Introduction - Globalization, a new trend of the world
What do these mean to you?
Brands are well-known among people from various countries?
Corporations operate in different places of the world?
Nations enjoy free trade with each other?
These phenomena are resulted from globalization - a process by which regions integrate and function together, acting like a single village with no boundaries in between. You can recognize this phenomenon in several dimensions: economic, political, social cultural, etc. We will illustrate this only focusing on the social cultural dimension and of course accompany with our blog’s key point – creativity and innovation.
Do you think globalization has relations with creativity and innovation? This link may help you to understand more:
http://cuberules.com/2007/01/05/creativity-and-innovation-five-impacts-from-globalization/ *1
This post mentions about the effects brought to creativity and innovation because of globalization, written by
To further elaborate the connectivity of globalization with creativity and innovation, we will use a global brand,
, as an example. We believe that, as you finished reading this post, you will recognize that globalization processes have enabled Nintendo’s creativity and innovation.Our case:
"讓周遭的人展現笑容的機器" *3
"to put smiles on the faces of anyone who experiences our brands" *4
Background
Nintendo is a multinational corporation origin in Japan, which was founded in 1889. After seven decades, it has developed as a video game company, becoming one of the most powerful and the third most valuable listed company in Japan. With the slogan of "to expand the gaming universe by making video games accessible to more and more consumers.", Nintendo put every efforts in creating games and consoles to customers just to make you smile.
Engagement in the globalization processes
Nintendo has engaged in the globalization processes in terms of locations of its offices and countries where its products are on sale. Its headquarter is in Kyoto, Japan while its international offices spread over the world including the U.S., Canada, Germany, Australia, PRC, South Korea, Panama, Brazil, Taiwan and South Africa. What’s more, websites in 19 different languages are set up for various regions from Asia, Americas to Europe. Its products are on sale in the abovementioned countries by the international distributors. If you are interested, you can click the link below which has provided a list of international and national distributors:
http://www.nintendo.com/corp/distributors_international.jsp#mani *5
Why Nintendo globalizes successfully? In the article "Managing Brands in Global Markets: One Size Doesn't Fit All", it provides a simple answer to this question. Intel stands for computer chips in all cultures, and Disney stands for family entertainment in all cultures. Without the significant local adaptation, it is easier to attract the target customers with clear purpose. Nintendo, stands for video game entertainment for all cultures. It is more focused and can put more resources in R&D, this makes the company succeed and globalize more easily.
Impacts on creativity and innovation
Creativity and innovation are something subjective. It is hard to define whether a brand or a product is creative or not. Being awarded with the Emmy for its "excellence in engineering creativity", Nintendo has proven itself to be a success in promoting creativity and innovation.
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/gaming/wii/news/article_1385474.php/Nintendo_creativity_honoured_with_yet_another_Emmy *6
In the following, we will further explain the effects led to creativity and innovation with the games and game consoles created by Nintendo itself.
1. Video Games
There is no doubt that Nintendo has a very high degree of creativity. You can recognize the efforts in terms of the games created by Nintendo itself. Have you heard of the world-famous and long-lasting games: Super Mario and Pokemon? They are the benchmarks of other adventure games and role-play games (RPG). Because of its great success, many other game companies follow their game patterns.
Super Mario and PokemonApart from creating games on its own, Nintendo has also thought of creative ways to market the old games. The recent success of Mario Kart is a good example. Although the characters used are old, this is a brand new game and is one of the better seller games of NDS. Besides, cooperating with Sega, another world famous video game company, Nintendo has developed a new game "Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games", which has become another miracle in the video game industry.
http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/mario--sonic-tag-team-for-five-million-sold/?biz=1 *7
Among the game consoles Nintendo has invented, the ones that we must mention are: the latest invented – Wii; and the portable game console – Nintendo Dual Screen (NDS).
Wii change the real world, We change the virtual world.
"Wiimote" the controller of WiiNintendo was the first company to develop the motion sensory game console in this world. Due to the unexpected victory of Wii by gaining more and more market share in the world, its competitors, Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3 has then benchmarked and started developing the motion sensing systems in their console. You may read the article below to get more information about the motion sensing game console development of the three companies.
