Nintendo Explores the Ocean Blue

While Sony and Microsoft spend their time going after each other, Nintendo sees itself as the only true pioneer remaining in the industry.

While Microsoft and Sony are like sharks in a Red Ocean, colouring the seas with voracious competition focussed on, essentially, more of the same kinds of experiences as in previous generations, Nintendo sees itself as a pioneer, a Blue Ocean company striking out in new directions.

Perrin Kaplan's metaphor may go some way to gesturing at the differences between her company, Nintendo, and its competitors, but all she really needs to do is point at the novel games coming out for its systems, especially the DS, these days.

She told Forbes magazines that Nintendo's Blue Ocean approach means, "going out where nobody has yet gone."

"We're making games that are expanding our base of consumers in Japan and America. Yes, those who've always played games are still playing, but we've got people who've never played to start loving it with titles such as Nintendogs, Animal Crossing and Brain Games. These games are Blue Ocean in action."

Another big part of this plan is the Revolution. Kaplan fingers the motion-sensing controller and the Virtual Console - this lets you download and play games from the NES, SNES and Nintendo 64 - as key in broadening the appeal of games.

Some have criticized Nintendo for falling too far behind technologically, especially with Revolution, which unlike PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will not support high-definition video. For Nintendo, Kaplan says, it's about more than that:

"For us, it's all about the experience, not if the technology allows you to play your game on the high-definition formats."

Nintendo's next step is to win over game makers, something the company will try to do when president Satoru Iwata delivers the keynote address at March's Game Developers Conference in San Jose.

Alex Wollenschlaeger
Editor, Kikizo Games