If there was any doubt that Nintendo is the driving force behind the video game industry, yesterday's
Microsoft E3 keynote went a long way to proving that the little company from Japan is the reigning champion. Microsoft spent most of the address talking about the Xbox 360 but the spectre of Nintendo was everywhere. Microsoft announced a new interface for the 360 that will debut in the fall. Here's a screen shot:
Now, you don't suppose Microsoft got the idea for the "avatars" from Nintendo do you? They are certainly similar to
Mii's don't you think?
It is clear that Microsoft has seen the success of Nintendo's latest console and decided to copy some of the system features. Microsoft has long been known for doing such things so this doesn't exactly come as a surprise. What I find interesting is how a company like Nintendo, that was just about shut out of the console gaming industry a few years ago (Nintendo has been #1 in handheld gaming since the original GameBoy), has been able to turn the industry on its head and get back on top. Both Sony and Microsoft have been cribbing from Nintendo's innovations with their next gen products with limited success. Sony tried to copy motion control with their latest controller (and failed from most reports) and now Microsoft is trying to dupe Nintendo's player creation features. This proves to me that Nintendo is the most relevant player in the gaming industry today.
There has been a lot of discussion about Nintendo not serving the hardcore gamer market. My answer to that is "So what"? Just because someone plays 20 hours of WOW a week or stands on top of the Halo 3 leaderboards doesn't make them any more valid of a consumer than the 50 year old grandmother playing Wii Sports. Nintendo has realized that there is a much larger and, until recently, untapped market for games that has traditionally been ignored by the video game industry. Instead of fighting the better graphics, more online features, and bigger environments war that has defined the industry for years, Nintendo chose a different path and, at least today, it looks like the company made the right choice. Nintendo has created an entirely new group of "gamers" and the bigger players are now realizing that catering exclusively to the hardcores is not the only winning strategy.
The bigger question now is this: "Is what Microsoft is doing the right thing?" Is it possible that Microsoft will alienate its core audience with its efforts to appeal to the casual gamer? I don't know, but I think we will have an idea in about six months. The PS3 is showing some strength and is finally coming into its own. Of course PC gaming is still there but it has been slightly marginalized by the big console wars. I personally don't think MS can compete directly with Nintendo. Nintendo is uniquely focused on games while Microsoft as a company doesn't seem to have any focus at all. Microsoft's strength is its online community. Xbox Live is a well developed environment that both Sony and Nintendo are years behind. If MS can extend that community to the casual gamer in a way that makes it easier and more welcoming then the company may have a chance at capturing some of this new market that Nintendo has defined. However, if they ignore the traditional gamers in the process they might lose their base customer to Sony which could be the death knell for Microsoft's gaming division.
The real point is this, Nintendo has had unprecedented success with the Wii. It has been out almost two full years and it is STILL hard to find in some locations. The industry has finally realized that the casual game market is big and has money to spend but I suspect it is too late to beat Nintendo this round. Sony and Microsoft's efforts at trying to duplicate Nintendo's approach have done nothing to cut into Nintendo's market share. On the flip side, Sony and especially Microsoft are opening up new avenues for non-traditional gamers to enjoy gaming like never before due in no small part to Nintendo's vision. I think this Christmas season will be very interesting for gaming.
