Wii fans

They’re not always who you think they might be.


I had quite a revealing conversation after work last night. I’d finished up my last class, gathered my stuff and was all set to head home. As I left the school, a few students came up to me, chatting and goofing around. Three of them are sisters, and I know they’re big-time Nintendo fans (multiple Gameboys, DSes and a GameCube in their home), so I asked them if they’d gotten a Wii.

They hadn’t.

I thought that was a bummer, but it’s still less than a week since launch, and Xmas is only a few weeks away. So maybe there’s hope for them.

They asked if I had one, and were positively bubbly when I said I did. They asked which games I had. (One of them asked, “what cassette do you have?” Being the dork I am, I felt compelled to point out the Wii uses discs, not cartridges. But to them, I guess every game is a cassette, be it cartridge, disc or someting else.) I rattled off the four titles I have, and that’s when the eavesdroppers joined the conversation.

Their Moms.

I guess “Wii Sports” were the magic words they needed to hear. Once I’d said that title, they were even more bubbly than their kids. They wanted to know what the games were like. Did they control like they’d seen in the commercials? Do you really play tennis just by swinging the controller?

Answers: Fantastic, yes and yes.

They really got into the idea of gaming like that, and I’ve always been under the impression that these Moms thought gaming was entirely a kids’ thing.

Clearly, their ideas are changing.

They wanted to know what else I’d picked up with my Wii, and finding out that I had four Wiimotes was all they needed to hear.

“LET’S GO!”

I laughed, but I know they were at least partially serious. They definitely want to play, which I thought was fantastic. I don’t know about hosting a gaming party for a bunch of Moms (mostly because it’d mean having all their kids in my apartment).

(Maybe if they chipped in, got a sitter and left all the kids at one of their places? Or maybe I bring the Wii over to whomever’s got the biggest living room and she invites everybody over.)

I know four Moms is a very small sample group, but if they can be taken as any sort of indication of non-gamer interest…

Nintendo has just become it’s own biggest rival.

The DS has captured the attention of legions of former non-gamers, and they’ve clearly enjoyed their gaming on the go (or on the couch, in bed or pretty much anywhere else). The Wii seems poised to do the same for living room gaming.

The more people that buy the Wii, the more developers will get on board and start making games. If the creativity they’ve shown on the DS is any sign of what may be yet to come for the Wii, Nintendo is going to take back the living room.

Sweet! ^.^

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