Chatty VP of marketing and corporate affairs at Nintendo America, Perrin Kaplan, has said that before the Wii gamers were getting bored.
Kaplan's comments - which will no doubt aggravate some core gamers - come straight off the back of Nintendo being named marketer of the year by marketing magazine Ad Age. Speaking about Nintendo's success, Kaplan said, "A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet".
It's a controversial statement, especially given that Nintendo was given the award following its success at reaching non-gamers. Given that Nintendo seems to have neglected the core gamers who were playing games before the Wii's release, Kaplan will no doubt earn some ire for her comments.
George Harrison, senior VP-marketing and corporate communications at Nintendo of America, indicates that Nintendo garnered the success it has by focussing its resources outside the traditional market. "It was one of our biggest [campaigns] in terms of impact, although the actual [media] spending was about the same as the year before", he said. "We didn't just double our budget to blanket both audiences [gamers and nongamers]."
Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman thinks that Nintendo has performed a nifty switch with Sony. "They're doing to Sony what Sony did unto them," he said. "They're capturing gaming households. ... And they've done the best job in marketing that they've expanded the marketplace."
Even as Nintendo is reaping the benefits of its success, however, Goodman casts doubt over the company's future success. He points to Japan, where the Wii's sales ratio against the PS3 has dropped from six to one to three to one, saying "They're tapping out their market".
IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon chimed in, commenting on the imminent departure of senior marketers such as Harrison and Kaplan as Nintendo relocates its sales and marketing offices. "That team did much to build this success, and I'm concerned that a new marketing group might not get it", he said.
Source: Ad Age
Kaplan's comments - which will no doubt aggravate some core gamers - come straight off the back of Nintendo being named marketer of the year by marketing magazine Ad Age. Speaking about Nintendo's success, Kaplan said, "A major insight that Nintendo had early on was that they saw that gamers were getting bored, even though they didn't know it yet".
It's a controversial statement, especially given that Nintendo was given the award following its success at reaching non-gamers. Given that Nintendo seems to have neglected the core gamers who were playing games before the Wii's release, Kaplan will no doubt earn some ire for her comments.
George Harrison, senior VP-marketing and corporate communications at Nintendo of America, indicates that Nintendo garnered the success it has by focussing its resources outside the traditional market. "It was one of our biggest [campaigns] in terms of impact, although the actual [media] spending was about the same as the year before", he said. "We didn't just double our budget to blanket both audiences [gamers and nongamers]."
Yankee Group analyst Mike Goodman thinks that Nintendo has performed a nifty switch with Sony. "They're doing to Sony what Sony did unto them," he said. "They're capturing gaming households. ... And they've done the best job in marketing that they've expanded the marketplace."
Even as Nintendo is reaping the benefits of its success, however, Goodman casts doubt over the company's future success. He points to Japan, where the Wii's sales ratio against the PS3 has dropped from six to one to three to one, saying "They're tapping out their market".
IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon chimed in, commenting on the imminent departure of senior marketers such as Harrison and Kaplan as Nintendo relocates its sales and marketing offices. "That team did much to build this success, and I'm concerned that a new marketing group might not get it", he said.
Source: Ad Age
Companies:
Nintendo
Read More Like This
Comments
SuperSaiyan4 15 Oct 2007 11:17
1/15
Nintendo well done you finally get something no other company has yet got from me and thats the MIDDLE FINGER!
I had an Xbox, PS2 and a Cube (Cube and PS2 for a short period to be honest) was I bored? Hell no!
I was loving Xbox last gen with HALO 2, PGR2, Ninja Gaide, Deus Ex, and many many other great games, and lets not forget Xbox Live!
Now with the Xbox 360, HALO 3, PGR4 and soon Orange Box, Mass Effect etc...Are gamers bored? HELL NO!
Nintendo have just been very lucky to get an immense userbase thanks to the novelty of the Wii - I actually owned one and found that it was rather dully and boring and sold it.
