Nintendojo’s Mailbag 9/11

 

As a marketer and a life-long Nintendo devotee, I do have a few concerns with Nintendo’s Wii strategy.

Nintendo has always stated with the Wii that they’re going for a mass-market appeal. They’re aimed squarely at creating new gamers.

I think they’re right-on with their strategy, but I question certain aspects of their execution. I find there are particular conflicts that may create consumer confusion.

Firstly, they should not release Twilight Princess on both GameCube and the Wii. This complicates the launch of the game, and even the Wii. I understand Nintendo’s commitment to the GameCube with that title, but Frat Boy Joe may not. He may see the Wii as simply a new controller system and not necessarily a new gaming system– especially when coupled with the system’s ability to play GameCube games and Virtual Console.

This confusion is further heightened with the advent of Wii-makes. I’m sure Nintendo’s focus groups will find it a bad idea.

Nintendo is taking a giant step forward with the Wii– there shouldn’t be any back-tracking. It will only create confusion amongst potential new gamers.

Many of these potential new gamers may have been gamers as children, making Virtual Console a great tool to reach them. But these people have limited to no recognition of the GameCube era. Maybe it’s best to keep it that way.

Similarly, the decision to not include Wii-mote support for the new Smash Bros. is an extremely poor decision. I feel a few weeks of brainstorming with game designers could easily bring forth an efficient way to control the game using Nintendo’s innovative controller.

-James Alayamini

 
Ryan Heath responds: I don’t know if there’ll be too much confusion about Twilight Princess appearing on both the GameCube and Wii. If Nintendo made a habit out of doing this with their games, then I would concede your point. However, all consoles do this. Look at the Xbox 360. Gun, Tony Hawks American Wasteland, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and many other titles appear on both the original Xbox and the Xbox 360. I don’t think people then view the 360 as irrelevant because they could still purchase the same games for their original console.

In reference to your statement that potential new gamers may have “limited to no recognition of the GameCube era� seems to give Nintendo a reason to implement more Wii-makes. If the games are new to them, they won’t associate them with the GameCube.

More at: http://www.nintendojo.com/mailbag/



Around The Net: