| RolStoppable said: This article just reinforces what everyone should already know, that the Wii U won't have a long life. The existence of the QoL platform means that Nintendo has a plan going forward which is more than could be said about the months and years leading up to the Wii U launch. In that sense it's actually a very positive article, not a "Nintendo is doomed" shout. As for entering the crowded health & lifestyle market, people need to think in blue ocean terms. That means a product that creates a new value proposition, thus a comparison with the feature sets of existing products is circumvented. Think Wii; how can Nintendo prevail in the home console market against powerful competitors like Sony and Microsoft, that was the big question before Nintendo unveiled their fifth home console. The Wii created a situation where consumers didn't ask "Wii, PS3 or 360?", but rather "Wii and PS3/360?" or "Wii or nothing". In other words, the Wii couldn't be substituted by any other product. The QoL platform must fall into the same category; and if it does, it won't matter what other companies provide. |
Except the 360/PS3 were really not trying to directly get casual gamers at first. Hence Nintendo's effort stood out 100x more. Sony and MS were making a product for teenagers, Nintendo went a made one for soccer moms/non-gamers, the difference was fairly clear cut.
Problem is there are many, many (maaaany) products that specifically target women/adults/moms/dads/grandpas for fitness/health/etc. and its becoming intergrated into devices like smartphones already ... ie: the new Galaxy S5 has a heart rate monitor and full fitness apps built in. Apple is also readying a huge push into this field.
So your Wii analogy doesn't really work there at all, it would be like the Wii coming into the market with 3 or 4 other motion gaming systems already available.
My guess is Nintendo's play here to push for senior citizens, especially those in Japan as it's a big market. Japan spends more on diapers for seniors than they do on babies. Miyamoto is now 60+ too so he probably has interest in making "entertainment" for this crowd.
They can't compete head on in the fitness marketplace, they will get their lunch handed to them ... the senior citizen market ... that might work better for them.