I had an Xbox, PS2 and a Cube (Cube and PS2 for a short period to be honest) was I bored? Hell no!
I was loving Xbox last gen with HALO 2, PGR2, Ninja Gaide, Deus Ex, and many many other great games, and lets not forget Xbox Live!
Now with the Xbox 360, HALO 3, PGR4 and soon Orange Box, Mass Effect etc...Are gamers bored? HELL NO!
Nintendo have just been very lucky to get an immense userbase thanks to the novelty of the Wii - I actually owned one and found that it was rather dully and boring and sold it.
deleted 15 Oct 2007 11:41
2/15
I agree with Sups, i wasnt bored and quite happy and i would of been happy with a True Gamecube 2, but just because you have created a new controller thats great and all (not the revolution we were promised) doesnt give you the right to declare you know how all gamers felt before and during the Wiis life, its silly now you are trying to tell us that you know what we want and how we want it, if you know us so well give me a Wii hard disk or at least enable USB Mass Storage Devices.
more comments below our sponsor's message
ultimateassmonkey 15 Oct 2007 12:00
3/15
You know what, I was getting bored last gen... But that was because I didn't play the likes of Halo, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry or much else. I was having so much fun on Counter Strike Source and HL2 to give a damn about console games. I just saw the population of C.R.A.P. (Can't Really Apprehend Playing) games getting larger and larger... And yet I couldn't believe people were buying those sorts of titles.
As for this gen, I my Wii is gathering a little bit of dust. Why? Because I played through the whole Halo trilogy and have the likes of Rainbow Six, Test Drive, Perfect Dark... And not forgetting Halo 3 Multiplayer to keep me entertained. Yes, I got my hands on Super Paper Mario to play, Excite Truck to complete, Zelda to play over again and the likes of Metroid to purchase, Brawl to smash people's face in and Galaxy to gain more spatial awareness... :-/ (I know). Oh and don't think I'll be leaving my 360 to gather dust too... There are many games I want to get on both systems, just don't see a reason to get a ps3.
Argh.
As for this gen, I my Wii is gathering a little bit of dust. Why? Because I played through the whole Halo trilogy and have the likes of Rainbow Six, Test Drive, Perfect Dark... And not forgetting Halo 3 Multiplayer to keep me entertained. Yes, I got my hands on Super Paper Mario to play, Excite Truck to complete, Zelda to play over again and the likes of Metroid to purchase, Brawl to smash people's face in and Galaxy to gain more spatial awareness... :-/ (I know). Oh and don't think I'll be leaving my 360 to gather dust too... There are many games I want to get on both systems, just don't see a reason to get a ps3.
Argh.
Sean 15 Oct 2007 12:35
4/15
Y'know, I think the commenters (and maybe the author of the article) have kind of missed the point. If you hear from people that a movie isn't very good, that doesn't mean that everyone who saw it hated it. The same is true of Kaplan's statement: gamers were starting to get bored. Some gamers, not all of them.
If you look at the market, the last generation of gamers was smaller than the one before. Game sales in the two years prior to the release of the current-gen systems was on the decline. Those data imply that the people who had been playing games were finding other ways to spend their time and money--that's what I would call "boredom." The people who love their FPSs on Xbox weren't sitting at home crying until the Wii came along; instead they still love their FPSs and they still love their Xboxes. The bored gamers Kaplan was talking about are the ones that either didn't buy a console last generation or at least haven't seriously played their PS2, 'Cube, or original Xbox in the past couple of years.
If you look at the market, the last generation of gamers was smaller than the one before. Game sales in the two years prior to the release of the current-gen systems was on the decline. Those data imply that the people who had been playing games were finding other ways to spend their time and money--that's what I would call "boredom." The people who love their FPSs on Xbox weren't sitting at home crying until the Wii came along; instead they still love their FPSs and they still love their Xboxes. The bored gamers Kaplan was talking about are the ones that either didn't buy a console last generation or at least haven't seriously played their PS2, 'Cube, or original Xbox in the past couple of years.
