We Like Wii

I am a self-confessed geek. I love playing video games and so do my two late 20-something brothers. From the Super Nintendo we graduated onto the Gameboy when even my technology-challenged dad would enjoy playing Tetris for hours on end. Eventually me and my siblings were gifted the Playstation (which saw better days) as well as its successor the PS2. With a couple of exceptions, we’ve sold our souls had a long history with Nintendo. My family is not alone however in our adoration for the video game industry giant: in 2009 Nintendo saw sales figures that were well into the billions of dollars worldwide. 15 billion in fact

Nintendo has maintained its leading position in the highly-competitive video game industry due in large part to its keen understanding of the audience. Nintendo pretty much has a product for every marketing segments it caters to – for every large slice of video game pie Nintendo knows exactly what goes with it. The company has learned over the years that selling video games to the usual target markets (children and the youth in general) just won’t cut it anymore – it wasn’t enough to segment the market based on demographic criteria, consumer lifestyles had to be taken into consideration as well. Capitalizing on the fitness renaissance of recent years, Nintendo released the Wii in 2006 hoping that they would be able to tap into a growing number of health-conscious individuals as well as so-called “casual gamers” who often feel left out by the industry’s usual offerings.

The console’s flagship game, Wii Sports was applauded by Nintendo’s intended target market and the numbers don’t lie: to date, the company has sold over 75 million copies of the game worldwide. Its more fitness-oriented cousin on the other hand, Wii Fit, has been received well by fitness enthusiasts and couch potatoes alike. The lesson: it pays to go beyond the horizon.

I guess they must be doing something right. As for me? I’ll be playing Super Mario Bros. On my pink NDS.