, wonderful insanity.
Nintendo's Dunaway says DS has 'room to grow' in US market
[Business Wire] Nintendo of America VP Cammie Dunaway thinks the Nintendo DS is going to keep on getting bigger in America. (And no, not just literally.) Speaking with VentureBeat, the executive highlighted the tremendous success of the Nintendo handheld. "We had our best year ever, selling 11.2 million units. That has never been done by any game platform ever." Yet, in spite of its success, Dunaway believes there's still a lot more to be done with the US market. Dunaway notes that -- in terms of market penetration -- "in Japan, one in two consumers has a DS." But in America? "It is one in four. So we have room to grow." Essentially, if Japan is the benchmark for America, Nintendo must sell twice as many DS systems as it already has. If there's one thing we've learned not to doubt this generation, it's Nintendo's ability to sell systems and make money. In January, the company was able to sell over 400,000 units in America -- and that figure is likely to grow with the introduction of the DSi XL in March. Perhaps we need to add even more money to this already-overused JPG. [Via Edge]
Dunaway hints at new Zelda in 2010, unsure about Xenoblade and The Last Story
As if Satoru Iwata's pronouncement of a 2010 release date for -- let's call it -- "New Legend of Zelda" wasn't exciting enough, Nintendo of America's Cammie Dunaway referenced a similar timeline for the upcoming Wii game at the Nintendo Media Summit this week. Speaking to GameLife, Dunaway said, "If you compare the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, it's night and day. And from some of the things that Mr. Iwata has talked about, and things that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we're going to have a good back half of the year, as well." So then, Zelda in the back half of 2010? Yes, please. In regards to North American releases of RPGs Xenoblade and The Last Story, Dunaway somewhat baffling said, "It's too early to say whether we're going to bring those here" -- even though Nintendo of America already announced Xenoblade back at E3 2009 when it was called Monado: Beginning of the World. It's possible Dunaway simply misspoke, or she just forgot about Monado -- like everyone else in the world. %Gallery-65431%
Dunaway: Wii successor isn't coming 'anytime soon'
GameSpot cornered Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway in a dimly lit back room at yesterday's Nintendo Media Summit and pried loose some information about the Wii's eventual successor. It would seem Nintendo is aiming for PlayStation 2 levels of success with the Wii, which means it'll be around for quite some time before being ousted by a follow-up system. "I don't think it'll be anytime soon," she said. "Even though our install base is, at this point, five million households larger than the PS2 install base was at the same point in its life cycle, it still has a lot of room to grow. If you think PS2, there's been about 50 million sold -- Wii close to 28 million sold -- so it says to me there's still a big audience out there that we can access with Wii." In a less oblique fashion, she added: "We'll have it ready when we think the time is right." The rest of the video is mainly fluff, with Dunaway talking up the large global install bases for the Wii and DS, and Wii Sports Resort's six million-strong success. The full video is embedded after the break.
Nintendo: GTA Chinatown Wars sales 'frustrating'
Nintendo's focus on "evergreen" titles has been a staple of the publisher for years now, with marketing support lasting longer than ever with this generation's major releases. So it surprised us last April when the company said it hoped "word of mouth" would help push GTA: Chinatown Wars' lackluster initial sales higher as the months progressed. However, when executive vice president Cammie Dunaway recently spoke with MTV Multiplayer, Nintendo's traditional message quickly returned. "Part of what's needed is you have to continue to put marketing support behind these titles." She also called sales "frustrating, quite frankly," but declined to comment on Rockstar's marketing surrounding the release of the game. Dunaway remained diplomatic through the conversation though, only offering, "The old dynamic of 'throw it on television for a few weeks and then move on and forget it' just doesn't work," giving us little more than a taste of her real feelings behind the release's marketing push. Check out the whole clip after the break.
