What has happened to Nintendo
What has happened to Nintendo
Author
Discussion

whygee02

Original Poster:

3,445 posts

228 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
DS has turned into a girls toy. All about Babies, ponys, cats, dogs, brain training, eye training, whats going on anyone.

Is it that they've all but given up on the usual gamer market. Typical gamer is what, male, aged 13-40 or something like that. Nintendo now seem to be pitching at females <13 or old folk 40+.

Whats going on FFS.

Liszt

4,337 posts

298 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
and they are selling everything they can make, often selling out, in the run up to Christmas. Genious marketing if you ask me. They may loose out in the longer run as people are frustrated not being able to get them or they are percieved as being a bit girly, but they are not really cutting edge pieces of equipment so I think they will be alright.

sjg

7,666 posts

293 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
Plenty of games for all tastes on the DS and Wii. The games market isn't just about male teenagers any more.

Mrs NucSquash

617 posts

245 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
whygee02 said:
DS has turned into a girls toy. All about Babies, ponys, cats, dogs, brain training, eye training, whats going on anyone.

Is it that they've all but given up on the usual gamer market. Typical gamer is what, male, aged 13-40 or something like that. Nintendo now seem to be pitching at females <13 or old folk 40+.

Whats going on FFS.
To be honest I dont see why the gaming market should all be aimed at males anyway. I have always liked gaming - playstation, xbox, Wii and DS and I personally think its good that they are making games aimed at the female market because there is quite a large group who enjoy computer games just like men do.

I also cant believe you are moaning about a few games on one console when you have your playstations, xboxs, psps and pc all chucking out games aimed at the male market - dont be so selfish!!!!!

TheCaseAce

700 posts

239 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
Its clever as hell. They will never compete with - let alone beat - MS/Sony's domination of the "core gamer" market of 18-35 males... so they are picking up the stragglers! Doing well out of it too.

Still a crock of shite though.

stephen300o

15,464 posts

256 months

Monday 17th December 2007
quotequote all
Isn't Nintendo still the biggest selling games console?.
Nintendo are certainly alot more innovative than Sony and Microsoft, churning out the same old shooters time after time.
Instead of concentrating on frame rates and polygons Nintendo are making fun games for all the family.

Nuclearsquash

1,329 posts

290 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
Nintendo are the only manufacturer posting a (big) profit, i think they have got things right. Whilst it may not suit everyone (probably the hardcore gamer) it has it's place and is doing well

Silverbullet767

11,183 posts

234 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
The wii is fun for a while, but online gaming keeps me coming back to the likes of COD4 and Halo 3, Mario Galaxy was played constantly when I first got it, now its gathering dust. No online=No replay value in my opinion.

Thudd

3,100 posts

235 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
50% of the population is female.

And Men buy games for Boys. If you can get women to buy games for themselves and for girls, the market must be huge.

Tbh I think the "shortages" are a marketing ploy to generate hype and keep the prices up. The Wii should have dropped to £100 by now (given that it's a Gamecube with a funny controller) but it's still at £180.

The Mrs loves Rabbids and has bought the Mario Olympics game. The Nipper likes MySims, Lego Star Wars (getting lightsabre controller for xmas).

I'm happy with my x360 and Forza2, PGR4, and Oblivion biggrin

tybalt

1,100 posts

298 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
Liszt said:
Genius if you ask me
I concur

paulrandall

377 posts

237 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
I've just got a DS, and prefer to have something different to my XBOX 360.

scorp

8,783 posts

257 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
stephen300o said:
Isn't Nintendo still the biggest selling games console?.
Nintendo are certainly alot more innovative than Sony and Microsoft, churning out the same old shooters time after time.
Instead of concentrating on frame rates and polygons Nintendo are making fun games for all the family.
Sony and MS make hardware, they don't make games so they have little control over what 3rd party developers decide to develop for their platform. I would say its more down to demographics, people who own a PS3 or 360 is likely to buy a FPS so thats why we see so many.