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Hardware/Sony-latest-to-demo-videogame-motion-sensing-controller-/articleshow/4611376.cms *8
Successful reasons for NDS? It is EASY!
For NDS, its success is another amazing story. When the main competitor (of NDS), the PlayStation Portable (PSP) of Sony, is full of confidence in its excellent game view by which it surely can occupy a large proportion of the market share, NDS makes the pie larger and larger, to an extent that shocks the whole world. Could anyone predict how enthusiastic in playing video games that office ladies, parents, and the elderly are? Not at all. Nintendo succeeds in attracting these groups of people because it makes playing games become more simple and convenience."There is so much information when playing the games, it is hard to handle!
"Never mind, we provide dual screens that you can see more information at the same time."
The instructions are hard to memorize, I can't remember which buttons I should press!
"It is alright, you can use the pen to control all the things on the touch screen.
Excellent! When playing games becomes so easy, more people are willing to try. As a result, the groups which have never played video games before will also find it very interesting in the video game world. Besides the Dual Screen system and the Touch Screen, NDS also has a Wi-Fi system that allows people to share games with each other and to play altogether. What’s more, the microphone of NDS increases the flexibility and vividness of playing the games. We can send out the commands by talking and blowing to it.
There is not just one way to Creativity
"All roads lead to Rome", Nintendo knows it well. That's why Nintendo finds different ways leading to creativity. While Sony and Microsoft try to make the sight and sound stimuli as real as possible, Nintendo is making the playing experiences real. As most of the people just build on the existing ideas, Nintendo promotes creativity in a way that bring a brand new idea to the industry. Wii and NDS demonstrate a brand new video game world, and are proven to be very successful.
A global fight of creativity and innovation
Nintendo, as a global brand, faces a problem: Does the globalization process promote or restrict the creativity process of Nintendo? It is definitely positive.
1. Globalization increases the market size of Nintendo and its competitors
If Nintendo and Sony fight solely for the Japan market, their profits will be limited. They will just find ways to reduce costs in order to gain more. However, the global markets provide more profits to the companies. The profitable market attracts more competitors, the Microsoft. Due to the keen competitions, these three kingdoms want to conquer more territories, by providing more extra features to attract customers. This will create rooms for creativity and innovation.
2. Higher expectation
In the past, people played video games for fun only. Now, they expect more. "I want to have better sight stimuli in the games.", "I don't want to play the similar games every time." In order to satisfy the expectations of the customers, the only way is to be CREATIVE. Once an idea is being used, next time you must do even better. Aiming at creating game features that beyond customers' expectations will push the companies to be much more creative.
3. Advancement of technology
Technological development is so rapid, and the technological industries must response quickly to the advance technology in order to survive. With the help of advance technology, the companies can invent things that never been thought before, just see the example of Wii and NDS. Technology actually provides an environment for creativity and innovation.
4. Increase in research capital
With the huge global markets, the profits of the companies become more. The money can then be used in the research and development. Research and development is the most important part of the three video game console companies. If the budget of R&D increases, the possibility in forming new ideas will also be increased. This can be resulted by simply employing more creative employees. Besides, globalization benefits the industry in another way that reduces the manufacturing cost of the products. The company can manufacture the products in places that require lower cost of the materials, such as China, which, hence, increases the budget of the company also.
5. Cultural differences
Cultural differences among countries serve as the catalyst for innovation. How? If one culture can provide several ideas for the background of the games, more cultures means much more ideas. If the games only focus on Japanese culture, undoubted the games with have many restrictions. A cooking game that only contains Japanese cuisine will limit the diversity. The way out of this problem will be including more cuisines in the game, such as Thai, Western, and Chinese etc. That is how the cultural differences among countries help the innovation process.
Influence on the local culture and international landscape
Don’t look down upon this video game company, Nintendo has indeed affected our local culture and lives abroad. In Hong Kong, we have found out five impacts that it has made.
