NBrid

No summary available.

Written by: BoneStormer

Once again after a major Nintendo event (this time Spaceworld), the topic
of Nintendo's "kiddyness" has come come up. My reply, don't
people ever learn? In order to get a background on my viewpoint of this
controversial topic, be sure to read my first Kiddyendo article, Kiddy
Games, Schmiddy Games. I still stand by what was said there, and most
of it still applies (it's only 3 months old). Let me add a few points
and reiterate it all over again for those that missed it, and maybe someday
this topic will come to an end.

For those of you who just read that last sentence and are thinking, "Great!
I can't wait for these 'kiddy' games to 'end' and be a thing of the past
and for Nintendo to focus on us more mature gamers," go read that
Kiddyendo article I linked above... NOW! Since you obviously haven't.
If you think Nintendo is going to target the same crowd as PS2 and XBox,
you are sorely wrong. Nintendo's target audience is still the younger
demographic. The key word here is TARGET, and not because you will be
able to buy Gamecube at your local Target store. Just because that's the
target audience doesn't mean it's the ONLY audience, and more importantly
it doesn't mean an older audience can't enjoy it too. Yes part of this
is pure nostalgia of being able to play as Mario, Link, and Samus (YAY!)
all over again, but even newer games that can't really be considered targeted
at an older crowd can be enjoyed by all. Plus no one said these were the
only games.

I recently downloaded a couple of MP3s (from IGNCube) on a conference
call just after the Spaceworld conference with Peter Main of NOA and Satoru
Iwata of Nintendo. Even here the topic of Nintendo's "kiddyness"
was brought up, and addressed. (This was quickly transcribed so it's
not exactly what was said... his accent was hard to wade through:)

Satoru Iwata: "I'd like to take a minute to address the topic
that Nintendo is too focused on games that appeal to young people. This
has always confused us for a couple of reasons. First, youngsters are
the people with the most time to play videogames, and often the most passion.
It seems only logical to us that this would be the first market to attack,
but the fact is that Nintendo is really the only manufacturer to seriously
target this core audience. Second it's important for another reason. We
believe they are the purest and truest indicators of game quality. Many
mature rated titles are not appropriate for younger players, and in fact
most (?). On the other hand some games are too easy and too childlike
even for younger teens. This core audience of 10 years and 12 and 14 years
old, will quickly say, "I don't like that." If they find a game
either too (?) or too child like. The hardest game in our business isn't
to make a child game or a mature game, but games that would be fun for
all ages no matter what their age. This has always been a goal of Nintendo.
Something that will please everyone. And with Luigi's Mansion, and Waverace,
and Smash Bros., and Pikmin. We feel we will be coming to market with
games that everyone in the family will say, "That's fun." And
if we achieve this, our success will not be effected by what other companies
do. This is the central point of the 'Nintendo Difference."

If after reading that you are still going to wait for the day Silent
Hill replaces Pokemon, you actually didn't read what he said:) This is
in contrast to what Leslie Short said about GC targeting Teens (see my
other article), so of course many will complain, "But I am a mature
gamer and I want my mature games!" Who doesn't? And who said they
won't be there? Just it is not their FOCUS, nor their TARGET audience
(there's that word again). They will be making games for the older and
teen audiences and much more so then in the past (and I think this is
more what Short was getting at). Plus as long as the games are fun, who
cares! After this Peter Main added the following to help alleviate any
fears still remaining.

Peter Main: "Indeed as visitors to Spaceworld are gonna see
in just a few hours, the GC will continue to serve the heart of the game
market like no other company in the world. And at the same time games
like Eternal Darkness and all those sports titles will greatly expand
our appeal to absolutely every niche of gameplay."

Now I think that's more along the lines of what most want to hear. I
mean who cares if GC's focus is the younger crowd as long as Nintendo
doesn't ONLY target them and forget all about the older crowd. In the
Q&A following this conference, they again brought up this wider selection
of games on GC. They know the reason GC fell in sales after taking the
top spot (yup, many forget 12 months after N64 launched it had sold more
PSX's to date even with PSX's year head start) was a lack of diversity
in their games, and part of this was a lack of mature games.

