| Lafiel said: Nintendo is for all ages. The "kiddy" stigma is usually propagated by people who are afraid to be seen as childish/weak themselves. Personally I'm not too interested in most Nintendo franchises though. |
Not true, Nintendo has had the lunch box kiddie image since sega joined the gaming industry. Sega became the cool console because they weren't as restricted by Nintendo as per the content that was playable of even visible on their console. It became the teen/arcade gamer friendly console with the darker paint job. Read up any history of Nintendo book or video, Sega knew themselves that Nintendo had a child and family friendly image to uphold and banked on the market that revolted against that in the 90's in the "attitude era" and used it to their advantage to gain ground in an era when Nintendo had third parties under serious lockdown because of exclusive chips in their system and marketshare. When the Playstation came along gaming was legitmized and was no longer seen as a toy. Nintendo is and always seen the gaming industry as nothing but a toy and thats why it stayed where it was. Today games are hailed as higher level electronics capable of pushing gaming and even PC gaming has to wait until the next console cycle to play the majority of their top multiplats. There was a time when PC gamers looked down on console game consoles for not having anything that was pushing gaming, but eventually it came back and reared its ugly head. Times have changed, but Nintendos image has not.
Sega commercials vs Nintendo in the 90's:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K03fQKkN7VI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZpgdWy2tWw
The famous "Genesis does what Nintendon't" commercial:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7nsBoqJ6s8
Gamers grew up and are there are some who love Nintendo regardless and that is fine, but Nintendo is and will always aim towards a certain market. Nintendo is at its weakest when it goes for the core gamer and even they know that has never been their sweet spot. Again, no one is saying it cant make those games but it wont win them a gen. They never marketed themselves a company to push things that far so by the ends they went this gen, so to shall they meet the same sales of older more "core" Nintendo consoles that Nintendo strives to reach the commercial level of attention for. If the Wii U doesn't get its issues streat it needs be ready to see a Wii U 2 in three to four more years after this. Microsoft and Sony know where they fit in and Microsoft is trying to expand while marketing themselves as the battleground for the multiplayer hardcore gamer. Sony expands without holding itself to any labels and Nintendo fell into a trap. I think its time they get themselves out of it before Miyamoto eats his words. I wonder what Miyamotos words are for parents who let their kids play the majority of multiplats on the 360 and PS3? I doubt you would like to hear his words. He and the rest of the Nintendo big wigs are old school and know where content should be directed. Nintendo knows half the COD's that well come from little kids whose parents in America and Europe have very little control over their gaming habits.
My remedy for Nintendos problems? Keep the core games but bundle free apologetic wiimotes with the Wii U and drop the price with Wii Sports Resort HD.
By the way...market research states that Nintendo has the broadest range of gamers during the Wii era and a larger amount of females gaming than any other console, nearly being 50/50 ratio with males. The average gamer consists of 30's to 40's males and games on either a PS3 or 360 but is no exempt from owning a Wii as they might be enthusiasts themselves.