1. All age groups enjoy playing video games!
Nintendo not only attracts the teenagers but also draws attention from other age groups like adults at work, elderly at retirement, etc.
If you still think NDS is a toy for teens and kids, you may be a bit outdated. Have a look around you, a number of them play NDS. Similarly, you can find this phenomenon on another Nintendo’s product, Wii. Each of the family members enjoys Nintendo’s products. It becomes another good alternative for family activities. Say goodbye to the picnic, you can play tennis or boxing with Wii or Mario racing with NDS, with your family in Weekends.
2. Enjoy the games indoor and outdoor!
People are no longer restricted to play games inside the house, you can enjoy it outdoors. Even though portable “Gameboy” has been invented for years, we can hardly find that people play them around the street. However as NDS has been created, you can see them everywhere! Nowadays, people become more willing to play games everywhere and at any time. Have you seen people play NDS in train cartage, bus, even in McDonald?
It's easy to find people playing NDS on MTR
3. Playing games becomes a kind of social activities
Playing games is not social-alienation anymore! It now becomes a social event since NDS allows you to play with your friends through Wi-Fi while Wii can connect to the internet letting you play with others. In fact, NDS has also led a social influence. Some people may think that peer pressure is one of the major reasons that make them buy NDS. If you do not have NDS on hands, you feel like being isolated from friends.
Try to count how many NDS are there in the picture!4. Playing games can be a healthy activity!
People think that playing games is an unhealthy activity. Probably this is true, but not applies to Wii. It breaks the perception that playing game is unhealthy. Playing sports at Wii is a healthy activity. For instance, in a tennis game, Wiimote becomes a racket, you have to swing with your arm- this can be even funnier than playing real tennis. Some Fitness centres have set Wii for clients to do exercise while some social caring centres have set one to encourage people do more exercises.
5. Japanese becomes more popular
Have you even been troubled by the Japanese when you play games? Some type of games do not have multi-national version so you have to play in Japanese version. Therefore, the Japanaese games may contribute to be one of the reasons that Hong Kong people like learning Japanese rather than other languages.
Nintendo leads to a global revolution
1. Shaping the future trend of video games
Nintendo changes the international landscape. Within the game console industry, the two other console companies (Microsoft and Sony) begin to develop motion-sensing systems in their consoles. Motion sensory games will be the future trend of video games. In this case, Nintendo is actually shaping the future of video games.
2. More opportunities for game developers
In the game development industry, Nintendo's revolution creates more possibilities for the game developers. In the past, game developers have many limitations because the game consoles cannot support even though they may have ideas. This may because of the technological constraints, the game consoles could only provide a platform that solely uses the buttons and joysticks to control all the things in the games. However, now, those companies have more room to create in games. For example, they can study how can they make use of the pen of NDS to create new games? The pen can now use as a pen to write, a drumstick, or a scalpel. What other kinds of game can be developed? The game developers now have more room to create.
3. Exchange across nations
Furthermore, as Wii can be used to access Internet, people can make use of Wii to play online games. People from all over the world can exchange their ideas and game-playing experiences with others. Therefore, it fastens the cultural exchange across the boundaries.
Our Suggestions to Nintendo
Nintendo ranked No. 4 in the world most innovative companies *9, but how can it spread its creative and innovative process to others countries all around the world?
1. Be more multinational
Nintendo now do R&D (Research & Development) in Japan and release its products worldwide. We suggest Nintendo to develop a mutliculture in each of its offices which can help gathering ideas, accelerate innovation, unitize global resource and help to make innovation to be more globalized.
2. Make use of Mod (computer gaming) http://www.ndsmods.com/ (A unauthorized hack of NDS) *10
It refers to the third-party modification to a computer game. It may be the same dream of every player. “One day, I would like to create a game by myself.” Mod will make our dreams come true, if the developers allow us to do so. If Nintendo allows public to do mod on its products, it will help innovation among the public. On the other hand, it can add value to its products and help find potential staff in those Mods because they allow all players to create new ideas.