Main does admit at first the percentage of 1-2nd party games on GC is
almost 90%, but over time it should go down to about 67%. This is still
in contrast to PS2 and XBox where 1st party games will make up about 33%
(not sure what adding in 2nd would make it, but you can still see a huge
difference). From a business standpoint this is great since companies
make the most off their own games, but as a gamer it's not what we want
to hear. We'd much rather hear Nintendo announce they will be getting
MGS2 or Soul Reaver 2 as exclusives like Sony has since these would surely
help Nintendo's kiddy image, but Nintendo doesn't do this since it focuses
on its own games (since they don't want these 3rd party games taking sales
away from their own:). Sure Nintendo's 1-2nd parties are what makes Nintendo
so great, but diversity is still needed.

I don't mean just in terms of kiddy versus mature games. This wasn't
the problem I had with the N64. The problem I had was the lack of choice
in games. Being limited to mainly Nintendo's 1st and 2nd party games,
which already had a limited range, didn't give us gamers much of a choice.
With N64 every time a good game came out you had to get it since it was
that or nothing (how many got Perfect Dark even though they weren't big
FPS fans?). The scary part though is that even these days you hear so
much about game X being developed for PS2 and XBox. What about GC? Hopefully
with all the great games surly to come, and as long as there is at least
some choice and diversity in games (even if not as great as PS2's), the
GC should have enough to offer everyone. There are only 7-8 games at launch
and only 18-20 total by year's end, but for better or worse, Nintendo
still lives by their quality over quantity philosophy.

Even after all this, in the Q&A Main kept being asked about Nintendo's
target market and what they had in store for the older crowd (even these
journalists didn't seem to get it yet:). Nintendo had to stress their
#1 goal was to focus on protecting the young demographic they already
had a stronghold on, and then #2 expand on this to add to the older demographic.
So they are definitely making sure to not leave anyone out, but why would
they mess with the good thing they already had? In fact they will have
multiple advertising campaigns. Some of course aimed at a younger crowd,
but also some aimed at an older crowd. Again these more 'mature' games
doesn't necessarily mean a 'M' rating. They mainly speak of 'E' and 'T'
rated games. Yes, even in terms of games aimed at a older market, like
Wave Race (which did well with the older demographic) and the sports games.
Still, 'M' games will be there.

I'm still disapointed in the seeminly lack of support for online games.
Besides PSO, nothing online has been anounced. I keep thinking back to
the comment by someone from Nintendo that younger audiences don't really
care about online games right now, so this may be part of the reason behind
this. Still, GC will be online and hopefully the games will be too.

So enough of this Nintendo is too 'kiddy' garbage. If you feel you are
too 'mature' to play games like Mario and Zelda and Metroid, fine don't
get GC. It's your lose then that you could be missing out on some of the
best and most fun games ever. Nintendo is changing to expand their selection,
but not to change their focus. If you want to worry about something, worry
about the selection of games available, but don't worry too much. As long
as Nintendo's 2nd parties expand their selection of games, and as long
as more and more 3rd parties jump back on with the expensive cartridge
format gone and realize that the GC has a wider audience then just the
younger target audience, the GC should do allright. In fact more then
allright. Main already has predicted that the GC will be the console of
choice this Christmas. Over PS2. Over XBox. Over anything you can think
of. What's wrong with targeting an audience of all ages if it means all
ages will buy it then? They are launching the week before Thanksgiving,
the Sunday before the largest shopping day of the year, for a reason (and
it's not so they could have black GCs at launch...).

GC will be the first time they sell the console hardware at launch for
a lose. Something commonly done by others, but until now something Nintendo
didn't want to do. So it shows Nintendo is changing, slowly. Still, Nintendo
isn't stupid enough to abandon what got them here. But who wants to grow-up
anyways? However much I may like more mature games like Silent Hill and
MGS, I'd still rather play games like Mario and Zelda:) This is why I
put that Ataris quote at top, it summarizes the Nintendo Difference nicely
(hehe:), and in the end it's the reason I'm such a huge fan of Nintendo
and why so many others agree.

To leave you with a quote from Main, "(ripping on the PS2) It's
not about a year advantage. It's not about 1 or 2 titles. It's about ongoing
overall performance to bring value to the gamers regardless of their age
or gaming interest... No offense to the WWF... but who doesn't enjoy beating
the stuffing out of Kirby."