Nintendo Wii success neither an accident or gimmick
I don’t own a Wii (yet), but have enjoyed my DS and GBA games over the years, observing more than once Nintendo’s success in the handheld market while it’s consoles, the N64 and Gamecube, were failing. What’s different with the Wii and why is it still selling out a year and a half after it’s release?
The difference is – Nintendo learned from both it’s successes and failures in the past, capitalizing on each. It had success down pat with the Game Boy, and is currently experiencing the same success with the DS and Wii because of a few principles applied from the Game Boy Model:
1. Conservative technological improvement is still improvement, while providing a familiar platform that almost any developer can manage on even small budgets.
2. This same slight improvement does not alienate loyal customers and can still get them excited enough to purchase a new console.
3. Backwards compatibility rewards loyal customers and provides an initial library of quality, low priced games at launch for the customer to choose from.
4. Cost is minimal for slight technological improvement and incorporation of a few proven technologies, instead of gambling with unproven or speculative ones such as HD-DVD/Blu-ray.
5. A focus on games vice a “home entertainment center” or one box does all or many philosophy allows for simplicity and also a lower price passed on to the consumer.
6. Hardware build quality and reliability was a big priority, but Nintendo seems to have done this well since its slot-loading NES days.
Other innovations such as the Virtual Console provide a wealth of games from the past at a minimal cost to large fan bases. When you are talking about everybody who has owned and enjoyed past console games and would be willing to put them in one box that is not a PC (GameTap), you are talking about a lot of people.
I haven’t played with it’s new motion controllers, but I do believe they are not a primary cause for it’s success, while simplicity and familiarity are.
Last but not least, marketing. Nintendo knew what it was doing when they put families on a couch or in the living room, complete with old people. That market will only get bigger in the future, and family is now more powerful than the individual when it comes to video games. Granted, there are 30-somethings like myself who will buy all consoles if they can, but what sons, daughters, moms, dads, grandmas, granddads, and friends can immediately pick up and play will ultimately be what sells most, from Mario Kart to Wii Fit and Wii Play.
The Wii’s success was not an accident or a gimmick – it was a plan well executed.
By MSgt C. E. Borrowman
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7 Responses to “Nintendo Wii success neither an accident or gimmick”
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April 28th, 2008
HEAR HEAR!!
Lets hope they bring out God of War on the Wii
April 28th, 2008
All things being equal software alone dictates the success of the system.
Native backwards compatibility was a great move on Nintendo’s part and the argument for it was first made by their very own Nintendo DS. These were the first two systems offered by Nintendo where you could play your beloved classics without the purchase of additional add-ons. In this regard it was the Nintendo DS (more specifically the DS Lite), and *not* the GameBoy that helped pave the way for the future.
I wouldn’t discount the importance of the Wii-mote in their strategy – without it the Wii is essentially Gamecube mark 2. For example, the gaming *experience* between playing (tennis, bowling, etc..) with the Wii-mote vs. a standard controller is very, very different.
I would argue that the consoles aren’t making a move at replacing the ‘home entertainment center” so much as offering an alternative to users frustrated (for various reasons) with the personal computer. Nintendo wasn’t oblivious to this – which is why the most used functions were available when the Wii launched. (Email, Internet Browser, etc..) Multimedia capabilities however *must* take a back seat to the main revenue generating product – software & licensing sales. If people watched DVDs on the Wii then they are *not* playing games. In the two hours or so during which the movie was viewed the only company that profited (from the user’s free time) was the movie studio or rental outfit. If however a game was played during those two hours then (regardless of who developed it) Nintendo receives a cut. Sony and Microsoft’s strategies in this regard are each very different – but that’s another story.
For final consideration – when you do pick up a Wii (and you will) make sure you do yourself a favor and buy some of the best Gamecube games used. Triple A titles such as Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes, Eternal Darkness should not be missed. Other stellar titles (like Resident Evil 4 and Zelda: Twilight Princess) were created for the Gamecube but also have Wii versions available with integrated Wii controls.
April 28th, 2008
I hope they bring out God of War on the Wii too, because, if they do, two things may happen:
1) It will suck compared to it’s more traditional brethren, just like Okami.
2) All the parents who assume the Wii to be a “safer” console for their kids will boycott the system when they see their 8 year old “waggling” to a menage a trois mini-game.
So yes, please bring God of War to the Wii!
And before you fanboys leap down my throat, I like many games the Wii has, but as a console I can’t stand the thing, and that will never change. This is my own unique perspective, and I don’t expect everyone or anyone to agree.
-Arvis
April 28th, 2008
OH COME ON ARVIS!!! Youre telling me you WOULDNT LIKE THE WAGGLING MENAGE A TROIS GAME?? XD
I wasw using GOW as in general slasher games.. they need a good slasher… like GOW or Prince of persia… not the crappy ones like… damn forgot the name.. you know the ones with no story and 5 playable charactors and HUNDREDS of grunts on screen with no AI.. where you just keep pressing the attack button and you can kill EVERYONE using this method… those crappy japanese games would suck on the wii…
damn.. still cant remember their name…
April 28th, 2008
*cracks up*
Ok, you really got me with that one.
I think you’re thinking of Dynasty Warriors, which, yes, would be god-awful with motion controls. But I didn’t like Soul Calibur Legends either. Just… too much waggle. I hate waggle. I think more games need to be like Super Mario Galaxy and have just the right amount of motion controls implemented.
Of course, I don’t really care for Galaxy either…
-Arvis
April 28th, 2008
thats BLASPHEMY!!! How can you not like an Italian plumber trying to be an astronaut???
Yeah I was thinking of Dynasty warriors.. and warriors orochi.. and all that crap…
Brawl… I yearn for Brawl…
April 28th, 2008
iisdev, when I say the Game Boy Model, I mean the Game Boy from the black and white all the way to the GBA SP.
Game Boy Color was the first popular Nintendo product that I know of to take advantage of native backwards compatibility without add-ons. Game Boy Advance then DS and lite kept this capability, albeit limited on the DS and Lite because they cannot play GB or GBC carts natively.
I wasn’t discounting the Wii-mote, I just did not believe it to be a primary cause for the Wii’s success. It’s simplicity and familiarity is, but this is found throughout the console system.
The one box does it all (or at least most) philosophy is a motivation for Sony and Microsoft, not so much Wii. It goes beyond the computer because the PC is still catching up to incorporating blu-ray and most people do not utilize all the capabilities of a PC because of the frustrations you mentioned.
Yes, the PC has been considered by some to be a media “hub” in the past, but this is still an unpopular concept, thus Microsoft and Sony’s race to make sure their respective companies get as much market share as possible. If they can simplifiy these functions with a console before the PC, the console has then become the “home entertainment center” ahead of the PC.
I do appreciate the advice for buying games, and would have to agree on some of your decisions for GameCube games, being a former GameCube owner myself, the top two choices I would pick being Eternal Darkness and Resident Evil 4 (any version).
Thanks for the feedback, I appreciate it.