3. Produce with different versions
Language obstacle hinders good ideas. It is not difficult to recognize that many Japanese products do not release worldwide. As a result, many good innovations cannot be shared to other parts of the world. However, it is usual that ideas from one country will have some modifications before it is launched to other regions. This ensures the innovation to be more universal and value-added. For example, Nintendo can produce games with different versions, like in terms of different languages, sceneries, etc.
4. Provide more applications of the consoles
Since Nintendo penetrates in differnet markets in the world in terms of age group, cultural group etc, it can provide more applications of its products in order to add values with the products and at the same time, broaden the development of the products. Take NDS as an example, more people own a NDS nowadays. Can NDS provide some softwares besides games?
For example, Dictionary, Map, and Internet service etc. NDS is so small and light. It is portable. Therefore, people can easily take to school, office, and even travelling. If Nintendo encourages the development of different software, this surely can add values to NDS and broaden the software development industry.
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Thank you for the all comments, we are so happy to receive so many feedbacks from you. And we are also glad to know that our post has recalled so many memories of you all. Yes! We have had a great childhood with Nintendo, this is also why we love to do this blog by using Nintendo as the illustrator. We enjoy doing this so much.
Thanks 2411rkgryo, 3430_hogan and other commentators!
Nintendo does have great impact on females - it changes their perceptions of playing video games. NDS provides various types of games to attract different types of people. For females, the most well-known game would be "Cooking Mama". Besides, Nintendo provides many colors of NDS for us to choose. This is properly another strategy to attract different groups of people.
According to 2411chris520, he thinks that NDS and Wii are more suitable for children and youngsters. Yes, this may be true, but we want to point out that the older generations also like to play NDS and Wii. One of our teammates’ father likes playing NDS so much. Also, our friends always play Wii together with their families. These can prove that Nintendo's products suit various age groups.
As 3430_hogan mentioned, it seems that the part of "Why Nintendo globalizes successfully" caused some misunderstandings. Nintendo is a well-known video game company throughout the world. It helps the company to build up strong image more easily. Unlike Sony, it can stand for different electric appliances, such as video game consoles, mobile phones, TV, etc. As it is highly diversified, it is hard to locate the position of Sony. And it is harder for this kind of company to be famous and globalize easily. This is the main idea of "Nintendo stands for video games in all cultures".
Concerning the arguments of whether Wii is healthy or not, I see different points of view from MatthewC1H & lemontea524 and so on….
The reasons why we think that playing Wii is a healthy activity because it encourages you to work out your body.
Playing games is unhealthy because it may deteriorate our eye sight and cause obesity. How about Wii? First of all, probably it would not do so as Wii requires you to do some body movement to accomplish the game mission.
Then, how healthy that Wii is? Just like working in office all-day long, you will do some relax exercise like swiping your hand, standing up and sitting down. We see that Wii is just similar to those exercises. Wii requires players to move their body, not only your fingers. It may not be the same as other sports to cause you sweating, but it does encourage players to work out, which is physically healthy.
References
*1. Scot H. (2007). Creativity and Innovation – Five Impacts from Globalization.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://cuberules.com/2007/01/05/creativity-and-innovation-five-impacts-from-globalization/
*2. Nintendo Company Ltd. (2008). 富士フイルムと任天堂が共同で
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/2008/080723.html
*3. Nintendo Phuten Co., Ltd. Games. (2008). Launch of Wii Fit.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://www.nintendo.tw/pressrelease_fit.htm
*4. Nintendo. (2009). Partnership Requests
Retrieved from http://www.nintendo.com/corp/partnerships.jsp
*5. Scot H. (2007). Creativity and Innovation – Five Impacts from Globalization.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://cuberules.com/2007/01/05/creativity-and-innovation-five-impacts-from-globalization/
*6. Unknown. (2009). International Distributors - Company List.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://cuberules.com/2007/01/05/creativity-and-innovation-five-impacts-from-globalization/
*7. James Brightman. (2008). Mario & Sonic Tag Team for Five Million Sold.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://www.gamedaily.com/articles/news/mario--sonic-tag-team-for-five-million-sold/?biz=1
*8. Unknown. (2009). Sony latest to demo videogame motion-sensing controller.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/Infotech/Hardware/Sony-latest-to-demo-videogame-motion-sensing-controller-/articleshow/4611376.cms
*9. PSFK & The Purple List. (2009). Good Brands Report 2009.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://www.psfk.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/good-brands-report-2009-
*10. Unknown. (2005). NDS mods.