Nintendo: Wii price cut drove sales up 85%
Nintendo tells the San Francisco Chronicle that sales of the Wii were up 85 percent week-to-week following the September price drop. The Chronicle's piece is mostly an examination of Nintendo's challenges in staying top console for a fourth Christmas in a row, with expectations that the console will have plenty of stock available this holiday for the first time since release. The Wii may not have the explosive sales that it's maintained for the last few years, but Nintendo is still swimming in cash. Perhaps a slowdown in Wii sales can be seen as a good thing -- we know how Nintendo loves to introduce hardware revisions when the going gets tough slower. [Via Gamasutra]
Nintendo's E3 2009 press conference presenters: Iwata, Fils-Aime and ... Cammie Dunaway
Nintendo has confirmed that Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime and everyone's favorite EVP of Sales and Marketing, Cammie Dunaway, will be speaking at the company's E3 2009 press conference. For those who need a reminder of last year's E3 keynote, check out the graciously edited clip of awkwardness found after the break.
Cammie Dunaway welcomes new Wii owners
In an open letter posted on Kotaku as part of their series of "Welcome to the Family" letters, Cammie Dunaway gave one of the lengthiest statements we've seen from the recently-hired executive vice president of sales and marketing. The letter is directed at all the new Wii owners who have joined the fold since the holidays, and lays out the attractive features of the Wii in a manner appropriate for a new gamer. Although fundamentally, we're not sure how many expanded audience members are reading gaming blogs.It's quite interesting to see what Nintendo is pitching to new gamers these days -- downloadable games are given a big push (World of Goo is now enough of a genuine hit to be the face of WiiWare, apparently!), as is Mario Kart Wii. Dunaway classifies the massively popular Mario Kart Wii as a "bridge game" that "really leads in two directions: not just from simple-to-more-involving, but also acting like a link between new gamers and veteran ones."
Nintendo confident core will be satisfied in 2009
Well, we would think, given that there are a bunch of really unique and fun-looking games coming down the pipe next year. MadWorld, Sin & Punishment 2, The Conduit, and Punch-Out!! are just a few of the games that the core are likely excited for. "I think that next year you're going to see the tide turn a little bit, in terms of people realizing that the Wii can have something of interest for everybody," said Cammie Dunaway in a MTV Multiplayer interview. "So, yeah, I think next year is going to be a pretty good year in terms of the breadth of offerings that are going to be out there for a bunch of folks."The full interview with Cammie hasn't been published yet, but we'll let you know when it does. Frankly, we're interested in hearing more from her on these games, because, well, we're as excited for them as you are![Via CVG]
First Club Nintendo North America details unexpectedly awesome [update]
Last month, Nintendo revealed that Club Nintendo, Japan and Europe's ace consumer rewards program, would launch in North America. Weeks of silence followed, but now Cammie Dunaway has started talking up the service. Here are five crucial facts she divulged to MTV Multiplayer: Club Nintendo in North America is still on schedule to launch before the end of 2008. It will be more like the Japanese program than the European, in that there will be more physical products than digital. As is the case in Europe, you gain points (known as gold coins in North America) by purchasing a product and entering a code on the Club Nintendo site, and can reap further points by completing surveys on the product you bought. In Europe, it's worth mentioning that these are hardly time-consuming: just five or six questions with tickboxes. Unlike in Europe, you can gain points for indicating an interest in purchasing before buying. Noice! Some items from the Japanese service will make it to North America (Yay! And also: please include this). If you'll excuse us, we're now going to randomly hit our keyboard in a fit of wild, unabated excitement. YAKJFDAIWOQBHKJGFEDRYUVBEIUQ[Update: A clarification: the service will be coming to North America as a whole! Apologies for the geographical confusion!] Want to see Club Nintendo's greatest gifts to Japan and Europe? OF COURSE YOU DO. So go here.
