"Why Nintendo Evangelists Matter"

[zap2]

http://kotaku.com/gaming/praise-the-lord/why-nintendo-evangelists-matter-261053.php

Analyst Roger Ehrenberg wrote an interesting post on his Information Arbitrage blog about the power of "evangelist" consumers and how they are helping Nintendo (and companies like Apple) push their products to non-traditional consumers.

He cites Microsoft VP Shane Kim's recent comments about the Wii's success in an interview with The Mercury News as a lead in to his thoughts on how Microsoft and Sony are going to struggle to get their expensive, feature-rich consoles into the hands of the mainstream.

He ultimately leads to some interesting conclusions about how Nintendo product fans are helping more than advertising and traditional marketing ever will.

Nintendo and Apple products are being effectively pushed by evangelists. Sure, slick advertising augments these more organic efforts, but make no mistake: in general, people that own Apple products love them and talk about them. Frequently. The same with Nintendo and the Wii. I just can't get people to shut up about these products. But I can't say the same for Microsoft and Sony, notwithstanding how cool or slick their graphics are or how many features and functions their consoles have.
While those evangelists are often labelled "Apple zealots" or "Nintards" for their passion about the company, I don't think Nintendo is every going to complain. It's a long and investor focused entry, but still worth reading for anyone interested in the current console wars. Michael McWhertor

Thought it was a good read...as I read it, I saw that I was both of those types of people. I constandtly talk about Nintendo and Apple.

Thats not to say I don't like the other guys...Google rocks, I'm a fan of Linux, I love Halo(Xbox only), Little Big Planet looks great, and I plan to pick a PSP up, but for me Apple and Nintendo always come up ontop.

 

[PlaceofDis]

its free, positive advertising. of course Nintendo and Apple love it.

 

[0098386]

Never fault word of mouth.

It usually being positive news helps.

 

[sikkinixx]

Nintards lol I love it.

 

[kuebby]

It's word of mouth advertising and it's the best kind of advertising. When you see an ad on tv or in a magazine you automatically think the company is lying because that's what they do. But when a friend tells you about a new product you're more apt to believe them.

And I thought the proper name was "Wiitards."

 

[0098386]

Whatever the proper name is, it spells money and dev support!

 

[SamIchi]

Nintards lol I love it.

Nintards? I've never heard anyone say or type that in a forum. Nintendorks I've read many times. Or just drones. Writers look so stupid when they mess up "slang"

 

[sikkinixx]

I was listening to the Full-Moon podcast by Insomniac games the other day at work (I was doing the most boring job ever so it killed time ) and their marketing director and some other guy there were talking about how important forums and the like are to their marketing. I know I listen to forum suggestions (well from people I somewhat trust to have decent taste anyway) and I learn a lot about what is coming out from forum links etc.

Although they also saw it as a bad thing because it creates so much more intolerance between Sony and Nintendo and MS and PC gamers and basically everyone just waits for someone to say something silly (ie. 4-D) then they can say "oMg! s0NY suXX0r!! K3N iS S+Up1D!!! ROTFLMAO!!". It's no longer about pushing a quality product, its about getting so much hype for a game and delivering just enough to get people to stay hyped for your next game. They talked about Halo 3 and how nothing is gonna stop the train it's rolling on even if it turns out to only be a so-so game.

 

[0098386]

Can't argue with that. Hype is huge. PS2 hype helped destroy the DC so it works both ways for Sony.

And yes. Nothing is going to stop Halo 3 unless it really is terrible. Thus beginning the downward spiral of Bungie. Who will later try and recapture hearts and minds by making a proper sequel to Marathon but it won't be as good and further their downfall. Key members will leave and set up a secondary studio who will release a few good games but fans will always cry out for Bungie to reform.
/crystal ball.

 

[sikkinixx]

Can't argue with that. Hype is huge. PS2 hype helped destroy the DC so it works both ways for Sony.

That and using easily copied CD's with extremely crappy copy protection (and an annoying controller). Pretty hard to sell games when you didn't even need a mod chip to play copied games... Too bad DC was a cool system, I sold my PSone to get it....then it went to like $75 a few months later

And even if Halo 3 was truly crappy, it's still gonna sell like crazy. All the beta people seem to say "it's like Halo 2, but tweaked a little! Halo 2 was awesome so its good!" which I think is BS. Just tweaking a little bit after 3 years isn't enough. I'm already disappointed in the graphics as I was expecting it to give Gears a run for it's money seeing as it's MS's pet project, and a bubble shield plus a man cannon isn't gonna make me shoot my goo. It better be god damn good.... *phew* I feel better.

 

[GFLPraxis]

Nintards? I've never heard anyone say or type that in a forum. Nintendorks I've read many times. Or just drones. Writers look so stupid when they mess up "slang"

I've heard Wiitards, Nintendorks and Nintendards (rarely), but not Nintards.

But yeah, word of mouth is probably the strongest form of advertising, but it's not something you can buy in to. It's pretty much entirely dependent on UI, ease of use, and functionality.

Apple, for example, is easy to use and pretty to look at when it comes to their product, and they do it without sacrificing any functionality; so the users become raving fans (hence this forum).

In the case of game systems, functionality equates to fun factor, and simplicity is where Nintendo reigns supreme. Although Nintendo lacks stuff like XBox Live, which irritates the more hardcore crowd (I mean, no online last gen...)...but the quality of games remains very high, thus, fun.

 

[GFLPraxis]

That and using easily copied CD's with extremely crappy copy protection (and an annoying controller). Pretty hard to sell games when you didn't even need a mod chip to play copied games... Too bad DC was a cool system, I sold my PSone to get it....then it went to like $75 a few months later

And even if Halo 3 was truly crappy, it's still gonna sell like crazy. All the beta people seem to say "it's like Halo 2, but tweaked a little! Halo 2 was awesome so its good!" which I think is BS. Just tweaking a little bit after 3 years isn't enough. I'm already disappointed in the graphics as I was expecting it to give Gears a run for it's money seeing as it's MS's pet project, and a bubble shield plus a man cannon isn't gonna make me shoot my goo. It better be god damn good.... *phew* I feel better.

Even if it's nothing but Halo 2 with a graphics update, people will buy it and THEN complain about it. Microsoft will make out like bandits.

I hope the Wii gets hacked soon. Seems like it would make a spectacular Linux video streaming machine.

 

[kuebby]

I hope the Wii gets hacked soon. Seems like it would make a spectacular Linux video streaming machine.

I'm pretty sure there's a mod chip out I'm not sure what you can do with it though.

 

[0098386]

The current mod chips are seen as piracy only. No cross region support, no homebrew.

Or at least this was a few weeks back when I was looking to mod it for import reasons.

 

[kuebby]

The current mod chips are seen as piracy only. No cross region support, no homebrew.

Or at least this was a few weeks back when I was looking to mod it for import reasons.

From what I can tell, and some of the language is kind of cryptic, the newest Wii mod chip can plays backup games and games from other NTSC regions, plus partial compatibility with PAL region games.