Comcast Begins Free Wii Gaming Promo for Triple Play Bundle

Perhaps taking a page from the free-stuff marketing book of archrival triple play provider Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ), Comcast Corp. (CMCSA) yesterday announced free Nintendo Co. Ltd. (TYO:7974) Wii systems for new customers of its broadband bundle.

Comcast says these new customers, who must sign two-year service contracts, can connect the gaming systems to its Internet service to enable multi-player gaming. That could create challenges given the cableco’s throttling of certain types of bandwidth-demanding Internet traffic, chiefly P2P.

Ironically, the news of the bandwidth-consuming gaming system giveaway comes just days before the FCC convenes Friday and is expected to say that the cableco violated net neutrality principals for throttling traffic.

Comcast cautions that supplies of the Wii systems are limited. Verizon learned just how attractive free products can be with services when it began offering HDTVs to new FiOS customers. It ran out, claiming demand exceeded its forecasts, and switched for a time to free digital cameras.

Comcast did not divulge the number of units it has for giveaway, but said the promotion will end August 17. It’s unclear if the company will promote the giveaway as aggressively as FiOS did.

Standalone gaming has proven to be a recession-proof industry with the surge in interest in the likes of such popular offerings as Guitar Hero, Rock Band (multiplayer) and seasonal sports titles from Electronic Arts (EA).

However, online multiplayer gaming is one of the least delay-tolerant applications of Internet bandwidth, with many experts saying symmetric links (ones that have the same downstream and upstream speed bandwidth) are required for optimal performance.

Wii has retailed for about $250, which includes the console and one game.

Like most game consoles, Internet connectivity is not required for users to play games. Adding controllers, not high-speed Internet, appears to be the preferred method for adding players.

Downloading Internet capabilities from Nintendo, Comcast says, will let customers receive Wii games via the web, share pictures, surf the ‘net and download movies. The cableco also notes that people can play each other over WiFi links.

“Comcast’s high-speed Internet connects Wii owners with their friends all over the world,” said Cammie Dunaway, Nintendo of America’s executive vice president of sales & marketing, in prepared comments. “In addition to playing video games, people can surf the Internet, share family photos, and check the news or weather. The Wii is home to a multitude of fun Internet based entertainment and informational options.”

Telcos Push Symmetric Broadband Access

FCC Tackles Comcast's BitTorrent Throttling

Verizon Out of HD Set-Top Boxes

Share this article: Email, Slashdot, Digg, Del.icio.us, Yahoo!MyWeb, Windows Live Favorites, Furl
Add this article feed to: RSS, My Yahoo, Newsgator, Bloglines