Color it Pink: Which market are pink handhelds really aimed at?

Pink. The color of femininity which is often associated with youth and affection. In Japan, pink is the color of luck, while the samurai revered the pink cherry blossoms as it symbolized something beautiful which perished in its prime. Pink is also a singer who is a known advocate against the marginalization of women. Pink also symbolizes joy and happiness in Catholic religion. Pink is a color that most men and males under the age of 18 are loathe to even touch.

So, with all the various symbolisms, meanings and superstitions associated with this popular pastel, one has to wonder about who exactly were the game executives at Sony and Nintendo trying to please when they decided to begin the Pink Invasion in consoles and handhelds?

It’s all still fresh in our minds actually. First there was the release of the pink DS Lite in Japan which caused the country to swoon, and then came the Pink PSP, as well as the pink, slim-type PS2. One would think that perhaps this color was meant for children, but apparently this option can be crossed off the list since during the pink DS’s release last July, the people who lined up for the handheld didn’t include a single child, but was instead comprised of “College students…men in business suits… housewives, gray hairs, but oddly no children.”

So then, the next obvious choice would be women, whether they be the Animal Crossing-loving mother, the Brain Age expert in her fifties, or the young women that society has inevitably labeled as “Grrrl Gamers”. It has already been a known tactic to produce games which would attract more females into the gaming scene, but we suppose that the notion that girls would only play something that includes something cute in it would most probably send a lot of feminist hate mail flying back and forth.

Of course, we can never really tell what the original plan was, whether it was a deliberate method to tap a previously overlooked market, or someone just simply thought that they should have pink in their collection just to complete the range of available colors.

On a personal note however, and feminist ideals aside, I admit that I am still wanting to own a pink DS for myself, not because I feel girly or because I need my dose of cuteness, but because I love juxtapositions. Personally, if I saw another girl in a frilly dress with a pink PSP happily going through a round of Tekken: Dark Resurrection, I would think that the girl was cool. Had the same girl instead been playing anything that involves ponies, kittens and ribbons, I would have slowly backed away. Same goes for the other end of the spectrum, since I find it extremely cute to see a girl in a punk shirt, ripped jeans, and a spiked collar playing Final Fantasy III on a pink DS.

Maybe it’s all a matter of personal preference or maybe some of us just want an uncommon version of a common item, but either way, maybe it would all just be easier for everyone to accept that pink will be around for a very long time yet. After all, pink just may be the new black.

Pink. The color of femininity which is often associated with youth and affection. In Japan, pink is the color of luck, while the samurai revered the pink cherry blossoms as it symbolized something beautiful which perished in its prime. Pink is also a singer who is a known advocate against the marginalization of women. Pink also symbolizes joy and happiness in Catholic religion. Pink is a color that most men and males under the age of 18 are loathe to even touch.

So, with all the various symbolisms, meanings and superstitions associated with this popular pastel, one has to wonder about who exactly were the game executives at Sony and Nintendo trying to please when they decided to begin the Pink Invasion in consoles and handhelds?

It’s all still fresh in our minds actually. First there was the release of the pink DS Lite in Japan which caused the country to swoon, and then came the Pink PSP, as well as the pink, slim-type PS2. One would think that perhaps this color was meant for children, but apparently this option can be crossed off the list since during the pink DS’s release last July, the people who lined up for the handheld didn’t include a single child, but was instead comprised of “College students…men in business suits… housewives, gray hairs, but oddly no children.”

So then, the next obvious choice would be women, whether they be the Animal Crossing-loving mother, the Brain Age expert in her fifties, or the young women that society has inevitably labeled as “Grrrl Gamers”. It has already been a known tactic to produce games which would attract more females into the gaming scene, but we suppose that the notion that girls would only play something that includes something cute in it would most probably send a lot of feminist hate mail flying back and forth.

Of course, we can never really tell what the original plan was, whether it was a deliberate method to tap a previously overlooked market, or someone just simply thought that they should have pink in their collection just to complete the range of available colors.

On a personal note however, and feminist ideals aside, I admit that I am still wanting to own a pink DS for myself, not because I feel girly or because I need my dose of cuteness, but because I love juxtapositions. Personally, if I saw another girl in a frilly dress with a pink PSP happily going through a round of Tekken: Dark Resurrection, I would think that the girl was cool. Had the same girl instead been playing anything that involves ponies, kittens and ribbons, I would have slowly backed away. Same goes for the other end of the spectrum, since I find it extremely cute to see a girl in a punk shirt, ripped jeans, and a spiked collar playing Final Fantasy III on a pink DS.

Maybe it’s all a matter of personal preference or maybe some of us just want an uncommon version of a common item, but either way, maybe it would all just be easier for everyone to accept that pink will be around for a very long time yet. After all, pink just may be the new black.