Wii Music makes slow start, Nintendo hoping it has legs
As part of its "Touch! Generations" range, Nintendo will hope Wii Music can rack up some dizzying sales figures. Sadly, the maligned music title hasn't made the best of starts in North America, falling a long way short of the launch window sales for other first-party titles, such as Wii Fit. Cammie Dunaway has revealed that the game did "somewhere [like] 65 or 66,000" in its first two weeks on sale, whereas the more expensive Wii Fit shifted 687,000 copies in its opening eleven days.Nintendo isn't about to panic, however. Rather, Dunaway thinks it could have the same long-term appeal already displayed by Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Mario Kart Wii, all of which regularly show up in the monthly NPD charts. "We're predicting that it's going to be an evergreen title, she told MTV Multiplayer. "And if you look at titles like Brain Age, it's about the same as what Brain Age did during it's first few weeks and went on to sell 2.5 million copies. Wii Fit certainly had a larger launch than that. But I think that people are starting to understand Wii Music."%Gallery-27713%
Nintendo: DSi won't immediately replace DS Lite in U.S.
While there's been a fair amount of excitement and buzz over the recently announced, camera-equipped upgrade to Nintendo's best-selling handheld, it seems that the big N doesn't want American gamers to neglect the DSi's older, lensless sibling. In a recent interview with Game|Life, Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo's VP of sales and marketing (and world-renowned snowboarding expert), explained that the DS Lite has "huge, untapped potential" in the U.S. -- potential that the company hopes to tap before replacing the Lite with the new shutterbugish model.Dunaway explained Nintendo's hopes to bring America's DS Lite sales to a level the company has come accustomed to in Japan, where one in every two households owns the handheld. While the DSi isn't due out in America until "well into 2009", Nintendo hopes to bolster Lite sales by allowing the two versions to "coexist for some period of time". Hey, as long as the DS Lite doesn't go all Macaulay Culkin in The Good Son, we're cool with it.
Cammie: Pikmin Wiimake 'not the Pikmin Miyamoto referred to'
If you were overcome by that sinking feeling -- more like a freefalling plummet -- after reading yesterday's news, fret not, Cammie Dunaway has confirmed that there is a true Pikmin sequel in the works. "It's not the Pikmin that Mr. Miyamoto referred to, no. Mr. Miyamoto referred to a new Pikmin, as opposed to the classics that are being rereleased on Wii," Dunaway reassured IGN. See? Nintendo does care about you. Just be patient. There are a lot of exciting projects holding up the queue.
Cammie Dunaway clears up Pikmin confusion
When Play on Wii was announced, we all wondered if this was the Pikmin that Shigeru Miyamoto talked about back at E3. According to Cammie Dunaway, it is not and Nintendo is in fact working on a brand new Pikmin game. When asked about the confusion, Cammie said this Play on Wii game is "not the Pikmin that Mr. Miyamoto referred to" and that "Mr. Miyamoto referred to a new Pikmin, as opposed to the classics that are being rereleased on Wii." So, aside from selling us old games again, Nintendo also wants to sell us new games. Sounds good to us!
Cammie: Nintendo 'disappointed' with E3 performance
For Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America's executive VP of sales and marketing, July's E3 media briefing was the perfect opportunity to cast a new spell. With most of Wii's casual ownership tuned out (c'mon, you think grandpop was glued to G4?), the press conference should have marked an effort to dazzle Nintendo's wavering "core." Allow the fans a whiff of another classic sequel, and all would have been right in their hearts. Instead, well ... you know what happened."I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3. There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased," Cammie recently admitted to VGChartz, adding, "We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming. It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage." Points for honesty?
Nintendo finally admits E3 was a disappointment
During an interview with VGChartz, Nintendo's resident wrist-hurting, Shaun White-introducing marketing lady, Cammie Dunaway, commented that Nintendo's E3 showing was a bit of a disappointment. You don't say?"I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3," commented Dunaway. "There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have show cased." Yes, we'd have to agree. It was certainly the best game we played at the show. But what about this Pikmin 3 business? "We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming," she said. "It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo." E3 2008 was a pretty big deal. We had lots of hands-on impressions, as well as new screens and video to talk about. Check out our live impressions from Nintendo's keynote here, as well as some of the big news right here.
