Nintendo to Touch Generations
Nintendo of America have announced that as of June, they'll be rebranding many of their DS "non-games" under the Touch Generations label. As the name suggests, this move supports Nintendo's continuing desire to expand the gaming demographic and to reach out to those who are under the impression that gaming's all about shooting space pirates and smashing blocks with your head. Currently available games to fall under the brand are Brain Age, Nintendogs, Tetris DS and True Swing Golf. These will be followed by Big Brain Academy, Magnetica and Sudoku Gridmaster later in the year. If all goes according to Nintendo's plan, it won't be long before Grandma and Grandpa start swinging canes because someone forgot to feed the little Nintendoggy.
[Thanks AssemblyLineHuman!]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Sol Dowdal @ May 31st 2006 1:36PM
I dont think that older people will ever get into games no matter what they do.
First, the DS scren is small and sometimes hard to see.
Second, Nobody wants to spend $150 on somthing that they probley wont like.
Third, Old people arnt going to be jumping around like a monky with the Wii controller(but that would be funny)
Nushio @ May 31st 2006 2:44PM
Its better to try and fail than to never try at all, no?
I like this whole "Touch Generation" concept for non-games.
Swampy @ May 31st 2006 2:47PM
Allow me to preface my comments by saying that I am a huge Nintendo fanboy who does not nor will I ever own any other company's systems.
That said, I think Nintendo's going to be disappointed with the lack of success of this effort in North America. The generation that allowed "Everybody Loves Raymond" to become one of the most successful sitcoms of all time just isn't sophisticated enough to look at the DS and think anything but "the teevee says that 'Intendo Gameboy makes them GTA games that makes kids kill each other! It's the devil!"
Sorry, but have you people MET your grandparents?
Shiro @ May 31st 2006 3:17PM
The business of old people for video games matters less and less as time goes on. Pretty soon, the old people will be gamers who grew up on the NES anyways, right?
I suppose as people age, there'll always be less time for video games anyway (Those mini gardens in the back yard need a lot of attention after retirement, right?), but there will still be steadily more and more elderly gamers no matter what.
Brody Brooks @ May 31st 2006 3:40PM
I actually think this is a good move. My only gripe is that "Touch Generations" isn't going to mean anything to people unless you explain that "Touch Generations-labeled games are casual games that you can play for a short period of time whenever you want. They're casual games."
It's good to label pick-up-and-play games to distinguish them from the devote-a-lot-of-time-to-a-prolonged-storyline games. But it needs to be under a more self-explanitory name.
Probot @ May 31st 2006 10:19PM
How is Tetris a non-game? You can't even use the stylus in half of the modes.
I think the Touch Generation label is a good move towards creating a non-gamer marketing campaign, but it's certainly not the end point.