Opinion Article
With the release of Nintendo’s financial info recently, I figured it was time to go ahead and put this out there. As revealed by Nintendo’s moves at E3, they consider themselves in a different market from Sony and Microsoft. Their approach is also very different too. Nintendo relies the most on their exclusive franchises, and they also seem to be the most embracing of motion controls.
So why does Nintendo so much differ from the others? Well, Nintendo obviously has a different target audience. Mario was definitely not made for the same group of people who play Call of Duty. When you look at the core concepts of these games, the difference is obvious. Call of Duty is a military FPS, and Mario is a side scrolling adventure staring a chubby plumber. So yeah, it is safe to say Mario is targeted for kids. Mario isn’t the only franchise like this, Kirby and Pokemon aren’t exactly geared towards the average gamer either.
Ratings show this too. If you look at the top selling Wii games, none of them are rated M. In fact, most of them are rated E. This is definitely not true for the Playstation 3 or Xbox 360. That’s the thing, Playstation and Xbox couldn’t survive on a library consisting of mostly E games, but Nintendo does it extremely well.
Most hardcore gamers don’t think much of the Wii, but it was the top selling console of this generation. But we would never assume that, because the PS3 and Xbox 360 offer more engaging experiences for older players. But that’s the point, Nintendo isn’t making games for older players or hardcore gamers, it is making games for kids and, to a lesser extent, casual gamers. That is why games like Wii Play and Wii Sports Resort sold so well, it is highly entertaining for kids and people who just want to take a break.
This is exactly why Nintendo doesn’t need to appeal to people like me or you. This is also why we shouldn’t expect them to. Nintendo can get away with remaking their favorite games till the end of time because they continue to get a new audience. You may still enjoy a game from Nintendo, but the game will probably not be made for your enjoyment.
Microsoft and Sony