Retrieved 28 September 2009 from http://www.ndsmods.com/
Thank you for sharing the creativity and innovation about Nintendo.
ReplyDeleteIt is really great of your blog!!! Great sharing, great photos.
I think that NDS or Wii not only influence age group enjoy playing video games, but also on the gender. Imagine back to 10 years ago, we just have “Gameboy” and no girls, ladies, and women would play “Gameboy” on the MTR or the street. Nowadays, more and more female carry the NDS and play it. But they do not carry PSP! That’s why I said NDS influence gender enjoying play games. PSP do not have any impact on this.
However, I doubt that “Playing games can be a healthy activity.” I heard some news in Japan regarding to somebody had arm and wrist injury after playing Wii. I don’t know why it is a healthy activity even someone injury….Could you explain on this point? Moreover, I think that you should edit the font size of the word and make it consistent.
Thank you for reading my comment.
Sorry for your inconvenience.
ReplyDeleteBecause we have a problem of uploading the passage so that the text become small and unorganized.
However, the problem is fixed.
Thankyou for you advice.
Thank you for sharing this blog.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I do agree that Nintendo is one of the most innovative companies in the world. From game boy to NDS, Nintendo successfully deliver lot of joyful experience for me!
However, I doubted that if Nintendo‘s product can influence people in different age group and gender.
According to my experience, my mum and grandpa are not really enjoyed playing Wii with me because they think that shaking hands and body in front of the television is very strange.
Therefore, I think that there still a long way for Nintendo to go in order to influence all people to enjoy playing games.
Thanks for your sharing~
ReplyDeleteI think your group has done a good job~ Your article is clear and detail enough for readers. For example, you use different colours for subtitles and sub- subtitles. That helps readers to read through the article.
However, I have different point of view of "Why Nintendo globalizes successfully". You mentioned that "Without the significant local adaptation, it is easier to attract the target customers with clear purpose." and you stated Disney and Intel as example, "Intel stands for computer chips in all cultures, and Disney stands for family entertainment in all cultures." and so that "It is more focused and can put more resources in R&D, this makes the company succeed and globalize more easily."
In my point of view, a company becomes success due to its great positioning, marketing analysis and PAY ATTENTION to DIFFERENT LOCAL CULTURE. Like Disney, Euro Disney failed as it did not understand the culture of France. So, I think Disney is more focus on family entertainment which it stands for, but NOT for all cultures. It still needs to pay attention to cultural different.
Besides, I agree with 2411rkgryo that NDS or Wii not only influence age group enjoy playing video games, but also on the gender. And I think that the reason why NDS influence gender enjoying play games while PSP do not is that the types of game of NDS suit tastes of both girls and boys. So, more girls, ladies, and women will play NDS. This shows that Nintendo has innovation on capture new target customers.
Thanks again and wait for your next post~
First of all, I would like to say that Nintendo is one of my favorite brands in this world, and I want to share some of my opinion on Nintendo as well.
ReplyDeleteI always believe that Nintendo is an extremely creative and innovative brand. The reason is from kindergarten life to now, University life, Nintendo products are always by my side. I can say Nintendo is a good friend of me.
As I know, Nintendo is the first company to launch portable game console in the world, which is a very well known game console, which called “GameBoy”. I remember “GameBoy” were always on my hand wherever and whenever I go when I was small. Although the first version of the “GameBoy” was colorless and those games are very dull actually, for me, those dull games are part of my childhood and I really enjoy playing with it all day long at that time. And I think that is the reason I have to wear glasses now =.=.
