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Nintendo Aims At Oprah Crowd
Next Gen's DICE coverage includes commentary by Reggie Fils-Aime, who tries to convince publishers to expand the gaming market. Even if it means running ads during Oprah. From the article: "He said that Nintendo would be using new marketing channels, such as daytime television shows, Oprah and Ellen ... In what has become something of a Nintendo mantra, he said Nintendo was seeking to attract female gamers and older gamers. He also warned that the number of teenage males is declining in North America, and high school students are saying their interest in games is declining."
It isn't a question of them being less interested, it's a question of that market being more or less saturated, and the gaming industry needing to find new people to sell games to.
Everyone look under your seat!
IT'S A FREE REVOLUTION!
Actually, that wouldn't be too bad of a campaign. AFAIK, most of Oprah's audience are parents to some extent, mainly females. Giving them all a free Nintendo DS, a free copy of Nintendogs, and a free copy of Mario Kart would probably do a lot of good. While they probably wouldn't be visably extatic on the show (though, you never know), they'll probably adore it once they get into Nintendogs, especially those with a lot of free time. Mario Kart is a great game that everyone can enjoy, and the males will probably be more interested in it than the females.
In either case, the parents, who may not have even known about it before, will find out how much fun it is, and get one for their kid(s), cause "This DS is for the adults (and we don't want you breaking it). Plus, the value of peer recommendations should never be underestimated.
And, of course, any kids who were dragged along to the show will scream with delight.
Sounds like a smart move by Nintendo. Alot of moms watch Oprah, so if you were making the niche for kid games you would target the kids and the moms. You'd show the mom's all the kid safe games on your system. You'd basically say our system is rated G so you can buy any of our games without worrying about the sex or violence issues that those other systems have. ;)
Does this mean that they're actually going to, you know, be making GAMES targeted at women and other nonstandard gamers?
So far for the DS they've got that Nintendogs thing, and that Brain Training thing coming up. These both did very well with "nongamers" in Japan-- but, while they're some kind of similar effect in America, they seem to be not the same kind of smash hit material with american audiences.
Other than those two games, Nintendo doesn't seem to have any other "zomg aimed at women" games coming up for the DS, and they've certainly announced nothing of that sort for the Revolution-- so far Nintendo's stated plans for Revolution games come down to pretty much "mario smash brothers metroid", all traditionally male-oriented titles. So if Nintendo advertises during Oprah... what exact PRODUCT do they intend on advertising?
Kids ALWAYS say their interest in video games is declining when we're in the transition between console generations. Always. When the new systems hit stride, WHOOPS, all of a sudden it's boomtown again. Stop asking kids to participate in polls. It's as useless as student council elections.
Several folks here are pointing out that it's great for Nintendo to go after "the mom crowd" - that it's good marketing to get the product in front of moms, who will buy Revolution for the kids.
NO NO NO!
His whole point seems to be DIRECTLY marketing it to these moms. The games being TARGETED at 50 - 60 year olds. An excercise for your MIND.
Get it?
You know - it's that whole market that is completely ignored right now.
Yes, moms are a great way to get at kids.
BUT THAT'S NOT THE POINT.
Video Game News, FAQs, etc
Nothing there, lying bastard.
"We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all." - Douglas Adams
For example: analysis of the Japanese marketplace indicates that their economy is coming out of a long recession. Why? Japan has a dangerously low birth rate. Japanese women are educated and entering the workplace at a breakneck pace. They are not marrying and they are not having children. They don't feel the same amount of social pressures to succeed that the men feel, so they experience less stress and have loads of disposable income. For these reasons, the JApanese economy is becoming pegged to the spending habits of professional working age women. They overconsume ALL ACROSS THE BOARD.
If Nintendo chooses to focus its efforts on this group in Japan, it's only fair to assume that a similar trend will emerge here, given the standard delay of 5-15 years between our cultures.
We mirror Japan in other ways. JApan has a high suicide rate amongst males specifically. The US suicide rate amongst males is steadily rising. We've mirrored them in reality television shows and the steadily increasing amount of time spent watching it (The Japanese watch the most television in the world). The US is becoming increasingly a-religious as its urban centers grow, mirroring a largely secular Japanese culture.
