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Marriott And Nintendo Team For In-Room Wii Service
Posted by Mike Fahey at 3:40 AM on October 1, 2008
While I'm still excited when my hotel room has one of those crappy, wired directly to the TV N64 controllers, more upscale establishments require more upscale entertainment. Marriott and Nintendo have joined forces to provide visitors at select locations the total Wii experience in the comfort of their own hotel room without that hassle of juggling game discs about. A custom version of the system has been devised specially for the hotel giant, featuring a self-contained Wii unit with 20 different games built-in, including Wii Fit, Super Mario Galaxy, and of course, Wii Sports.
The special units being tested at six Marriott and Renaissance locations in Maryland and New York, where guests can book online with the promo code XY0 in order to secure a room with a Wii for a small premium fee. Not my cup of tea, but then when I stay in a hotel I'm generally spending all day around games and just want to snore for a few hours before doing it all over again. Hit the jump for the list of participating locations.
The Wii Games Begin at Marriott & Renaissance Hotels
Marriott and Nintendo Bring the Fun Back to Business Travel and Pilot New In-Room Entertainment Options for All Generations
BETHESDA, Md. & REDMOND, Wash.—The Wii™ experience is just beginning for Marriott and Renaissance guests, who can now choose from 20 games, including the popular Mario Kart™ Wii, Super Mario Galaxy™, and Wii Sports™ as well as the revolutionary fitness game, Wii Fit™. In a lodging industry first, Marriott International, Inc. is piloting a new specially built Wii hotel game system from Nintendo in select guest rooms and lounges. Wii systems are available at six Marriott and Renaissance properties:
* New York Marriott Marquis
* Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square
* Boston Marriott Cambridge
* Bethesda (Md.) Marriott Suites
* Annapolis (Md.) Marriott Waterfront
* JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix (Lounge only)
Wii has been a hit with every age group. The intuitive, motion-sensitive controls of the Wii Remote™ controller make the games easy to play, whether alone or in groups, making it an excellent fit for hotels and their guests. With Wii Fit, guests can even burn calories while having fun, all in the comfort of their hotel rooms.
The new Wii hotel game system allows hotel guests to select from a library of games without inserting game discs. With the intuitive games menu, guests can just point the Wii Remote at a game and begin playing immediately. Popular new Wii games will be added to the menu as they become available.
The Wii guest room packages include unlimited Wii access for the entire stay. To book a Wii guest room package at these six hotels, subject to availability, please go to www.marriott.com, select your preferred hotel, then click on the "Deals at this Hotel" link or insert promotional code XY0 (zero). There is a small premium for a room with a Wii hotel game system over the standard guest room rate.
Comments (AU Comments · US Comments)
Mr_LeE
Posted October 1, 2008 3:02 PM
This will make the modding scene abit more interesting, considering that it just proves that it's possible to load iso's fine.
Just like Wii Loader is doing..
fokin_pikey
Posted 4:09 AM 1/10/08
@Modus_Operandi: or now you can cover up all those porn charges with the wii. slip the desk clerk a big lincoln and he's game.
fokin_pikey
Modus_Operandi
Posted 4:03 AM 1/10/08
So now when your wife finds that odd hotel charge on your credit card statement you can claim confidently "Honey its not what you think. I went ot play with a Wii."
Modus_Operandi
Tyber_Zann
Posted 3:59 AM 1/10/08
Spiffy, considering the last time I was at any hotel in general, all they had was either a SNES or Nintendo 64 that was fastened to the dresser with the TV. They had crazy rental fees to go with it. $10 an hour to rent Super Mario World is so, so wrong.
Tyber_Zann
Clave
Posted 3:56 AM 1/10/08
Ok, next time I go to the states i'm staing on a marriot hotel
Clave
fokin_pikey
Posted 3:54 AM 1/10/08
well if I am not able to locate one for xmas, I know I can find plenty at Marriott
fokin_pikey
Prezel4
Posted 3:52 AM 1/10/08
Ew,
What if people use the controllers for something else that'd be really disgus-Actually, nevermind I said that!
Prezel4
The Chicken Kicker
Posted 3:51 AM 1/10/08
Gotta love Nintendo.
Although I don't play their consoles as much, I still think they are the gaming kings for pushing video games into the mainstream and proving that video games aren't all blood & gore.
Although the games with blood & gore are the kind I prefer, which is why I don't play much Wii.
The Chicken Kicker
muu
Posted 3:47 AM 1/10/08
Better than having a bunch of kids running around the hall, I guess. One of the Marriott hotels I stayed in over the summer for a few months had that problem, but then again they were one of the hotels where I knew for sure I can connect an Xbox.
I'd be amused if there's a sudden spike in broken TVs at the motels due to thrown controllers, though.
muu
Hollowcow
Posted 3:41 AM 1/10/08
Nintendo sure does love money.
