- something designed to attract extra attention, interest, or publicity
- any clever device, gadget, or stratagem, esp one used to deceive
I've seen a ton of criticism surrounding the word "gimmick". Anything that is accused of being gimmicky nowadays is panned as something to mock at. In the videogame industry, even if the gimmick helps the system to attract 3rd party or new audiences, people still see them as something harmful to the experience (usually calling it casual). However, people only tend to pay attention to a gimmick when they dislike a particular system. Some example, the Wii is criticized for its motion controlls, yet no one talks about the NES multiple add-ons like ROB or the Zapper, when both of this consoles greatly benefit of these elements and the focus of both was still videogames. PS1, PS2 and PSP were able to sell so much thanks to being able to play CDs, DVDs and other multimedia respectively. Kineckt sold a lot of 360s to a public that wasn't really interested on the console to begin with.
Even somethings that we consider normal nowadays could be seen as gimmicks given a particular perspective. All handheld gaming is based on playing on the go, 360 and PS3 entering the HD race can be considered gimmick (actually, better graphics can be seen as a gimmick too), analogues sticks aren't that different from regular buttons...
Things that give us a particular experiencein gaming have always been there. Companies try to differenciate their products by adding new and unique features or doing the same things better than the rest, it's the nature of competition.
I know that, in the end, games are the element that makes a videogame console good or not, but that is mostly subjective (you can say that the Philips CDi is the best videogame console of all time, but you're going to have a hard time proving it).
What do you think? What exactly defines a gimmick in the industry? What makes some gimmicks prevail when others fail? How much does a gimmick help selling a console or game?
Essay Pro