GHW

1,294 posts

249 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
I don't think Nintendo have really changed their focus at all, just expanded it a bit.

They're still doing the same old stuff they always did - Mario, Zelda, Metroid, etc.. and they're all very good still too!

scorp

8,783 posts

257 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
Mrs NucSquash said:
To be honest I dont see why the gaming market should all be aimed at males anyway. I have always liked gaming - playstation, xbox, Wii and DS and I personally think its good that they are making games aimed at the female market because there is quite a large group who enjoy computer games just like men do.

I also cant believe you are moaning about a few games on one console when you have your playstations, xboxs, psps and pc all chucking out games aimed at the male market - dont be so selfish!!!!!
I'd be interested to know what kind of games females like to play ?

Thudd

3,100 posts

235 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
In my experience: Tomb Raider, Guitar Hero, Songstar, Sims, Rayman Raving Rabbits, Wii Sports, etc.

Just not FPS or Driving games so much.

Nuclearsquash

1,329 posts

290 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
she likes killing people on CS, occasionally playing WoW, will play FIFA and the odd racing game, and her most anticipated game for next year is GTA4

scorp

8,783 posts

257 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
Nuclearsquash said:
she likes killing people on CS, occasionally playing WoW, will play FIFA and the odd racing game, and her most anticipated game for next year is GTA4
hehe My sister is the same actually and Mrs Scorp has been known to play Halo3 online. I guess the trick nintendo have pulled is marketing to younger females with the likes of nintendogs.

Edited by scorp on Tuesday 18th December 11:57

stephen300o

15,464 posts

256 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
scorp said:
stephen300o said:
Isn't Nintendo still the biggest selling games console?.
Nintendo are certainly alot more innovative than Sony and Microsoft, churning out the same old shooters time after time.
Instead of concentrating on frame rates and polygons Nintendo are making fun games for all the family.
Sony and MS make hardware, they don't make games so they have little control over what 3rd party developers decide to develop for their platform. I would say its more down to demographics, people who own a PS3 or 360 is likely to buy a FPS so thats why we see so many.
You know what I mean though. It's a shame Sony and Microsofts developers don't have a little more imagination, am I right in thinking Nintendo made their hardware easier to develop for?(not including multi-format games).

scorp

8,783 posts

257 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
stephen300o said:
You know what I mean though. It's a shame Sony and Microsofts developers don't have a little more imagination, am I right in thinking Nintendo made their hardware easier to develop for?(not including multi-format games).
Nintendo develop a lot of quality games themselves, in house a bit like sega used to, that is one of their strengths, outside that it's the usual generic stuff we see on every other console usually churned out by the likes of EA smile

The Wii is less capable and programming it is straight forward so yes it's a lot easier, the 360 is also relatively easy to develop for which is due to microsoft having strong software support, particularly in development tools. Because the 360 is a lot more powerful than the wii, it takes longer to make games as the graphics and sound end up more complicated. Lastly the PS3, like its younger brother the PS2, is a dog to work with because of (yet again) over complicated design and poor development tools. biggrin

Microsoft have pioneered multiplayer on consoles i would say, nintendo are good at childrens game design (mario, etc) and sony are good at quality hardware. IMVHO.

Aranell

868 posts

252 months

Tuesday 18th December 2007
quotequote all
scorp said:
I'd be interested to know what kind of games females like to play ?
Pippa Funnell Ranch rescue of course! wink

Seriously though, I hate 'girly games' - they are usually unbelievably lame. You're far more likely to see me playing FPS and RPGs like Warhawk, Resistance: Fall of Man, CS, Neverwinter Nights etc.

I am a massive Nintendo fan though (my NES is still plugged into the TV wink )and I think they've been really smart with the Wii/DS - me and my OH have bought 5 Wii/DSs over the last year for family/friends who wouldn't normally play computer games but who have spent a fortune on games since they got their consoles.