Search Marketing Insomniac…The Blog of Adam Henige

Obviously, the praise heaped on Nintendo for their revolutionary take on the video game console is well worth it and been done to death.  I, however, recently had my first experience with the Wii and feel that there’s a bit more to the story.

Yes, you appreciate Nintendo targeting non-gamers, which was a brilliant strategy, but I think there are even more fundamental marketing chords that Nintendo managed to strike with this product.

1. Shared experience.  One thing that I think has been lost somewhat in the world of gaming is a real shared experience.  Gaming progressed to its own subculture as opposed to the inclusive entertainment console of its humble beginnings.  In 1982 my family got an Intellivision (a competitor to Atari - and far better than Atari in my humble opinion).  Years later my parents would tell me that they stayed up late, carefully unpacked it, and played it in the days leading up to Christmas while my brother and I slept.  This explained why my dad was an instant whiz at Q-Bert and my mom quickly mastered Dungeons & Dragons.Before the Wii, could you imagine parents waiting all day to put you to bed so they could hang out and play Playstation 2?  For all the fancy graphics and online gaming capabilities, the actual personal connection has basically disappeared.  The other people playing are simply names or voices with nothing more to them.  Gaming, for many, is simply done in isolation.  This year I visited my brother in California and one of the most fun evenings was playing Wii bowling with him and my parents.  I kept playing in a futile attempt to finally roll a 300 (I topped out at 290, damn!).  But it actually created and fostered interaction, which is easier due to the game’s simplicity.  It’s just like cracking out one of those ancient artifacts…what do you call them…board games?  Yes, board games!
2. This brings up another great point.  The Wii went WAY back to basics in my opinion, re-examining the basic value proposition of video games themselves.  FUN.  It’s all about fun.  The arms race that has taken place in terms of graphics capability, blue ray compatability and such has left a trail of dead that includes former industry giants like Sega, Atari and also rans like the Turbo Grafx 16 (Bonk the Caveman, anyone?)In college my friends worked night jobs and we used to get home and play Intellivision bowling.  It was the most simple game ever, much like Wii Sports, but it was addictively fun in its simplicity.  I think the Nintendo DS (along with the success of some cell phone games) taught some valuable lessons in how easy it is to entertain people.

So thank you Nintendo for providing some valuable lessons in identifying and capitalizing on marketing insights.  Going back to basics can provide a lot of valuable lessons and provide profitable results.  Somewhere, I’m sure Super Mario is smiling.