Joji 15 Oct 2007 13:21
5/15
Kaplan is right, but there's other stuff besides that boredom. Sometimes I feel Nintendo, despite doing well, have selective hearing. They saw hard drives for PS2 and Xbox last gen (andthis one), but failed to add one for Wii, even an external would have offered something. But alas no, and to be honest there's no excuse Nintendo, Wii should have had one.
A hard drive would have offered demos. Demos are so vital in selling games these days and Nintendo have failed in this area, because when such boredom sets in, demos can tempt any gamer for a new and different free fix, and thus prevent a system becoming second hand. Demos could have also played a vital part in japan, where they just by anything Nintendo, but don't buy western games (they also don't have Blockbuster like rentals, so free demos would have done well in japan)
I can understand some people selling their Wii's, but I'm sure the best games are yet to come, selling early will only eventually have you kicking yourself, once things heat up in 08. If you do sell that Wii, it'll be harder to replace in this eternal global shortage.
A hard drive would have offered demos. Demos are so vital in selling games these days and Nintendo have failed in this area, because when such boredom sets in, demos can tempt any gamer for a new and different free fix, and thus prevent a system becoming second hand. Demos could have also played a vital part in japan, where they just by anything Nintendo, but don't buy western games (they also don't have Blockbuster like rentals, so free demos would have done well in japan)
I can understand some people selling their Wii's, but I'm sure the best games are yet to come, selling early will only eventually have you kicking yourself, once things heat up in 08. If you do sell that Wii, it'll be harder to replace in this eternal global shortage.
alexh2o 15 Oct 2007 15:04
6/15
The only reason gamers are/were getting bored is because the like of EA churn out sequel after sequel of the same tired crap. Sorry Nintendo, its nothing to do with 'how you play the game', its 'the game'. So yes you were successful because Wii Sports etc was actually a new type of game that was fun to play.I admit the controller did allow this. Yet in the same way I adored BioShock because it was thinking differently.
I have a Wii and generally I like it, but I myself like everyone else I know who owns one, hardly touches it. Why? It's mostly powered on novelty and not much substance!
Also, sorry but surely gamers are actually getting bored of 'last gen' hardware that limits game potential, seen it before graphics and AI, coupled with unoriginal sequels using the same characters drawn up over a decade ago. I loved Mario on the SNES, then on my N64, just about on the Cube... but come on, something new maybe? MGS is close to being one of my favourite games of all time, but one of the best things they've done is say enough is enough, 4 will wrap it up and we will move onto something new.
I have a Wii and generally I like it, but I myself like everyone else I know who owns one, hardly touches it. Why? It's mostly powered on novelty and not much substance!
Also, sorry but surely gamers are actually getting bored of 'last gen' hardware that limits game potential, seen it before graphics and AI, coupled with unoriginal sequels using the same characters drawn up over a decade ago. I loved Mario on the SNES, then on my N64, just about on the Cube... but come on, something new maybe? MGS is close to being one of my favourite games of all time, but one of the best things they've done is say enough is enough, 4 will wrap it up and we will move onto something new.
best buy 1163 15 Oct 2007 15:38
7/15
i think tha she is right and wrong why? game was boring becuse evreybody was doing the same kind of games jus count how many wars game are right now? the inovation was done but the wii come whith somthing new(i have one) its good but have a lot of crap games and its true demos are the answer to this am tire to spend $50.00(usa) get home i just say f?>?>?>.? another ps2 port or another pice of sh>??>, and about stop doing mario, zelda or metroid nooooooo thas nintendo stars but i agree with somthig, NINTENDO is time to do new games for hardcore gamers more M games from NINTENDO you proof all ready that you can make new games,funy games and inovations games but can you proof that you can make M games too? a new IP whith M rating from NINTENDO that is cool ,maybe that way people stop saying NINTENDO is just for kids and by the way in usa is more easy find Gold that a Wii and i work in Best Buy in Virginia and we recive evrey two week from 40 to 80 wii and they gone in lest that 4 hours,the 360 20 HDD its solu out too <the elite is the,The halo edition is there and the ps3 we have 60 nad 80 hdd to give for free.
