I want to shed the label of biased Nintendo fanboy, I really do, but when the people offering up counterpoints to pro-Wii writers like Brier Dudley are as dense as ITWire’s Stan Beer, it just makes things difficult. To preface my forthcoming remarks, let me say that Nintendo’s quest to woo non-gamers with the Wii will be a tough fight. That said, let’s take a look-see at what the detractors are saying about Wii’s chances…
“The reason that most middle aged people don’t play games is that more often or not they’re too busy doing other things. Like bringing up children, feeding their families, furthering their careers and socialising with friends…”
Apparently, the b, r, a, i, n, a, g, and e keys on Mr. Beer’s laptop aren’t working today, else he could have Google’d “Brain Age” and saved himself the embarrasment of his opening point. Maybe he’s never heard of Second Life either. It was only featured in BusinessWeek this week, but whatever. And this next point, while lengthy, needs to be shown in its entirety.
“If Nintendo really was serious about reaching the non-gamer market, then perhaps it would have done well to take a leaf out Microsoft’s and Sony’s books. Both companies realised long ago that the way to get to non-gamers with consoles is to give them something other than games, such as DVD players, internet connections and video streaming. The Wii may feature a unique 3-dimensional controller, but the device itself is so one-dimensional. Fancy having a console that plays games off standard DVDs, yet it won’t even play DVD movies. By not including a simple DVD player on the Wii console, Nintendo missed a real opportunity. Most consumers still don’t give a damn about high definition video technology because it’s too expensive. However, everyone wants a DVD player in their living room.”
Mr. Beer, last I checked DVD players were so commonplace that they spontaneously appeared in the living rooms of new homes and recently rented apartments. Crappy economy cars have them preinstalled in the backs of their seats. The poorest of the poor can find DVD players for US$30. Mr. Beer, apparently, still listens to cassette tapes and starts his car with a crank. And we’ve all seen how multi-faceted game consoles, like the PSP, continually dominate the DS week after week, right?