Says Dean Takahashi, a games writer, when asked how important marketing is in video games (or everything for that matter): “Marketing is very important. It is the reason that Nintendo lost the last round. Nintendo had a nice and powerful system. But it made the box purple and made it seem like a toy. So it was stereotyped as a system for kids. Adults, who were the growing part of the market, stayed away from it. That doomed the GameCube.”
Couldn’t agree more. And yes, Nintendo “lost” in the sense of not having its fourth generation console meet market share expectations, despite its profits. Wii, I hope you’re listening, but I think you have thus far.