Monday, January 25, 2010

Mature-themed Wii games get the black box in Japan

We know Mature themed games don't sell on Wii. Nintendo of Japan has launched a new approach. In order to differentiate Mature games from casual games, Nintendo decided that Wii games that have a CERO C rating (equivalent to ESRB's Teen rating) or above will be packaged in black boxes, while others will stay in white packaging.

So, next time you'll see a black box Wii, that means it's more mature themed game. However I find it interesting if this is Nintendo's move to help sell more mature Wii titles to hardcore gamers. First of all we need to understand that Mature games doesn't mean its for hardcore players. Yes, the perception is that the hardcores play more mature games in Xbox 360 or PS3 compared to Wii. But that doesn't mean separating the packaging helps selling games for hardcore players. 

Plus hardcore players more likely to keep track of upcoming game releases, so I don't think hardcore players need a reminder. I personally feels that the message Nintendo is saying, rather than, "Hey this is a mature title, so it is for you hardcore gamers!", more like a reminder for kids and parents saying,"Hey careful, this contains mature themed games, so better look for the white packaging. It's safe!".Or better yet, it helps to convey to kids," Hey this is mature games, its cool and you can be adult for playing this one." Its like a forbidden fruits for kids, cause you know kids, the more you tell them that you can't have it, the more they likely want to try.
We need to ask, do casual players definitely don't like to play mature content? Or do hardcore players don't like less mature content? It can be both and we definitely cannot draw a fine line here.

I feel that by doing this, this is just to seperate teen/adults from kids games. Both may have easier time to find a game that suits their tastes, but it did not address why Mature Wii games don't sell.

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