After a decade of restructuring in Nintendo, finally it launches its brand new game console--- “Wii”. “Wii” is super; it is combining fitness in video game, which totally changed the traditional mindset of video game, which is jeopardizing personal health. Moreover, it also breaks the rule of “Grandparents can’t play video game”. I have heard that there are more and more elderly care centers implementing “Wii” for elder to play, and also see as a physical treatment for them.
Beside of breaking the rule, it also building a bridge for children and parents to join together and play, as “Wii” games’ are actually sport games, but playing virtually. These sorts of games are less addictive than those games launch on “Sony”, and it also requires body movements which encourage children to do more exercises. I am not only saying the advantage of “Wii”, but also experiencing it, as I have owned a “Wii” as well, and every time I playing it, my mother also want to join as well. So “Wii” is a good tool for family to spend quality time together. And it also reflects the effect of Nintendo’s globalization on my family, and the society, right?
And I can't wait to see the next step of Nintendo.
Thank you for providing an excellent blog and introducing Nintendo company with us. Your detailed analysis proved your great work and conscientiousness=]
ReplyDeleteI like the interesting videos you provide to show how NDS and Wii become popular.
The followings are my comments.
Firstly, I agree on your suggestion that Nintendo should provide different language versions of video games for users from different countries. I think it is a way for company to globalize. Some people like to play games on a professional way as they like analyzing how to win and thinking strategies. However, if company only provides Japanese version of the game rules and methods, it may lower people’s who are not Japanese interest in playing. People will be more interested in playing the games with their home countries language. Therefore, diversifying the language version is a way to globalize its products.
Secondly, some argue that playing Wii is unhealthy because users get injured easily. However, people also get injured easily when they play sports or do exercises with wrong gesture. So can we conclude that playing sports is unhealthy? I think playing Wii is healthier than playing video games which may involve violent. It can encourage people who dislike playing sports to do more exercises. Moreover, it is more interactive as it enables 2 or more users to play at the same time. In addition, I have heard that some western elderly home and recovery centers have installed Wii to let elderly and patients practice their muscle.
Thank you for reading~
Nice posting. I really enjoy your sharing about Nintendo. I love playing NDS and Wii so much!
ReplyDeleteI have started playing video games since the black and white Gameboy was introduced. At that time, I think most of the players are similar to me- playing time is restricted and always under the supervision of parents.
But now, not even the teenagers like playing NDS, parents and kids also love and addicted in playing it. However, is it a really good tool for better family relationship?
As I know, kids and parents would compete for playing NDS. If they have only one NDS, parents would use their high authority power to restrict from kids playing it. Being a kid, it can only follow its parents but the relationship turns bad. Thus, I do not think NDS is a good tool for better intercultural communication.
Besides, as Nintendo is founded in Japan, its products are mainly focused in Japan only. While western and Asia users would find it difficult when playing its games and reading Japanese. As you mentioned, this helps to differentiate in various languages. However, this can explain the existence of language barriers only. Culture is not only talking about languages but also includes lifestyles or business. When I was playing Cooking Mama 2 in NDS, it is so interesting that all food have to be well cooked. Is it a typical Japanese culture? How about if I want to make a medium rare steak, will I be failed? Of course it fails because the instructions have to been followed. And it still attracts so many players all over the world. It shows that games will reflect and influence different cultures which helps the wide spread of globalization. Many players would understand what is and how to make Udon.
Thank you for the sharing of the article. it helps us know more about Nintendo.
ReplyDeletePeople who is born after 1980 should know more about Nintendo. when we are just a child, we play gameboy, and then Nintendo introduce colour gameboy afterward. The quality of the games and the station had also improved a lot. and then we can see NDS and NDS light which is welcomed by all aged people.
for the TV games, we can find wii. It is a really high technology product. the design of wii and controller are also innovative and unique from any other products.
we can say that Nintendo is success, because their products are fit for all age people.
