Nintendo must innovate
Followers of The Guardian’s Games Blog will have picked up on its coverage of E3 – a vital event in the gaming year. Microsoft have surprised all (coming after having the wind taken out of their Bing sails slightly by Google Wave) with Project Natal. Certainly whilst I was raving about Wave, everyone else in the office – being more serious gamers than I – were clucking about Natal.Natal was designed to leapfrog over the ground taken by Nintendo with the Wii. And leapfrog it did. It’s full body sensor technology has huge potential for games (as already demonstrated by Nintendo). Just look at the Molyneaux demo.
So where does that leave the Wii? An underpowered anomaly or a still relevant gaming machine? Pricing no longer gives the Wii an edge to mainstream families who like a little light gaming with their evening telly and Natal means that the Wii experience is no longer exclusive. Unless Nintendo begin to innovate again then it’s not hard to predict Microsoft moving past them. Way past them.
Nintendo have led the way in opening up games to the mainstream. They offended some gamers in doing so but delighted far more (me included). The experience of seeing a grandparent waving around in front of the motion sensor is rewarding. But it’s true that every other publisher has followed this success in diminishing returns. Replicating rather than innovating. And nowhere is this more evident than in the advertising. As one commentator points out:
“I hate those Wii adverts for bowling and fighting simulations that try and make it look like the typical family having a great time.”
The Nintendo approach of family friendly actors interacting with the Wii was fresh and helped convey the core values Nintendo were aiming for. But as we’ve seen all too often, setting a style that succeeds just seems to prevent others from innovating for themselves. There is, after all, more than one way to skin a family friendly ad.
If Nintendo aren’t careful we’ll all be needing that pulse monitor they are developing in order to check whether they are still around.
