...all up in my house. I know, that's not exactly anything I've ever really thought about picturing either. That was, until yesterday when quite literally, Nintendo was in my house.
Yep, that's me on the far right with all the Nintendo Peeps in my front yard.
Confused? Here's how it began: I get an email with "Nintendo Ambassador" as the subject. I look over it, and send a reply, "I'm sorry but I think you may have sent this by mistake". Get an email back stating that it was no mistake along with proof that the email is legit (I think I may have asked for them to take me off the spam list or something short and cynical) and that they know who I am (which I'm assuming meant the lowest-tech person stumbling around the blogosphere) and found me through my blog. Wow. OK, interest peaked. After a few more emails back and forth I find myself all signed up as a Nintendo Ambassador. Huh? I basically agreed to have some super hush-hush gamer shindig at my house so a big old bunch of my family and friends could check out the highly anticipated, not yet released Wii Gaming System. Disclaimer- this would be something I never thought I'd do in a million years until my husband caught wind of it. Mind you, he's no gamer but his thought, if the blogging world offers me perks, then who am I to refuse?? Good point. So,we had the party yesterday and if you can imagine, there were 4 amazing TV's set up, with 4 Wii Gaming Systems (under lock and key, I might add)throughout our house. It was pretty impressive, I must say. And I'm one mom who is not easily impressed with these kinds of things. But everyone was really getting into the fun, flailing arms and legs and everything. Let's just say that most of the Wii system games that we played do not accommodate couch potatoes!
SO, back to the perks. Hmmm, let's see if I can recall some of the perks...
Free shirts
Enough food from our favorite Mexican Restaurant to feed a small country (did I mention beer and wine?)
The ability to really impress our friends
Family bonding
Getting witness people getting their 'game on'
Letting our daughter and her friends go nuts (who now think blogging is the portal to all things good)
Our thank you gifts (Can you say DS lites & games? I'll bet your kids can!)
Playing games that no one else has played yet, "neener, neener, neener!" (as my Uncle put it)
Party Favors
To have a phenomenal group of strangers come in, set up a full-blown, all expenses paid, totally amazing party at our house and then CLEAN it all up for us.
Left overs (in both the food and the alcohol department)
But don't just take my word for it-check out the mosaic I made with those groovy flickr toys.
So, to put it simply, Nintendo won me over. And I think I can say the same for the 35 other people that we're here. I'll betcha half of them have already pre-ordered their Wii Systems (which won't be available to the public until Nov. 19th). Which is I'm sure what this party set out to do. And if that is the case, mission accomplished guys. Wii now love Nintendo. And for the record, you are welcome in my home anytime!
How cool! Thanks for sharing your exciting day with all of us!
Posted by: Colleen | 09/18/2006 at 05:42 PM
That is so friggin' cool Tracey - you really are taking this bloggin' world by storm. I say take all the perques you can get... why the heck not.
Posted by: Marisa | 09/18/2006 at 10:01 PM
YOU JUST AMDE WIFE AND MOM OF THE YEAR AS FAR AS YOUR KIDS AND HUSBAND ARE CONCERNED I'M SURE! MY SON AND HUSBAND WOULD LOVE ME IF I BROUGHT THAT INTO MY HOUSE!
Posted by: TARA GRANT | 09/19/2006 at 07:56 AM
That is really cool, Tracey. Sure sounds like all of you were having alot of fun.I'm not really a game person but my Kids, if that happen to us I'm sure I would have a different outlook on the game systems.
Posted by: Kimberly | 09/19/2006 at 09:44 AM
SUPERCOOL Trace!!
Posted by: Claddyjack | 09/19/2006 at 11:09 AM
Lucky you! ;) Sounds like a great time. How come nobody ever contacts me for the cool stuff?
Posted by: K. | 09/19/2006 at 01:01 PM
Hey, you had a super-secret first look at the console of the future!!!! i'm the wii ambassador for chicago, and although i'm not having the party at my house, i'm super excited about the Wii party i'm hosting in chicago. any more details you would like to share, email me at elmoco2000@yahoo.com. thanks!!!!!!!!
Posted by: el moco | 09/19/2006 at 02:12 PM
You, Mrs. Clark, are wonderful. Thanks for sharing and making a lot of people really jealous!