Thanks for sharing this blog. Your use of Nintendo as the topic really stirs up much of my childhood memory. I remember that I was quite addicted to Gameboy when I was a child. When my mum bought me a pink color and small sized special version of Gameboy, I was crazily happy. I guess no one would feel unfamiliar to some Nintendo games such as Super Mario. I quite like this brand and Nintendo does make players smile indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou are right that NDS is so popular. The scene of people playing NDS is really omnipresent. I think that one reason for game consoles like NDS being no longer the toy for only kids and teens is that people can have a relaxing and entertaining time after work or after school. Hong Kong people generally have quite a lot of pressure at work and at school. Therefore, while they are getting home, they find it much better to have some fun like playing video games as long as the game consoles are affordable and portable.
In my view, I don’t think playing Wii is unhealthy as well. Any kind of sports has the potential of getting injured actually. This is just due to our carelessness or accidents. Therefore, Wii shouldn’t be considered as unhealthy. Instead, it allows us to have exercises more easily. When we have Wii at home, we can play games like tennis and skiing whenever we like. It seems like we really have various kinds of courts at home. In short, playing Wii enables us to exercise more and thus makes us healthier. This is because we can play sports conveniently and we can also play with family members to have fun together.
Thank you for sharing this blog. When I was young, I am addicted to play Game Boy. At that time, I feel interesting and funny in playing Game Boy.
ReplyDeleteNintendo bring a lot of fun to people all over the world. As NDS and Wii are introduced to Hong Kong, they become a part of our daily life. In the past, we seldom see people playing Game Boy in MTR or on the street. However, it is common to see them play NDS in MTR or on the street. It implies Nintendo do has a big impact in our new generation. Both children and adult like to play them. Most of them have their own NDS in their pocket. As 2411rkgryo mentioned, nowadays, Nintendo not only affect the age group but also affect the gender. It is common that many girls like to play NDS and have one in their bag. I think Nintendo is very successful in this way. In fact, NDS is different from Game Boy. NDS is play with NDS’s pen and I think it is very creative and innovative that we never seen that kind of computer game before. Therefore, Nintendo can capture the girls or lady market. Therefore, it is a good real example that creative and innovation can make companies to be successful in business world.
On the other hands, I don’t know whether somebody has arm and wrist injury after playing Wii, it is no doubt that spending too much time on playing NDS or Wii is not good for our eyes. Therefore, we should spend some time on our family but not all of the time on playing NDS or Wii.
Thank you for sharing. I think Nintendo not really successful on influent all age groups in enjoying and playing the video games. Although you show a picture that all age group seems enjoy playing the games and Nintendo had designed some games to them, I think it is just a promotion. Nowadays, lots of the old people or our parents they don’t play video games since they may not know more about the technology and think this kind of games are suitable for the young’s but not them. Also, they are not really support their children to play the video games and think this may affect their study or get myopia easily, in fact, not all age groups enjoy playing video games.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I agree what you said that playing games can be a healthy activity, Nintendo are really creative on design a game that can help people to do more exercise. Playing sports at Wii is a good idea to combine sports and games in a virtual world.
Cultural different is a good concept when Nintendo design the products, globalization let the products go to different people, in order to promote it to different countries, I agree your suggestion to them-- Produce with different versions, and so the players can understand the games and spread out the creativity and innovation to all over the world.
Although I agree that globalization benefits the industry in reducing the manufacturing cost of the products if they manufacture the products in places that require lower cost of the materials, such as China, I think they need to be more carefully, morals is very important to a company image, especially the people are more concern the workers in a developing countries received a reasonable pay and have a good working environment, the company should not give a low pay to them since save money.
Thank you for your sharing.
ReplyDeleteIn my point of view, Nintendo is successful as you have mentioned above. Most of the NDS’s games are different from those of its competitors. Besides, there are various choices of colors and its size is so tiny that everyone can carry it out everywhere. These help to enhance the attractiveness of NDS, especially for the groups rather than those competitors’. Nintendo gives the female opportunities to try the video games. As we all know, video games seem to be monopoly of boys in the past. She does influent both sex groups in enjoying the video games. Also, she gives us the opportunities to play the video games (NDS) in a group.
Nowadays, many people play the video games, including NDS and Wii. It reduces the time and motive for them to communicate with others, although it can entertain and relax them. Therefore, people will be no sense of being isolated easily.