Bentley 15 Oct 2007 16:28
8/15
I've not really been bored by gaming and I'm yet to be sold on Wii. But I am incredibly bored by uneducated people who post nonsense on the Internet that makes no sense what-so-ever. I can't even be bothered to read posts with s**t grammar, spelling and punctuation any more. That is what bores me. Maybe I am a grammar snob. Or maybe I just like to put a little more care into structuring my nonsense so that even though what I say is drivel, at least it can be read by human beings without needing an interpreter. There's no point trying to make a point if nobody can read it. It's like creating a beautiful painting, covering it in poo and burying it under three feet of cement. Nobody can appreciate that.
If I was running a site I'd instantly ban people for lowering the tone with half-brained illiterate drivel. Harsh, maybe, but somebody somewhere has got to start setting standards, otherwise in ten years time the entire Internet will be unintelligible nonsense, rather than the 95% of it as it is at the moment.
If I was running a site I'd instantly ban people for lowering the tone with half-brained illiterate drivel. Harsh, maybe, but somebody somewhere has got to start setting standards, otherwise in ten years time the entire Internet will be unintelligible nonsense, rather than the 95% of it as it is at the moment.
Daemon 15 Oct 2007 16:36
9/15
Bentley wrote:
Maybe I am a grammar snob.
That's grammar Nazi.
Godwin, you surely were an on-the-ball chap.
OptimusP 15 Oct 2007 17:11
10/15
Wait wait wait...People still take Perrin Kaplan seriously? Nintendo-fans stopped doing that in 2005. The joke is on all of you who actualy take this woman seriously.
Also Joji, stop giving demo's these magical properties if you can't even prove that demo's make games sell more (which they don't). They only create more hype within a limited core audience. So stop disguising your complete subjective bitching as "oh oh but demo's can spread the magic and bring smiles to everyone's faces"
But there are some signals that Kaplan could be right, just not with it connecting to the Wii. The frequency of games selling ten million or more has been going down. Also in the year 2004, companies have been bitching about dropping profits (even EA) and some just weant bankrupt, also the gaming industry as whole was going down. Then came the DS and upped the frequency op games selling more then ten million copies and actually was solely responsible for the gaming industry to grow in 2005 and 2006 in the US and Japan. Nintendo could well have prevented a second crash of the industry with the DS. And industries don't crash because people are so overly excited about it or find it unirrestible fun and attractive.
Also Joji, stop giving demo's these magical properties if you can't even prove that demo's make games sell more (which they don't). They only create more hype within a limited core audience. So stop disguising your complete subjective bitching as "oh oh but demo's can spread the magic and bring smiles to everyone's faces"
But there are some signals that Kaplan could be right, just not with it connecting to the Wii. The frequency of games selling ten million or more has been going down. Also in the year 2004, companies have been bitching about dropping profits (even EA) and some just weant bankrupt, also the gaming industry as whole was going down. Then came the DS and upped the frequency op games selling more then ten million copies and actually was solely responsible for the gaming industry to grow in 2005 and 2006 in the US and Japan. Nintendo could well have prevented a second crash of the industry with the DS. And industries don't crash because people are so overly excited about it or find it unirrestible fun and attractive.
wii 15 Oct 2007 17:45
11/15
seems some people still don't admit they lost......(SuperSaiyan4)
Nintendo RULES and you can do nothing!!
Nintendo RULES and you can do nothing!!
Smelly 15 Oct 2007 18:03
12/15
You know "SuperSaiyan4" .. i was going to agree with you..
But then i read your list of shooters and racing games.. and i realised that yes - i am bored with games.
Just like i was in the 16 bit era when every ****ing game was a platformer.. Now i'm bored with shooters and racers.. and cant wait for the next platformer.. How's that for irony?
But then i read your list of shooters and racing games.. and i realised that yes - i am bored with games.
