The Image Problem

The following quote was lifted from an article that I read in a very respectable publication:

Most video games aren’t violent or racy. A recent survey from the Progress and Freedom Foundation, a free-market think tank, found that more than 80% of the top-selling titles for the past five years came with the video-game industry’s “Everyone” or “Teen” ratings, meaning that parents can assume reasonably inoffensive game content. About 15% of 2005’s games received “Mature” or “Adults Only” ratings–surprisingly few, given that 65% of gamers are 18- to 34-year-olds.

I also noted that Sony’s busted PR machine is still spouting the “Nintendo is for kids” mantra. The unspoken bases for this accusation are 1) the number of M and AO rated games for Nintendo’s consoles is low, and 2) the number of rated E games that have reasonably inoffensive content are higher for Nintendo’s consoles.

Most of the mainstream game detritus that hits the shelves these days is deplorable not so much because of gratuitous violence and kiddie-porn sexuality but because of the total lack of imagination. How many different ways are there to relive World War 2 or swing a sword at a wave after wave of enemies while you work steadily toward a record-breaking combo? Hey, is that a huge gun protruding from the bottom right corner of your screen, or are you just happy to see me? Quick, follow the elf girl in the thong! That isn’t to say that any game that fits these descriptions is necessarily bad, but the problem is that this kind of content appeals to the relatively small group of people who play console games now. I feel that in large part we are dominated by young, single boys who are excited by gratuitous violence and Wal*Mart-approved sexuality. To be frank, however, these gamers deserve to have their needs catered to. What bothers me is the “dominated” part.

As long as console gaming is mostly confined the “sweaty hands” segment, graphics, guns, and girls will be king. It is therefore the responsibility of console manufacturers and game studios who object to this lopsided demographic to innovate in gaming ideas so that the market does not continue to grow stagnant. When there are more people who play console games that aren’t just after the three G’s, it will be more beneficial for gaming studios to bridge the cross-section with games that have wider appeal. This movement is already starting to take off in Japan, as games that concentrate on graphic violence and sexuality in arcades seem to be rapidly approaching niche market status with the explosion of rhythm-based and “highly interactive” upright games. Only, Japan has its own image problem — the sexual divide is much more pronounced, and it becomes difficult to design a game that is cute and friendly enough for women while not being emasculating for men.

Does Nintendo have an image problem? I would say so, but only in the minds of hardcore console gamers. As long as family-friendly means cute and saccharin-sweet, the people most likely to play family friendly console games are the people least likely to have the money to spend on them. However, a lot of progress has been made with the Nintendo DS in this regard. The most recent attempt at breaking their “for kids” image is the Touch Generations branding; meant to appeal to people who wouldn’t ordinarily consider themselves gamers, Touch Generations games are the epitome of non-threatening, easy-to-learn play mechanics. But easy to learn play mechanics alone won’t bring the non-gamers in droves. The problem is more complex; people who’ve never played video games need a reason to start, and those that haven’t played video games for ages need a real reason to come back to the fold.

Rather than increasing the output of (barely) teen- and mature-themed games, Nintendo seeks to correct its image problem by outnumbering the nay-sayers. Get enough people playing Tetris and Brain Age and it won’t matter as much what the Grand Theft Auto fans say. This approach may be viewed with skepticism by the gaming press, but the gaming press is mostly composed of hardcore gamers. If it weren’t, who would write about games? Now, whether or not this approach will work remains to be seen, but Nintendo has managed to generate an unprecedented amount of buzz for the Wii from surprisingly little information. I personally know people whose current generation consoles have long since fallen into disuse that are eagerly looking forward to playing the Wii.

The only real danger to Nintendo’s approach is that they already stand to lose some of the hardcore gaming crowd with the Wii’s gaming approach. If they are unsuccessful in growing the market, the image problem will worsen rather than improve. Of course all of us here are hoping that doesn’t happen. We will vote on Wii’s success with our dollars. However, chances are that it’s not about us, but about those people who watch us do brain training with curious interest. Nintendo’s loyal fan base is sizable, but that alone isn’t enough to rule the roost.

If Wii and DS succeed, there will be no image problem because Nintendo will offer a unique experience to many gamers who have little interest in other consoles. And with the lion’s share of the new gaming demographic, what use is there in fighting over a comparatively small hardcore audience?