I've done some freelance work for MTV and its no big secret there that their second biggest audience is urban professional women. They are a critical mass audience.
It's always funny that slashdot guys complain about not meeting/having chicks. The numbers are totally in your favor, dudes.
un burrito me trampeó.
Surely you do not mean to suggest that an institution as valuable and entrenched as the Student Council is without use! Why, I remember when I was president of the Student Council I was able to enact sweeping changes to my school that are in effect to this very day. For instance, I promised an end to homework and I delivered on that promise. The students wanted Coke machines in every single classroom and as soon as I was elected I made that happen by dint of sheer will. Also, every day was pizza day and all of our teachers were fired and replaced by highly qualified young ladies from Hugh Heffner's very own School for Buxom Ladies.
"We shall grapple with the ineffable, and see if we may not eff it after all." - Douglas Adams
As much as I like the direction Nintendo is taking, trying to bring some new innovation to the industry with their radical new controller, and their emphasis on making it easier for everyone and their grandparents (literally!) to get into games ... I wonder what the typical Nintendo fanboi is thinking. Do they understand and appreciate what Nintendo is doing? When I say "fanboi", I'm referring to those ardent Nintendo supports in forums who consider themselves hardcore gamers, are often immature (fans of l33t sp34k and the like), and want the big N to kick the crap out of the PS3 and the 360 in every possible way.
/. audience does as well. I think it's risky, but it can be damn effective. But if the ardent Nintendo fanbois don't, and the "gaming buzz" starts to sway negatively for Nintendo, I'm afraid it could mean bad things.
... it'll have to start by getting it for their kids and THEN maybe seeing the benefit for themselves) If that doesn't happen, then Nintendo is in for another disappointing console cycle (again, not referring to handhelds, where the DS > PSP)
I used to be a fanboi when I was kid, arguing with friends that "64 bits is better than 32!" and dissing the PSX whenever I could (although I secretly caved in later, because I had to get my fill of Square games). I'm sure there are a lot of these kids today, who still think that Link is the bomb (although they hated his kiddie look in Wind Waker), that good graphics = good games, coolness is everything, and that anything less is just lame. I'm not sure these fanbois appreciate that Nintendo is aiming to bring in Oprah or their moms into gaming, and deliberately "dumbing down" the game experience to do so.
It's obvious to me that Nintendo is aiming for a difference audience than Sony and Microsoft. The latter two are still placing a lot of emphasis on having a more powerful console, better graphics, everything in HD, media functionality, etc. (Personally, I don't think that's a BAD approach, but it'd better not stop the most important aspect, which are the games themselves) It appears that Nintendo is opting not to go that route. So what if the console is not as powerful? It'll cost less. It'll also be more innovative, and you'll still get those wonderful Nintendo games everybody loves so much.
But I think there's the danger of upsetting the "fanboi" audience, since Nintendo is no longer playing the console wars the same way as everyone else. I understand what they're doing, and I imagine most of the
We already know that 3rd party support for Nintendo could be better (referring to the GameCube, NOT handhelds, which continues to be stellar). I will also say that most Revolution purchases will STILL come from gamers, at least in the beginning. (I honestly don't see parents picking up a Revolution for themselves anytime soon
Anyone else get this feeling? Or am I smoking something here?
-- jchenx
These were adults who had, or whose employer had, shelled out hundreds of dollars in part so they could play 'Drug Wars' or whatever on a plane.
Similarly, on a plane to Australia from Thailand there were again, heaps of older men (and it was offputting) coming back from Thai holidays. This time, many, many of them had Gameboys.
Who hasn't seen their, or someone else's parents or grandparents playing a raft of card games on their computer.?
Nintendo is dead right. Many adults want something to play while waiting for things and riding on public transport. And with the DS you could do some interesting things - hey, on Oprah you could run a competition to do something while the show was running and then call some woman and give her credit for whatever. It'd be like voting for reality TV on steroids.
If Nintendo can take away the game playing is for younger folk stigma on their devices, particularly on their handhelds they could well exploit or create a large, successful new segment of the market.