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Wii May Be Succeeding in Widening Game Market

Posted by Zonk on from the oldies-but-goodies dept.

superdan2k writes "When Nintendo brought the Wii to market, one of their stated goals was to get people who didn't normally play video games using their console. Based on an article from the AP, it seems they've made some headway in capturing the senior citizen market. With the Wii's price point, and it being a good way to get people engaged in physical exercise, it's easy to envision it catching on with other retirement homes beyond the one mentioned in the article."

11 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Indeed by 26199 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you'd told me a year ago that my grandmother would actually try a console game, I'd've looked at you most puzzled.

    But Wii tennis seems to have near-universal appeal.

    1. Re:Indeed by pembo13 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not to infringe upon your right to choose: but you decided against buying a video game console because it doesn't play movies?

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
  2. Me too by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    But that could because my grandmother is dead.

    1. Re:Me too by I+Like+Pudding · · Score: 4, Funny

      That's no excuse

  3. RockStar, are you listening? by Seumas · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hurry up and rush out that Get Off My Lawn! title for the Wii!

    1. Re:RockStar, are you listening? by Aladrin · · Score: 4, Funny

      Wow... Just had a flash of a small, homebrew-ish game played from the point of view of a chair on the front porch... You get to throw porch-objects (shoes, newspapers, etc) at kids that are walking down the street having fun. The girlscout trying to sell cookies somehow made the vision almost real.

      I have -got- to seriously think about this one.

      --
      "If you make people think they're thinking, they'll love you; But if you really make them think, they'll hate you." - DM
    2. Re:RockStar, are you listening? by QuantumHobbit · · Score: 5, Funny

      There has to be a side quest in which you walk to school in the snow uphill both ways.

  4. Not just seniors... by Gothic_Walrus · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Lest we forget, the Wii has also captured the elusive 22-month-old demographic, as evidenced by this video.

    If that's not widening the demographic, I don't know what would be.

    --
    Goo goo g'joob.
  5. Too widened to find in stores by DoofusOfDeath · · Score: 4, Interesting

    OK, so I'm a member of the widened market. Unfortunately this widened market seems to be soaking up all the Wii's as soon as they hit retailers' shelves.

    Does anyone know when the northeast U.S. is supposed to have a supply to meet demand?

    (I know you can get them at Ebay etc., but they're pretty over-priced. And walmart.com sells the bundles, but I don't want to drop $650 initially.)

  6. No Doubt About It by Colourspace · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My wife, who has never played games in her life is now regularly beating my ass at wii sports. Tennis and Bowling. Shes scored 273 best score on bowling on wii, I've only managed 144 and I've been playing games for 25 years. Go, as they say, figure.

  7. Re:Top rated games by Alzheimers · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Common Wii review:
    Pros: Fun for all ages, lots of replayability
    Cons: Control scheme takes some getting used to, outdated graphics, no blood

    Common PS3 review:
    Pros: Amazing Photorealism, Super Ultra Deadly Combat 9 almost as good as Super Ultra Deadly Combat 7 (Super Gore Edition)
    Cons: Didn't we play this last year? (And every year for the past 8 years?)