Reggie on communicating messages to consumers, Nintendo’s quietness on post-launch window games
A few more tidbits from Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aime have been posted online, mainly relating to the difficulties in communicating messages to consumers.
In this latest Q&A, Reggie talked about the challenges of getting the right word out when it comes to new hardware. He specifically mentioned that it wasn’t so easy communicating the appeal of StreetPass on the 3DS, and the same applies for Wii U’s Miiverse.
Finally, Reggie commented on why Nintendo has been quiet about post-launch window titles for Wii U.
Head past the break for the goods.
Reggie noting how Nintendo needs to learn how to communicate innovation to consumers with each new piece of hardware…
“With any new hardware from Nintendo that tends to be a significant innovation versus what’s been done in the past, we have to learn how to best communicate that innovation to consumers.”
Reggie on how Nintendo wasn’t sure at first how to articulate the appeal of something like StreetPass…
“It was really hard to put it into words, because it is so different and so novel. And yet when I talk to people, Street Pass is one of the things they love most. The quests, the surprise of finding a new Mii on your system. If you look at the early marketing activity for Nintendo DS, versus where we were six years later, it was very different. We had to learn how to speak to the consumer in a way that they could understand about what was so fun about this two-screen experience. The same is true for Wii. As a marketing organization, we had to learn how to communicate the fun of a motion-controlled active play experience.”
Reggie on whether or not current comparisons and assumptions about the Wii U online service were appropriate to describe a service that hasn’t fully been articulated yet…
“Miiverse has the same challenges. Our vision for this service is unlike anything that’s ever been before it… People put it in, maybe, current terms of things that it’s most analogous to, and it’s not really what this is going to be. It’s going to be a very rich, robust part of the experience. One of the things that we’ve found is that gamers want to talk about other gamers about the fun they have when they’re playing games. And that’s different from what you do on other social networks. We believe Miiverse will be a very compelling part of the Wii U proposition, just like Street Pass and the Street Pass Mii Plaza have become a very compelling part of the Nintendo 3DS proposition.”
Reggie on why Nintendo hasn’t been talking much about games beyond the launch window…
“This is a real double-edged sword, because there are other people who are complaining that [the launch window is too long]. What we’re trying to do is give the most complete picture of the games that are going to be available now, as well as over the next number of months. That’s why we’ve focused on this launch window, through March 31.”
