Target marketing Nintendo Wii accessories as holiday season gets underway

Target Corporation (NYSE: TGT) has made a semi-jump on the competition by releasing accessories for the upcoming Nintendo Wii gaming console before the actual launch of the console itself. Target most likely hopes to gain a customer foothold into the now-underway holiday shopping season, with the possibility of the Sony Corporation's (NYSE:S) PS3 coming in November and the Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) still focusing on the Xbox 360 from last year. The Nintendo Wii accessories were first seen in this past Sunday's Target circular that is distributed with newspapers nationwide.

The Nintendo (NASDAQ:NTDOY) Wii is the Japanese company's attempt to regain marketshare in the home console gaming industry it helped immensely popularize in the late 1980s and 1990s. Target is offering accessories such as controller gloves (um, ok) and other trinkets like collectible dog tags and lapel pin sets in addition to a "sling bag".

While these are not really accessories in a sense that they enhance the function of the Nintendo Wii console itself, they are there to just get potential shoppers thinking in the vein of the Nintendo Wii and where they should purchase it -- and Target hopes it is the recipient of much of that shopping when the console is released. Target stores have constructed point-of-purchase materials to advertise the Nintendo Wii, including large lifestyle product images.