Let’s face it; the DS Lite does not look like a conventional game system. It doesn’t even look like a normal portable console. Here’s why:
The success of Apple’s iPod is now a case study to all companies selling consumer electronics. The MP3 player’s usability, non-intimidating looks, and hip factor are off the charts. Now I know Apple didn’t invent the color white, but what the company did do is leverage the color’s ability to make a gadget seem less intimidating. “Gadget looking” isn’t a problem to most tech savvy internet ninjas like yourselves, but to the rest of the world like aging baby boomers, it can be a big deal to pick up a small silver/black object with lots of little buttons. Apple understood this and wanting to cater their MP3 product to the masses created one of the most simplified and non-intimidating portable players on the market. Add white, sell millions.
Nintendo is no different. They want non-gamers to pick up a DS (Lite), and what better way to do this than with a re-engineered, non-game looking system with clean looks and excellent software. From a business standpoint, the DS Lite could be Nintendo’s biggest hardware break-through to date. That is until the Wii is launched later this year.