It's probably not all fun when the job is actually yours. But to a casual observer, Alex Palomares and Thom Leonard have a pretty good gig. Right now, they're touring the country in a large white van, stopping in parking lots along the way to play video games.
They're part of Nintendo's GameCube tour, hitting the road in the weeks leading up to the holiday release of the newest games for Nintendo's GameCube and GameBoy Advance. So by the time the newest releases hit the shelves, they've already logged a few hundred — or more — hours playing them.
It's like a cozy den, with two easy chairs, two large television monitors and a stack of video games to keep anyone amused.
The job is to make the games look like must-have holiday items. And they succeeded pretty well when they were in Salt Lake City last month, nimble fingers at the wireless controls, guiding the character as he snowboards ahead of an avalanche, then shifting gears to team up in the latest version of "Mario Kart," which allows two-man teams to work (and ride) together toward the goal.
Video games are big business. And if Nintendo's most recent marketing is an indication, the company hopes to lead the field. It certainly has racked up experience. It released its first home video game system 20 years ago and has sold 1.8 billion games worldwide, among them 15 million GameBoy Advances in the last couple of years.
To start off this year's final sales push, they dropped the price of GameCube again about three weeks ago. It now sells for $99.99, significantly below its original price and well below its prime competitors, Sony PlayStation 2 and Microsoft's Xbox. Nintendo slashed its price once before, and the other game system prices dropped, too.
The company also relies on some favorite Nintendo-only characters that have proven popular from the early days of video gaming. Guys like Mario and Luigi, the brothers who have shared misadventures for years.
This year, "Mario Kart: Double Dash!!" is expected to be a hit for players of all ages, and Nintendo has put $10 million into its marketing campaign for that title.
With broadband LAN support, up to eight people can play. The difference with this Mario Kart is the doubleseaters, so two characters can work together (or you can still race by yourself). The character in front drives while the character in the rear uses odd items, either strategically or chaotically, to throw off the other players. Win a race and you can open up ever-harder race courses. The manufacturer suggested retail price is $49.99.
The other Mario title is "Mario Party 5," with familiar characters racing around on all-new game boards. It includes more than 60 new mini-games, new characters, what Nintendo calls an expanded one-player mode and its popular multiplayer feature. It's a party game that can accommodate up to four players, and it, too, sells for $49.99, though alas, we didn't have time to play that one.
Nintendo says "Super Mario Bros. 3" was the best-selling game of all time, and now it's out on the Advance system as "Super Mario Advance 4." Bowser and his band of brats have turned all the kings into animals, and Mario and Luigi have to stop them, making their way through eight big worlds with both new and classic power ups. It sells for $34.99 and hit the shelves two weeks ago.
As for characters familiar to a cartoon-loving generation, "Pokemon Channel" will be available Dec. 1. The $29.99 GameCube game centers on various Pokemon-themed TV shows, including a news channel, shopping network and game show. Players are invited to give the station their opinions. Besides the DVD-quality animated segments, younger players will probably enjoy painting (if they have an e-Reader), and there's a lot of opportunity for favorite pursuits in colorful locales, including fishing, hiking, simply making "friends."
Palomares says he likes his job, and one of the reasons is "1080: Avalanche!" ($49.99), which plays on GameCube. Due out Dec. 1, the E-rated action/adventure game features amazing scenery, punctuated by avalanches, rockslides and other hazards to make snowboarding a challenge.
The game features the ability to do advanced tricks, and Palomares said that you can make the character do exactly what a real snowboarder would have to do to accomplish them. With a broadband adapter, you can race with friends on multiple systems and multiple televisions.
"Kirby Air Ride" was just released and is rated E. It, too, is a racing game, with up to four players, and sells for $49.99. Kirby is a series character, and this one's a little different from a lot of racing games because you don't have to be super-skilled to pick it up. There are three play modes and different vehicles with unique and very different racing strengths and weaknesses.
This week, "Tony Hawk's Underground" is available. But it's not just about skating. There's a story line this time around, and the gamers work their way up the circuit, go after sponsorships and live the ups and downs of being a skater. Neversoft Entertainment developed the GameCube version ($49.99), and Vicarious Visions did the GameBoy Advance version.
As part of the van tour, Leonard and Palomares are touting not just their own company's games, but those by other developers for the GameBoy Advance and GameCube systems. Many of the games also play on other systems. And they cover the rating spectrum.
You can see the complete lineup online at www.nintendo.com.
E-mail: lois@desnews.com