Wii will create a new videogame market: Nintendo president

According to PricewaterhouseCoopers’ 2006 Entertainment and Media Outlook, the global videogame market is expected to increase from $27.1 billion in 2005 to $46.5 billion in 2010. It was widely agreed upon by experts at the Montreal International Game Summit earlier this month that the best way for the market to achieve this growth, and for developers to tap into it, is to take gaming beyond the traditional devoted demographic. Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America Inc., kicked off day two of the summit with a keynote address about the venerable videogame console maker’s plans for expanding the market. "We are focused on everything possible to bring new gamers into our industry," he said. "There’s absolutely no reason why every consumer can’t enjoy a videogame the same way they enjoy a book." Of course, some of the traditional arguments to that point have been that videogames have become increasingly complicated and feature content that is not very appealing to the over-30 crowd. Enter the Nintendo Wii. The new console, which launched in North America on November 18, may just be the demographic-buster. At the very least, with its intuitive wireless remote that can be steered like a steering wheel, cast like a fishing rod or swung like a tennis racquet, golf club, or sword, it possibly features the most unique controller and game play to ever hit the market. "We don’t believe you can expand the market with a multi-button, ‘masher’ controller," said Fils-Aimé. Nintendo also believes that its competitors, Sony Corp.’s Playstation series and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox, continue to fight over the same market of experienced gamers. During his speech Fils-Aimé showed a commercial that featured two Japanese travelling Wii salesmen going door to door saying, "Wii like to play," and getting everyone from kids to grandparents jumping around their living rooms playing the interactive Wii Sports games – tennis, baseball, golf, bowling and boxing. Added Fils-Aimé: "When you deliver something that’s exciting for everyone, magic happens." Wii’s launch is also an attempt for Nintendo to regain some of the magic it had when it first entered the game console market with the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in 1985. A chart in the Nov. 15/06 of Canadian NEW MEDIA featuring data from DFC Intelligence showed that Nintendo’s share of the worldwide console market has slipped with the launch of each successive console, from more than 90% with the NES – launched in Canada in 1986 – down to the 10% range with its most recent GameCube, which launched here in 2001. And it’s not only experiencing a decreasing share of an increasing market; the Globe and Mail reported that Nintendo shipped only 21.2 million GameCubes compared to 32.9 million Nintendo 64s, its previous console. One way Nintendo is trying to get back to its successful roots is by including a game, Wii Sports, with the console – something it hasn’t done in 15 years. And the Wii, when connected to the Internet, is also a gateway to two decades of console gaming through which users can download games from three past Nintendo consoles as well as the Sega Genesis and TurboGrafx 16 for between US$5 and US$10. As well, the Wii is retailing for $279.95, compared to about $650 for the Playstation 3 and between $300 and $400 for the Xbox 360, which has been available since last year. "We want to reach everyone, not just gamers but non-gamers, with…a game for them," said Fils-Aimé. "Everyone loves a game, so why isn’t everyone playing videogames?" After Wii’s launch just over a week ago it seems that some people aren’t playing videogames because many Canadian retailers sold out of the console within days, so at least one of Fils-Aimé’s wishes have come true. Nintendo-to-go still hotWhile demonstrations of the Nintendo Wii and Nintendo of America Inc. president Reggie Fils-Aimé’s keynote about how the new system will help Nintendo take console gaming to the mass market were certainly some of the highlights of the Montreal International Game Summit (MIGS), Fils-Aimé also addressed how the venerable game maker is already breaking down traditional gaming demographic barriers with its portable Nintendo DS. Launched in 2004, the DS has the fastest growth rate of any game system ever, but Fils-Aimé says it really impresses with its cross-demographic appeal. For example, 22% of the buyers of NintenDogs for DS are female and 28% are over 25 years old. More astonishingly, 21% of the buyers of Big Brain Academy are female and 54% are over 25. Comparatively, only about 5% of the buyers of the DS version of the popular Mario Kart franchise are female, and only 23% are over 25. David Gosen, CEO of UK-based mobile phone game publisher I-Play, also addressed the potential of portable gaming at MIGS. Specifically, there are more than two billion wireless subscribers worldwide and more than 400 wireless carriers. "This will be the first year where the number of touch points for mobile gaming will be higher that it is in console," said Gosen. "Mobile is the true mass market."

Wii will create a new videogame market: Nintendo president

News | 11/30/2006 5:00 am EST

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