The mainstreaming of Brain Age
I have a column in tbt* today about Nintendo's strategy for selling Brain Age to the masses. As Kotaku mentioned Wednesday, this week's Time magazine has a full-page ad for the game. I wrote about why it's so strange to see an ad like that in Time and why that's so important.
On the one hand, I feel like I go a little overboard in praising Nintendo. I went back and forth over whether I should call it a "revolutionary" strategy, for instance. But on the other hand, Nintendo is really doing something different. They aren't just talking about innovation and then going back to focusing on franchises, as EA seems to be doing. They aren't using a single cutesy game as a stand-in for a genuine strategy to appeal to kids, families and non-gamers as Microsoft is doing with Viva Pinata.
They're actually developing new kinds of games (Nintendogs, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Brain Age), and going out to pitch them to people who wouldn't otherwise buy video games. It sounds like a basic business strategy, but no video game company has ever done it before.
I just got Brain Age today so I don't know if it's any good, but that's almost beside the point. Nintendogs and Phoenix Wright are more interesting than fun. What's important is that Nintendo is taking a chance and actually doing something to expand the gaming audience, rather than paying lip service to the idea but continuing with the status quo.
On the one hand, I feel like I go a little overboard in praising Nintendo. I went back and forth over whether I should call it a "revolutionary" strategy, for instance. But on the other hand, Nintendo is really doing something different. They aren't just talking about innovation and then going back to focusing on franchises, as EA seems to be doing. They aren't using a single cutesy game as a stand-in for a genuine strategy to appeal to kids, families and non-gamers as Microsoft is doing with Viva Pinata.
They're actually developing new kinds of games (Nintendogs, Trauma Center, Phoenix Wright, Brain Age), and going out to pitch them to people who wouldn't otherwise buy video games. It sounds like a basic business strategy, but no video game company has ever done it before.
I just got Brain Age today so I don't know if it's any good, but that's almost beside the point. Nintendogs and Phoenix Wright are more interesting than fun. What's important is that Nintendo is taking a chance and actually doing something to expand the gaming audience, rather than paying lip service to the idea but continuing with the status quo.
1 Comments:
At 13:58, Anonymous said…
I showed brain age to my family on the weekend. Just on a lark (to test their brain ages), and also to test if Nintendo is right, that this could be a mass market game.
Fast forward to today, and my DS has gone through 3 complete charge/use cycles! And I've hardly played it at all.
SO yeah, Nintendo seems to be on target with their mass market strategy. Thank you Nintendo, I don't have a DS anymore!
(So if you wanna show it to the "mass market", buy them their own, or you'll never see yours again)
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