Nintendo is smug – but with good reason – So here’s the deal with Nintendo’s press conference. This is some analysis I didn’t put into this article, mostly because I had to chew over my thoughts on it for a few days (and have a huge argument with Chris Remo about it), but I don’t think it was that bad. On the basis of a very specific hypothesis, though. My idea is that Nintendo intended audience within the Kodak theatre was not the “specialist press” or even the mainstream press that are already au fait with video games (like the New York Times, etc.) but specially invited writers from women’s weeklies, and female newspaper columnists.

That’s pure speculation, of course, but why else would they allow Cammie Dunaway to walk out and spout this toe-curling script about being the world’s best mom? This is a woman who has worked in PR and marketing for a long time – and that includes working with Pepsi on kids and teens marketing – so I’m pretty sure she knows how to play the game (and that’s the marketing game, not Shaun White Snowboarding, which she’s horrible at.)

The overwhelming message of this approach was that Nintendo simply could not care less about the “core gamers” market, and are throwing their lot whole-heartedly to new “mom” market. As in, they sat down in a meeting, you know, Reggie, Iwata, etc. and said “let’s get moms interested in the Wii. Let’s do a press conference at E3 for the moms.”

And then that’s what they did.

The interesting thing is that my hypothesis only makes sense if Nintendo literally care so little about the “core gamers” market that they don’t care about the backlash at all – as they would have to have foreseen it. And to be honest, why would they? They’re making money hand over fist, and there is still a huge untapped audience of people who don’t play games out there. They’re advertising to moms at E3 because their demographics tell them that’s who they should aim for next, not because they’ve all gone insane and forgotten who their “real fans” are. They couldn’t give a damn about their “real fans.” And from a business standpoint (if not a “moral” one) that’s completely acceptable.

What I didn’t find acceptable though was the MotionPlus accessory. Why? Well because it proves I was right all along about the Wii Remote not sensing exactly where it is in 3D space. I said that in my Wario Ware: Smooth Moves preview from E3 2006 and was so disagreed with by “the internet” that the article was edited to make little to no sense (and remains that way even now.) Yes, I am still bitter about it. But by god I can’t help but almost forgive Nintendo for it when I tried out the MotionPlus. It’s absolutely superb – it does everything they said the Wii Remote was going to do, and feels amazing. It really is like waving a sword in Wii Sports: Resort’s sword fighting game; it really is like throwing a frisbee in the disc dog game.

It’s tremendously exciting, even if it is yet another add-on to the Wii.

Nintendo plays a different tune with Wii Music – I wouldn’t say I found Wii Music exciting though. I thought it fit in very well with their current strategy, looked cute and fun and everything, but it wasn’t exciting, no. It won’t be displacing Guitar Hero or Rock Band any time soon, but as I say in the article, Nintendo obviously have no interest in competing with them.

Or, when it gets down to it, with anyone at all.

Sony fails to inspire, but why? – Unlike Sony, of course, who need to get to competing fast – real fast. This was almost certainly my most divisive article for CBC – at least one commenter would like to pain me as a Microsoft “fanboy” disappointingly – but I think it’s perfectly fair. I’m very excited for Flower and Valkyria Chronicles, but they’re otherwise utterly floundering.