More Periperals, More Audience?

Yesterday, Nintendo released news that they will be adding yet another periperhal to its extensive lineup of plastic pieces that are meant to enchance gameplay, entice others to play on a Wii due to its inviting nature of peripherals, or just reward happy Wii-faithfuls with goodies. I guess it all depends on which camp of gamer you fall under.

Theres actually two really strong arguments to be had. The first is that, just maybe, interactions in gameplay have finally began to catch up with the visuals. There was a large period of disjunction between input and output of games. Original computer games basically matched the interactions. This was simple mind you, as most were text-based games. Even as visuals entered into computer games in the Sierra years of adventure games (mid-80s), much of the gameplay still relied on the input and output of text. There was a connection between what the user put into the game, and what was returned to him.

With the introduction of consoles and mice driven point-and click gaming, a disjoint began between input and output began. If you played any games when this style of play was introduced, think of how much button mashing and random clicking was involved (Kings Quest 6 still haunts my dreams, along with Space Quest 4). This gave rise to what I've argued to be the death blow of the adventure game genre. In the void left behind, came platformers, first person shooters, and RPGs, all which capitalized on directional pads and point and click, without much concern for input/output synergy.

Arcades were always involving more of a specialized synergy in input/output than consoles and computers due to their single-purpose design. Light guns were the original "specialized" peripheral (which has also been ported numerous times to consoles), but arcades also brought more to the table, especially when console gaming began to threaten the extinction of the arcade. Games began including various peripherals that were meant to attract a wider audience, which seemed to be successful.

The Wii capitalized on this, creating a remote that basically could turn into various peripherals all by itself, and by adding small plastic frames, adds to the imagination and user input, such that it more closely matches what the visuals are giving back in output. The Wii truly has become the home version of the arcade machine.

The second argument is the actual profitability behind this venture. Nintendo seems to have a knack for selling the extras to a system that its rivals just havent been able to repeat. Sure, the system costs $299 can versus the $599 PS3, but to have true value from the system, you need 4 Wii-motes, which (last I looked) costs $49 each for the remote, and 39$ for the nunchuck addon. Ask an Xbox 360 or PS3 owner how many controllers they have, and I imagine the number hovers between 1 and 2, with the fraction on the lower end of the scale.

Add on top of the extra remotes, the additional peripherals that Nintendo has been selling, and well, you get the idea. The company has been taking a different approach to the gaming market than it's rivals. Enter low, and sell a lot of fun extras, and make up the difference. Its a form of price discrimination thats common among economic models where market power is apparent amongst its firms.

Take the example of the Two-dollar theaters and normal Cineplexes (its an example from Jeff Church's Industrial Organization textbook found here). While the main theater sells new movies for say 10$, the other theater sells slightly older releases for 2$ a ticket, but then recoups costs by selling popcorn at a slightly higher price. What this allows the theater to do is capture those people who go to the theater for the expeience - the movie, the popcorn, the atmosphere - but are willing to sacrifice the fact the movie may have been released at the 10$ months ahead (which may be overpriced for that section of movie-goers to pay for a movie).

Think of the Wii as that two-dollar theater, capturing those looking for a different experience. Not only are they providing intuitive gameplay that actually connects the user, but they're doing it in a way that has them essentially competing in a different market.