Nintendo aims to redefine definition of “gamer”

What enters your mind when you hear the word “gamer”? Chances are you’re a gamer yourself, so your answer’s pretty different compared to a non-gamer’s. According to Dawn Paine, Nintendo UK Head of Marketing, a non-gamer’s definition of a “typical” gamer is a “long haired nerd, screaming as he gripped a control pad.”

To address this, Paine aims to bring in a new type of gamer, one that would stand for “self development, health, beauty and fitness” with their Touch! Generation software. More in the full article.

What enters your mind when you hear the word “gamer”? Chances are you’re a gamer yourself, so your answer’s pretty different when compared to a non-gamer’s. According to Dawn Paine, Nintendo UK Head of Marketing, a non-gamer’s definition of a “typical” gamer is a “long haired nerd, screaming as he gripped a control pad.”

The image was shown in a presentation during the “Mind, Body and Console” conference in London. According to EDGE magazine, who covered the event, Paine outlined gamers as being perceived as having “an addiction that removes the player from reality.”

The “nerd” image was accompanied with derogatory remarks also shown on the screen, like “glazed over” and “isolated.” To address this view of gamers, Paine aims to bring in a new type of gamer, one that would stand for “self development, health, beauty and fitness.”

He says that Nintendo will be introducing this paradigm shift of terminology with their Touch! Generation software which doesn’t “replace your life – it connects with it.” The coverage finishes with a double-edged remark on their event coverage, saying:

Clearly there’s nothing wrong with engaging a new audience – indeed, it’s massively profitable – but at the same time such efforts seem to dismiss the worth of the medium prior to this influx of accessible, functional but artistically shallow titles.

The last statement was directed at Paine’s examples of games that caters to the “traditional gamer”: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass and Super Mario Galaxy.

Via Neogaf