Reggie Fils-Aime – Taking Gaming From ‘A Class to the Mass’
Fighting talk from the Nintendo bossman at Montreal Game Summit
In his keynote address at this week’s Montreal International Game Summit, Nintendo of America’s bossman, the irrepressible Reggie Fils-Aime, gave an impassioned speech, telling the attendees that, with Wii, Nintendo aims to take gaming from “a class to the mass.”
Fils-Aime, with his hardcore marketing background at Coca Cola, certainly knows how to whip up a consumer frenzy. He also knows how to please the industry, regularly dishing out heart-warming, almost evangelical calls to arms.
He continued, in his Montreal address, to implore the audience that, “To us, changing the central dynamic of this industry isn’t just an option, it’s a mandate.”
“Our answer was a paradigm shift from sight to touch. We believe this will lead to the future of this industry. We are not a traditional art form. We are something different. …Our success will be how well we expand the audience.”
Nintendo’s mantra, according to Reggie, is to, "Satisfy players, re-engage old players, but most importantly: grow the market."
Certainly inspiring stuff, but will it translate into long-term sales?
It’s a message the company has been hammering home for the best part of the last year now and with the pre-release hype machine now going into overdrive and the US launch of the Wii only one week away, we are sure to be seeing scenes of consumer frenzy in games stores across the States next week.
SPOnG will, of course, have our US-based stringers there on the ground, reporting on the various scenes of Wii joy or tragedy, as stores become besieged by rabid fanboys.
Fils-Aime, with his hardcore marketing background at Coca Cola, certainly knows how to whip up a consumer frenzy. He also knows how to please the industry, regularly dishing out heart-warming, almost evangelical calls to arms.
He continued, in his Montreal address, to implore the audience that, “To us, changing the central dynamic of this industry isn’t just an option, it’s a mandate.”
“Our answer was a paradigm shift from sight to touch. We believe this will lead to the future of this industry. We are not a traditional art form. We are something different. …Our success will be how well we expand the audience.”
Nintendo’s mantra, according to Reggie, is to, "Satisfy players, re-engage old players, but most importantly: grow the market."
Certainly inspiring stuff, but will it translate into long-term sales?
It’s a message the company has been hammering home for the best part of the last year now and with the pre-release hype machine now going into overdrive and the US launch of the Wii only one week away, we are sure to be seeing scenes of consumer frenzy in games stores across the States next week.
SPOnG will, of course, have our US-based stringers there on the ground, reporting on the various scenes of Wii joy or tragedy, as stores become besieged by rabid fanboys.
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