Nintendo 5-Star: Nintendo missing out on developing nations

Monday, August 2, 2010

Nintendo missing out on developing nations

Written by pikaby

From the Kotaku article.

"It is true that not only those in Japan and the other developed countries in North America and Europe but also those in several countries with rapid economic development can afford more entertainment than before", he says. "And it is vital for our basic strategy of 'gaming population expansion' that more people in such countries as well as in Japan, North America and Europe, enjoy our video games and feel convinced to pay for them."

"Meanwhile, some in newly-emerging countries do not have an established custom of paying for software", Iwata continues. "We do wonder if the traditional business model of the video game industry will succeed in such regions. If we do totally different business there with cheaper services and software than developed countries, people in developed countries would have negative feelings toward us and say, 'why do we have to pay much more than those playing video games elsewhere?' This could be one of the biggest problems for us that would need to be solved. Needless to say, popularizing our video games throughout newly-emerging countries is indispensable for Nintendo's growth in the mid-and-long term. We will take enough time to work on it."

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Just do it. We're not as dumb as you guys think. I'm from Malaysia and I own all of your current-gen consoles. It's all about whether you guys have the balls to market it to our region. It seems so far, none of you bothered. Just great. What do gamers from developing nations have to do to get cheaper games and consoles without importing from the US, huh?
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These consoles may be old news to you, but they're not being sold to you. They're being sold to people who may have never owned a games console before, or may not even have really sat down with a video game before. They're not - for the most part (hardcore importers and long-time fans aside) - people accustomed to hardware generation shifts, or nuances with the RPG genre, or give a crap about who the developers of the latest Modern Warfare game are.

They're new. And Nintendo should be taking advantage of that! Repackage the Nintendo 64, or even the GameCube. Give them new cases, new names, and sell them cheap. Gamers in the West won't complain about the price, because they're old games, and gamers in these developing markets won't complain because they're getting cheap video games. And who cares if we think they're old? If they're new to someone else, they're new.

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This was Kotaku's own comment, and it's EXACTLY THIS that has me fuming from the ears. Grrr.....I'll write a full blog tomorrow on this, explaining why.

Written by pikaby

From the Kotaku article.

"It is true that not only those in Japan and the other developed countries in North America and Europe but also those in several countries with rapid economic development can afford more entertainment than before", he says. "And it is vital for our basic strategy of 'gaming population expansion' that more people in such countries as well as in Japan, North America and Europe, enjoy our video games and feel convinced to pay for them."

"Meanwhile, some in newly-emerging countries do not have an established custom of paying for software", Iwata continues. "We do wonder if the traditional business model of the video game industry will succeed in such regions. If we do totally different business there with cheaper services and software than developed countries, people in developed countries would have negative feelings toward us and say, 'why do we have to pay much more than those playing video games elsewhere?' This could be one of the biggest problems for us that would need to be solved. Needless to say, popularizing our video games throughout newly-emerging countries is indispensable for Nintendo's growth in the mid-and-long term. We will take enough time to work on it."

These consoles may be old news to you, but they're not being sold to you. They're being sold to people who may have never owned a games console before, or may not even have really sat down with a video game before. They're not - for the most part (hardcore importers and long-time fans aside) - people accustomed to hardware generation shifts, or nuances with the RPG genre, or give a crap about who the developers of the latest Modern Warfare game are.

They're new. And Nintendo should be taking advantage of that! Repackage the Nintendo 64, or even the GameCube. Give them new cases, new names, and sell them cheap. Gamers in the West won't complain about the price, because they're old games, and gamers in these developing markets won't complain because they're getting cheap video games. And who cares if we think they're old? If they're new to someone else, they're new.

------

This was Kotaku's own comment, and it's EXACTLY THIS that has me fuming from the ears. Grrr.....I'll write a full blog tomorrow on this, explaining why.