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Why Nintendo Has Won


Derantol

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Okay, the title is a tad dramatic. But I figured I'd open up this discussion.

I am currently enrolled in some summer courses at my local community college. The writing course I'm taking has a textbook called "Signs of Life In the USA". On this textbook's cover are a number of symbols that are fairly emblematic of American society - a backpack with a laptop in it, an iPod, an SUV, popcorn, pop, a grocery bag, a raffle ticket, a large TV or monitor, high heels, and (most notably, for my purposes) a Wiimote. For the first few days, this didn't strike me as weird. However, I realized today that this is a sign of Nintendo's success.

Let's face it; most of us here are gamers of some sort. And as gamers, most of us probably have a bias towards the XBox 360 or the Playstation 3 - the exception being those lifelong diehard Nintendo fans. Whether you're a Nintendo fan or not, I think we can all agree that Nintendo didn't really earn any new gaming support at best, and (as far as gamers are concerned) probably lost some serious support from the mainstream gaming community.

So why the Wiimote? I think that it has to do with Nintendo's shift of focus from "true" gaming to the more family friendly "pick up and play" games, like Wii Sports or Wii Fit, or anything that has Wii in the game's title. Sure, the Nintendo lost gamer support, but it more than made up for it by marketing to just about everyone that Microsoft and Sony weren't.

Your thoughts? Why was the wiimote on the front of my book, and not the 360 controller or the PS3 controller?

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Because Nintendo cashed in on a market that opens itself up about once every 15-20 years.

Also, PC master race represent.

PC for the win. And I suppose I hadn't thought about it from that angle; it'll show in a few years then, if the average consumer does forget about Nintendo.

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More easy to hit target called casual gaming.

All I got from that move is, easy games. Bad PC ports(bought a xbox360 controller to even play them), and a hard difficulty that thinks it is stuck in very easy.

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Nintendo alienated the gamers in order to pander to the 'family' market which will forget they exist in five years.

"Gamers" make up perhaps 5% of the game market. Most games are sold to families who buy Wii Tennis, or morons who buy Madden 2010.

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You should stop by Kotaku, we've been arguing about this for the last 3 years <_<

Nintendo is pretty much the gaming equivalent of Disney at this point, specializing in kids stuff and harmless classics with mass appeal that can be entertaining for any age group.

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We ended up getting the Wii because it's something that the whole family can do together, from me and my wife to my 3 yr old. I just wish they could come out with something a bit more educational for my young one, but that's what parents and the PC are there for. :P

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