Happy dogs waggle tails, happy gamers don’t waggle controllers
I once gave a presentation in a crowded room about the role
that innovation has played in the gaming industry. I specifically spoke about the great
strides that were made by Nintendo in capitalizing on the largely untapped
‘casual gamer’ market with the Wii. To prove a point, I showed the audience a
blackened out silhouette of just the Wii console sitting on a stand. Old and
young alike immediately recognized the familiar shape and everyone in the room
knew exactly what it was (unless they were scared to answer incorrectly- like how I would
raise my hand during hearing tests when I saw other kids do it). Nintendo has
done the impossible by capturing the market segment containing people that
introduce themselves as “Jason” more often than “CODfiend1977” (old
people….seriously), and like me on a first date, Nintendo has largely
misinterpreted their intentions.
