Fils-Aime: Nintendo attempting to tap “white spaces”
In the current generation of the gaming market and industry, there is a large divide which encompasses the gaming community. From potential and core customers to technophiles and technophobes, the industry faces the challenge of trying to bridge the gap between the two sides. And Nintendo, as the risk-takers they are, took to the gauntlet to tap those “white spaces.”
In an opinion article authored by none other than Nintendo of America‘s president Reggie Fils-Aime, he mentioned that Nintendo had spotted this “dichotomy” several years ago. Gamers of the enthusiastic persuasion were more than comfortable with adopting new hardware and new styles.
The industry began catering to this evolutionary cycle, in the sacrificial offset that potential gamers would not feel compelled to enter the mainstream, mainly because they are alienated by the advancement of technology and the increase of complexities. Fils-Aime added:
For the frustrated, it simply wasn’t worth the investment of time or money in the midst of a life ever-busier with work, family and other obligations. The players happily jousting inside the castle walls didn’t see the moat outside widening.
Click on Full Article for more on the phenomenal insight Nintendo had on the gaming market.
In the current generation of the gaming market and industry, there is a large divide which encompasses the gaming community. From potential and core customers to technophiles and technophobes, the industry faces the challenge of trying to bridge the gap between the two sides. And Nintendo, as the risk-takers that they are, took to the gauntlet to tap those “white spaces.”
In an opinion article authored by none other than Nintendo of America‘s president Reggie Fils-Aime, he mentioned that Nintendo had spotted this “dichotomy” several years ago. Gamers of the enthusiastic persuasion were more than comfortable with adopting new hardware and new styles.
The industry began catering to this evolutionary cycle, in the sacrificial offset that potential gamers would not feel compelled to enter the mainstream, mainly because they are alienated by the advancement of technology and the increase of complexities. Fils-Aime added:
For the frustrated, it simply wasn’t worth the investment of time or money in the midst of a life ever-busier with work, family and other obligations. The players happily jousting inside the castle walls didn’t see the moat outside widening.
To Nintendo, being able to address the core market’s satisfaction while broadening market appeal is one of the most fundamental challenges any company facing consumers and technology must tackle with. Of course, Nintendo took the “snap answer” – they innovated.
Clayton Christensen, the same one who credited innovation as the source of success, also once outlined one course of action for innovation: “provide a new product that actually underperforms on an established industry metric for “progress,” and substitute an alternative that typically is smaller, less expensive and easier to use.”
As expected, of course, the core of the industry and the market scoffed at such an idea. Undeterred, Nintendo soon addressed the requirements of innovation with their Nintendo Wii, which fits Christensen’s rule: “smaller, less expensive, easier to use.” Fils-Aime concluded:
It is purposely so simple and intuitive that anyone in a household can use it. It also incorporates functions like a photo browser, an Internet browser, and custom news and weather channels, which lead some people to wonder what these elements have to do with video games. In fact, this is a conscious move into “white space”–in this case, that sizable gap between technophiles and technophobes where consumers just want an understandable way to catch up with the times.
These days, any forward-thinking company will consider tools like MySpace. But it may be equally vital to search for potential consumers lurking in the “white spaces.