Posted by: Jack | 09/19/2006 at 03:54 PM
Nice journal entry, Wii seems to be looking up, even in the family perspective, where systems like Xbox 360 have not!
Thanks for reporting, I appreciate it!
Posted by: Alex | 09/19/2006 at 04:57 PM
awesome! im going to the chicago one and this blog made me psyched!!
Posted by: Gil | 09/19/2006 at 05:38 PM
My son will birth a cow when he hears about this one. A live cow!
Posted by: kelly | 09/20/2006 at 06:56 AM
So how did it feel to play? The controller is suppose to be different, but did people actually figure it out, or did it take the day until it "clicked"?
And how about the "Wii Sports" game - I've been thinking about setting that up so my wife and I can play tennis indoors ;).
Posted by: John Hummel | 09/20/2006 at 10:39 AM
Hi, I'm a gamer who stumbled upon your blog because of an entry in a gaming blog. I'm curious about one thing, were there people over say 60+ years old in your party and if so, what did they think about the Wii? I really want to know if the console is actually as user friendly as Nintendo says it is, I know kids will love it, I know young adults will love it,but I'm curious about what senior citizens think of it, if they also liked then Nintendo has done their homework on this thing pretty good.
PS: please post more regular size pics of the party xD .
Posted by: JAC | 09/20/2006 at 11:31 AM
Dang Tracey! Now, who's the cyber celeb? That is awesome.
Posted by: Jennifer | 09/20/2006 at 12:26 PM
What a fantastic experience! I really think that Nintendo has the correct formula this time. I know my mother who hasn't played a video game since Choplifter (Atari folks...) has played my brother's DS for games like Brain Age. Here's one gamer (me) that can't wait for his Wii.
Posted by: Marcus | 09/20/2006 at 12:41 PM
Wow! As a major gaming family, we have really looked forward to the Wii! Can't wait now!!
Posted by: Kelly | 09/20/2006 at 01:16 PM
Thanks Nintendo & thanks Tracey!! That party was a BLAST. I am speaking for all of my family when I say: Wii really had a great time!! To view more Clark Family WiiUNION photos, please go to:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jessicanew/
Posted by: Jessica New | 09/20/2006 at 01:45 PM
tooo cool :)
Posted by: Clay Cook | 09/20/2006 at 10:10 PM
Nintendo scares me a little. The reaction Annika had to her first exposure to a Nintendo system last fall was unbelievable. It was like watching a little addict get the first taste of her new obsession.
Posted by: moreena | 09/22/2006 at 02:15 PM
Shhhh, don't tell my boys. They'll be so jealous they might just D-I-E.
Heck, I'm jealous and I don't even play Nintendo!
Posted by: Shrinkingmom | 09/22/2006 at 04:13 PM
Well that just proves that I should be reading the contents of my bulk email folder a little more closely. I for sure would have deleted an email with that subject line!
How totally cool that you got to play the new Wii system. We already have a GameCube and an Xbox, but I'm a huge gamer so maybe we'll get one!
Posted by: Elizabeth | 09/23/2006 at 03:42 PM
Great to see the pictures, I also am having one of these at my house in October. Looking at your site is like a preview of things to come. Can't wait.
For those interested, I'm gonna be hosting one of these parties in Kansas City on Oct 21, i'll post about it on myspace www.myspace.com/bweather if you're following along.
Posted by: Bill W. | 10/02/2006 at 02:05 PM
THanks for the heads up on this one. Great stuff! I posted about your wii ambassador experience on my blog.
Posted by: Robyn Tippins | 10/06/2006 at 12:14 PM
Can't wait to get home and tell my husband about this. He will be sooooo jelous that MY blogging did not afford us this pleasure.
We've had a Wii on pre-order since December of last year (before you could even officially pre-order) and have been counting down the days since they announced the release date.
What an awesome opportunity. I'll just have to remind him that I was sent a 20 pack of cascades new 2 in 1 dishwashing detergant to write a review about. Somehow I think this dulls in comparision.
Posted by: Jenn | 10/06/2006 at 02:27 PM
I keep saying I want to see if the Porsche people would like me to do a product review . . . are you listening Porsche??
Posted by: Michelle | 10/12/2006 at 07:04 PM