Nintendo fans: Quit your whining! A very good article... Must read

[thekitchensink]

SmokedHostage said:

thekitchensink said:
It makes sense that Nintendo is focussing on trying to get some big third-party games out for the core gamer this holiday, while they themselves focus on casual (Wii Music) and bridge (Animal Crossing). While they make these games, the third parties put out Force Unleashed, Clone Wars, Call of Duty, Quantum of Solace, Disaster: Day of Crisis, Fatal Frame, etc.

I'm actually sitting in my Marketing class right now, and I just learned that it costs 7-8 times as much for a company to gain a new customer than to keep an old one.

Nintendo owns those IP's I believe.

 

Fair enough, I think you're right (at least with FF), but you see my point.  They are putting lots of effort into both areas, but in order to get equal sales results from both extremes, they need to market to the non-gamer much more heavily.

 

For example, Wii Fit gets marketed to no end in magazines, lifestyle TV, internet, everywhere.  It's perceived by core gamers that this is taking away ad space from 'their' games, and thus Nintendo is abandoning them.  However, Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros Brawl have sold roughly the same amount worldwide (or at least they're on the same level as one another).

To repeat, Wii Fit got much more advertising than Brawl, and yet their sales numbers are on the same plane.  This is because they marketed WF to new consumers, and had to spend 7-8 times as much to make the product known and relevant.