Hollowcow
Struct09
Posted 4:35 AM 1/10/08
When I was a kid there was a hotel that had an NES in every room. It was so mind-blowingly awesome back then, glad to see kids of today can experience the same thing.
Struct09
ridepod
Posted 4:31 AM 1/10/08
@fokin_pikey: For some reason I didn't picture someone sneakily handing $5 over to a desk clerk when you said "slip the desk clerk a big lincoln".
Instead for some reason I pictured someone blatantly shoving a firm bit of poopoo into said desk clerk's hand and proudly marching out of those fancy rotating doors they have at fancy hotels.
I'm not entirely sure if I can ever look at a 5 dollar bill the same way again.
ridepod
superfrogsavestokyo
Posted 4:28 AM 1/10/08
@Modus_Operandi: That might not work if the wife hasn't heard of the Wii or paid much attention to the marketing blitz. "I went to play with a Wii" sounds a lot like "I went to play with a wee"; that could bring up more confusion for the poor lady.:D
superfrogsavestokyo
xyzface
Posted 4:23 AM 1/10/08
while i stayed in the enclave suites international drive orlando they had gamecube controllers wired to the tv with a surprisingly good selection of games... late night mario kart after the theme parks was brilliant
xyzface
katsujinken
Posted 4:51 AM 1/10/08
I wonder if any hotels still have Neo-Geos in them. I'd stay there if given the choice.
katsujinken
iFlingPoo
Posted 4:49 AM 1/10/08
Great news for Marriott!! Way to go J.W.!!!
iFlingPoo
MrZeO
Posted 4:45 AM 1/10/08
This new modded wiis will surely bring alot to the hacking wii scene.... hackerssss go to marriot!!!
MrZeO
Supa_S
Posted 4:42 AM 1/10/08
@Hollowcow:
Every company loves money (otherwise there'd be no point in existing) but Nintendo knows HOW to make money ;)
Supa_S
Decibelle
Posted 4:42 AM 1/10/08
While I always bring my DS or PSP with me on trips, playing handheld games can get boring after a while, so this is something I actually find pretty appealing. My only question is just how much this "small premium" really is, heh.
Decibelle
MrGilder
Posted 6:12 AM 1/10/08
Is it just me, or does it seem completely unfeasible to pack 20 full-retail games onto a standard Wii's pathetic built in memory. Especially when one considers that "Mario Galaxy", one of the most technically demanding titles on the console, is going to be among them. The only solution that appears to me is that these "custom" units are apparently the answer to all of our Wii storage woes . . . because I'd love to hear Nintendo explain to me how these don't have hard drives in them.
MrGilder
excel_excel
Posted 6:35 AM 1/10/08
@MrGilder: Agreed....all I can say is simply....WTF?
excel_excel
firstworldman
Posted 6:22 AM 1/10/08
They can fit 20 games into a single Wii but couldn't give us OTAKUS stinking hard drive functionality?
Man, now everyone that buys a Wii because of this will expect a Wii with 20 games.
And, still no hard drive.
firstworldman
fnool
Posted 7:07 AM 1/10/08
Can't wait for hackers to reverse-engineer this.
fnool
jmaster14656
Posted 7:49 AM 1/10/08
@excel_excel:
Nintendo: "Yes, hmm... hotel guests might want some kind of hard drive. I wonder if anybody other than a hotel guest would want a hard drive.... nope, can't think of 'em. Not important."
jmaster14656
Aanidaani
Posted 8:03 AM 1/10/08
Yeah, they'll probably charge $20 extra a night to use the damn thing. Might as well buy a system yourself and lug it around.
Aanidaani
Cloudbusting
Posted 8:49 AM 1/10/08
I'm looking forward to playing Super Marriott Brothers, Marriott Kart and Dr. Marriott.
I'll get my coat.
Cloudbusting
tommyscomics
Posted 9:27 AM 1/10/08
ummmmmmm....lets hope they replace those wii-motes ummmmm like every hour!
I acculy like 64 games better. I haven't play those a million times
tommyscomics
marleycat
Posted 11:49 AM 1/10/08
I just stayed at the marriot. Watching Predator in a king size bed is class
marleycat
smellyelite
Posted 12:18 PM 1/10/08
@Supa_S:
I will congratulate Nintendo on one thing. They know how to make money and do it well.
smellyelite
danterandal19
Posted 4:50 PM 1/10/08
You know, I like when hotels take my money for stuff like this. I proudly payed $10 an hour to play SNES games like Final Fight and Super Mario World in Hawaii some years ago. I'd still do it today, in fact. I totally like this idea, to tell you the truth, and it'll make bank I'm sure.
(P.S. I'm thinking the wii-motes will be attached by a cord to the dresser or whatever, like those Wii-motes tethered to the television in Best Buy kiosks).
danterandal19