Wii in Korea: hype brings nongamers to the fray

A 4 Color Rebellion blogger recently wrote about how his Korean friend Kyung, as well as most other Koreans, are crazy about the Nintendo Wii. It’s a funny thing, considering the console hasn’t debuted in South Korea yet. The blog post tells how the Korean raves about Wii Sports and Cooking Mama as ‘brilliant’ and even ‘the best games ever made’.

This may be what Scott Steinberg from Sega is pointing out: that Nintendo’s strength comes from tapping into the casual gamer’s interest and stirring up a fad that will eventually wane in the near future.

However, Kyung’s response when asked about the PS3 and Xbox 360 is not to be ignored: all blank stares and muttering something like “uh, they’re like really expensive, right?” Seems like the PS3 and the Xbox 360 have inadvertantly built a large wall between themselves and the casual gaming public.

If Nintendo manages to keep the casual gamers interested, we’ll be able to see the Wii and DS conquering the console wars for a long time. But with less-powerful graphics and specs compared to the juiced-up Xbox 360 and PS3, it’s going to be a creative challenge.

A 4 Color Rebellion blogger recently wrote about how his Korean friend Kyung, as well as most other Koreans, are crazy about the Nintendo Wii. It’s a funny thing, considering the console hasn’t debuted in South Korea yet. The blog post tells how the Korean raves about Wii Sports and Cooking Mama as ‘brilliant’ and even ‘the best games ever made’.

This may be what Scott Steinberg from Sega is pointing out: that Nintendo’s strength comes from tapping into the casual gamer’s interest and stirring up a fad that will eventually wane in the near future.

However, Kyung’s response when asked about the PS3 and Xbox 360 is not to be ignored: all blank stares and muttering something like “uh, they’re like really expensive, right?” Seems like the PS3 and the Xbox 360 have inadvertantly built a large wall between themselves and the casual gaming public.

If Nintendo manages to keep the casual gamers interested, we’ll be able to see the Wii and DS conquering the console wars for a long time. But with less-powerful graphics and specs compared to the juiced-up Xbox 360 and PS3, it’s going to be a creative challenge.