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Nintendo's New Look
Forbes has an article talking with Nintendo of America's VP of Marketing Perrin Kaplan. She talks a little bit about Nintendo's upcoming plans, and the concept of the Blue Ocean. From the article: "For us, it's all about the experience, not if the technology allows you to play your game on the high-definition formats, which are now in such a small percentage of homes. Many independent sources tell us that experiencing current high-def games on a regular TV makes it near impossible to see everything clearly. That means the majority of homes are experiencing something lesser than what they bargained for. "
The full version or the core system (without hard drive)? I wonder if thats causing the confusion- the full system being sold out, and noone being stupid enough to want the core system.
I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
Your comment is interesting. You mention how awesome the interconnectivity of the 360 is (and you're right). But then you mention enjoying playing "indie" games for $5. With the exception of maybe Mutant Storm Reloaded and maybe Marble Blast Ultra, all the others games are about as non-HD as you can get. You don't need HD to play backgammon, or Bejeweled, or a billiards game, or any of the 1980s Midway arcade ports. You don't need an HDTV to enjoy Geometry Wars. Yet these are the games that are flourishing. Sure, they have some bells and whistles that take advantage of the hardware, but that's just that: bells and whistles. It shows there's a market for fun.
Now imagine something similar to Xbox Live Arcade, only the hardware is 1/3 the price. That could be very good.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
They're like a car company saying to their customers, "You don't want a big SUV - you want our compact car with good fuel economy".
Your analogy to the car market is a bit funny because it is right on and yet contradicts your point. I will admit that the SUV is a big market. Yet, not everybody wants a big SUV. A lot of people actually do want an economy car. Other people want sports cars. Other people want motorcycles. Have you been reading any news on General Motors? They posted record losses last year in the billion dollar range. Sales of SUVs were dismal in the second half of 2005. During the same time period, companies like Toyota and Nissan reported record sales of their mid-size cars. The demand in the market is changing.
In the same way, Nintendo is trying to target a totally different market and I think if this new controller works and they can produce fun games, they will see great success. Also, I would point out that unlike some companies, Nintendo has proven they actually can make a profit in the video game industry.
Looks like people at Nintendo have been reading this:
"Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant" (2005, Harvard Business School Publishing), by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne.
Ironically, it's also the book Ford cited when it took the knife to its belly a few weeks ago...0 6601230398
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=20