Just like i was in the 16 bit era when every ****ing game was a platformer.. Now i'm bored with shooters and racers.. and cant wait for the next platformer.. How's that for irony?
Dale 15 Oct 2007 18:25
13/15
yes I am bored with the wii but do you know why, its good games arn't out yet its not because im bored with the wii remote im bored with the games.
The wii is a fantastic system and I hate it when people say its a novelty and every one is bored of it, well yes if you have all of the half decent games on the ps3 and you where bored of them then you would be bored of the console.
Just like I own the best games for the wii but im now bored of them, that dosen't mean that the console is bad it means that im bored with the games because ive played them to death.
When some one gets bored with the ps3 its like "yea just wait for the decent games"
but when some ones gets bored of the wii its like "yea its just a novelty"
no its because you need more and better games to keep you interested like super smash bros brawl
To be honest you have to be an idiot if you think wii sports because of the wii remote is supposed to keep you interested for five years.
IT JUST NEED MORE GAMES LIKE THE PS3 DOES, IT CAN NOT BE CALLED A NOVELTY.
The wii is a fantastic system and I hate it when people say its a novelty and every one is bored of it, well yes if you have all of the half decent games on the ps3 and you where bored of them then you would be bored of the console.
Just like I own the best games for the wii but im now bored of them, that dosen't mean that the console is bad it means that im bored with the games because ive played them to death.
When some one gets bored with the ps3 its like "yea just wait for the decent games"
but when some ones gets bored of the wii its like "yea its just a novelty"
no its because you need more and better games to keep you interested like super smash bros brawl
To be honest you have to be an idiot if you think wii sports because of the wii remote is supposed to keep you interested for five years.
IT JUST NEED MORE GAMES LIKE THE PS3 DOES, IT CAN NOT BE CALLED A NOVELTY.
duque 15 Oct 2007 23:35
14/15
Kaplan is right, I was bored with the same everyday FPS, every day adventure ripoff game, I was feeling like Ive played this stuff 25 times before. The same ideas, the same final boss, the same hack and slash god of war ripoff. And out there was a huge amount of people playing minigames online on the computer that consoles werent offering. The proof is the huge amount of Wii sold, for the non-core gamers. The anterior threats are written by hardcoregamers, and I am now a casual gamer thanks to the lack of innovation of the industry.
Rorkimaru 17 Oct 2007 00:37
15/15
towards the end of the last generation i was etting more into gaming. we got tekken 5, devil may cry 3, metal gear solid 3, shadow of the collosis Grand theft Auto:SA and many more (yes they are all ps2 but im a sony boy) many of those games i still play. the fact that the ps2 kept improving during its lifetime ment it never felt old to me. the xbox was always doing well too. the 360 is great and still plays like classic games. just like the ps3 (despite its silly sixaxis).
i read above that because there are more "gamers" this generation this verifies the statement... well it actualy contradicts it. it proves that the classic gamers bought ps3/360 and new people bought wiis. i know there are some real gamers who have wiis but if you only have games like cooking mama and wii sports then you are not a real gamer. there is no depth to those games.
i cant think of a single game on wii that comes close to many of my last gen games (such as any of the ones above,zelda comes close but not close enough) so was i bored with last gen games? No, the wii did not ride in on its white horse and save me. my ps3 and 360 updated a style of gaming i know and love. f you only have a wii you are not a real gamer
i read above that because there are more "gamers" this generation this verifies the statement... well it actualy contradicts it. it proves that the classic gamers bought ps3/360 and new people bought wiis. i know there are some real gamers who have wiis but if you only have games like cooking mama and wii sports then you are not a real gamer. there is no depth to those games.
i cant think of a single game on wii that comes close to many of my last gen games (such as any of the ones above,zelda comes close but not close enough) so was i bored with last gen games? No, the wii did not ride in on its white horse and save me. my ps3 and 360 updated a style of gaming i know and love. f you only have a wii you are not a real gamer