Economist: Nintendo "company to watch" in next-gen fight

by Kyle Orland { Oct 27th 2006 at 11:55AM }

It's not everyday that a 160+ year old magazine with circulation of over a million readers talks about your system. So even though today's Economist story on the Wii offers very little new information, it's still important as a reflection of the buzz the system is getting in financial circles.

The article itself is full of Iwata-speak comparing the Wii to the highly successful DS and selling the system as "something radical to change the situation." Yawn. Perhaps the most interesting part of the whole piece is the conclusion, where the venerable magazine says that while "Nintendo was expected to be an also-ran ... its unusual new strategy means that Nintendo is now the company to watch." You can almost hear the gears of old industry paradigms slowly shifting.

Tags: economist, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

br4kst3r @ Oct 27th 2006 12:01PM

WOO! First post!

hank @ Oct 27th 2006 12:02PM

yes, we get to watch them sink. sink like a rock. it will be entertaining, don't you think so too?

Kn1ves @ Oct 27th 2006 12:10PM

@2 I thought this post was about Nintendo, not Sony.

fawazr @ Oct 27th 2006 12:17PM

@ 2&3

What viral marketing firms do you work for?

gamerx @ Oct 27th 2006 12:26PM

lol @ 3&4

I honestly think Sony has hired atleast one person to surf around gaming/tech websites such as this for damage control. aZn_1080p where has he gone? prolly already went through a bunch of name changes.

Justin @ Oct 27th 2006 12:26PM

I thought this was about the pristige... ohh I mean the economist ;)

CJC @ Oct 27th 2006 12:29PM

Well, win or lose (my money is on "pretty good")Nintendo is certainly making the most interesting moves. Sony is is interesting too, but "interesting" like a horrible car crash that you can't look away from...

...but, i'm sure things will get better for them, eventually.

Psaakyrn @ Oct 27th 2006 12:33PM

Regardless, it's interesting how much circulation the DS and the Wii has been getting OUTSIDE gaming circles. It's certainly outside the norm for a gaming-centric console, but that is Nintendo's goal, so it isn't really suprising. The reason why Nintendo bears watching is whether Nintendo's strategy takes hold, because if it does, there's a lot of ramifications for the whole industry.

For example, if games start to become the norm in lifestyle, you would begin to see more game adverts overall, which would drive up demand for advert space. More IT personnel would be directed to games, and larger companies might create their own department specifically towards this trend, just as one might create a department specifically to create licensing deals.

Fact is, if Nintendo succeeds, it'll have large ramifications on the industry, moreso than Sony (even considering Blu Ray), or Microsoft (even considering the Vista-XBox 360 relationship). And that is why Nintendo bears watching, for if the industry shifts, you do not want to be left in the dust.

Nintendo already have a certain amount of word-of-mouth regarding the Wii. The question would be whether said word-of-mouth will allow Nintendo to succeed in their goal of increasing the gamer population ratio. And if they do succeed, the businessmen will have a new variable to play with in their corporate analysis.

JodyAnthony @ Oct 27th 2006 1:16PM

"aZn_1080p where has he gone? prolly already went through a bunch of name changes.
Posted at 12:25PM on Oct 27th 2006 by gamerx"

He was probably just grounded by his parents and isn't allowed on the internet for a few weeks

ViEt pRiDe @ Oct 27th 2006 1:22PM

Looks like Ninty is throwing around the marketing $$$, taking a page out of M$'s playbook. ITs at least good to see them loosen the pursestrings a bit and start spending some of those massive profits theyve been making lately.

Aden Nak @ Oct 27th 2006 1:29PM

Well, it figures that The Economist would love the "Disruptive Development" backhistory of the Wii, even if it doesn't come up in the article itself. But it's the fact that Nintendo has followed the Disruption model so perfectly that has The Economist highlighting their products.

Either way, what's relevant and important here is that The Economist is treating the video game console market like a real industry (which it deserves) and not some tinker toy fad. Granted, that attention was probably first garnered because non-gaming names like Microsoft and Sony got involved, but it's a relevant and positive thing for the entire industry. It helps to legitimize gaming as a mainstream form of entertainment.

TheBriz09 @ Oct 27th 2006 2:05PM

Thank you, Psaakyrn, for the only post here so far with some substance behind it.

I think it's hard to argue that Nintendo isn't the company to watch here, whether you're a Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft fanboy or just apathetic. You can't say that Nintendo hasn't pulled the most interesting punches. It IS nice to see non-gamer publications doing some analysis of the situation and generating the word-of-mouth - after all, as gamers, we ALL welcome new eyes on the whole industry, no matter what kind of fanboy you are. Right? And like Psaakyrn pointed out, there are some very interesting ramifications that I know I hadn't thought about, like on the advertising & IT industries.

Zombie Flanders @ Oct 27th 2006 2:10PM

Well that statement, "Nintendo is now the company to watch" is very ambiguous. It could mean that the Wii can skyrocket or take a nose dive. It's sort of just pointing out the obvious: it'll be a good story either way.

sonofnone @ Oct 27th 2006 2:20PM

...wow. Talk about profound.

Seriously, what other conclusion would they come to? That Nintendo will take out both the PS3 and Xbox 360 launching them toward the next-next-generation of console gaming in divine glory? No way the Economist would take that chance. It's the only thing they could say at this point. Besides, anybody with a pulse who has followed this upcoming generation of consoles knows that the Wii, and Nintendo in turn, is worth watching. But excuse me if I seem a bit underwhelmed at the Economist's headline-spinning prowess.

natureboy46 @ Oct 27th 2006 3:03PM

But a victory over Sony and Microsoft in a shrinking market, he says, would not be a victory at all.

I think that that is the single most telling part of the piece. Nintendo, for better or worse, is trying to expand the playing field while the other companies seem more interested in dividing what already exists.

A successful Wii is good for the industry, and that's the important thing.