Besides, there is another problem we should be aware of using piracy. As the more famous products, the more chance the piracy will be arisen.
Thanks for your sharing in this blog.
ReplyDeleteI still remember I like playing Nintendo Gameboy when I was a child. It is very popular at that time. By the way, I do agree that Nintendo is running a good globalization which is by creating trends. It is really a good strategy to target another group of customers. And because of the larger customer group, they can gain more support and finally get the market share in a faster rate. That is really a creative way to undergo globalization.
However, this kind of globalization process may not be suitable for other products of Nintendo. For example: If NDS is not a portable, how can it be carried by Office ladies? The example shows that undergo this kind of globalization show consider more factors rather than target customer, distribution or brand name.
Thank you!
Thank you for your sharing.
ReplyDeleteYour blog makes me remember my childhood about Super Mario and Pokémon. It was wonderful and happy memory. So I think you are right to say that Nintendo affects all the age groups. It has many products to target different age groups. No matter how old you are, you can find one or more which suit your wants. In fact, we cans see there are many females who play NDSs in public transport. This situation happens since Nintendo markets its NDSs. Therefore, we can know Nintendo's video games influences many people in the society. It is successful to attract people with different age and gender. It is smart to promote its products to be family activities such as WII.
Parents can buy its products to play with their children. It changes people’s image of playing video games which is bad for children. It expands its products to parents group.
I would like to talk about whether playing video games is good for social activities or not. Your group mentioned If you do not have NDS on hands, you feel like being isolated from friends. It may be true. To have a NDS, it becomes a fashion and an identity .If you don’t have one, you are out-dated and isolated. However, when you have one, you may also be isolated. We can see people always focus on playing NDS, they don’t talk too much with others. It makes people have less communication. Therefore, I believe globalization of Nintendo changes the local culture. It makes people around the world are less willing to express their feelings.
There is my own opinion. I hope it can be useful to you.
Communication is replaced by virtual game. There are no doubts that playing NDS becomes a kind of gathering activity. As other people mention it is healthy rather than unhealthy, I do not agree this point of view. "Wii" is to be promoted as a healthy home-activity, even a 22 months baby plays it instead of playing toys. It is terrible that Nintendo highly recommend playing "Wii" is healthy and bloggers said we need to encourage it. No matter what kind of games, we have to control it and avoid being addicted to it. I don't know whether bloggers play Nintendo game now or in the past. I clearly understand that to be addicted to play game is a decease that is difficult to be under-control.
ReplyDeleteActually, playing game at home indeed cannot be regarded as an exercise instead of doing outdoor exercises. The purpose of doing exercise is to keep health. Playing video game can touch with and feel nature, although we sweat after playing "Wii". It seems playing game is healthy. However, if you have experience on hiking, it is really great that "touching" nature is wonderful.
It is not surprised that one can live until 100 years old as living standard improves a lot and development of medical science is advanced nowadays. In a more creative way, Nintendo is able to develop a "play therapy" for helping elderly and child. As they cannot act like teenagers to go hiking so frequent. Playing game is a good choice that can stay at home and it is more safety. Help elderly train their Brains and memories.
Nowadays, some types of games are related to how to train memories. Nintendo can use this advantage to cooperate with hospital; it is a big business that developing a video game system to help elderly better controls their action to be more flexible. It is because human being becomes less flexible when we become older.
Last recommendation: Don't be addicted to play game.
Thank for sharing.
ReplyDeleteIt is no doubt to say that Nintendo really has creativity. The playing methods of NDS and Wii are innovative. It is very surprise when Nintendo publish these two products at first.
But I felt a little disappointing to Nintendo. Wii actually does not funny at all. At matthewC1H mention, get tired very easy. And games on Wii are quick boring…
I do think that Nintendo should think about how to help Wii.
It is expectable that how the NDSi will make use of this camera. The magical pen of NDS change the world once, I do really expect this magical eye would change the world twice
Hi isee! It’s my first time to see your article and it consists of many funny video clips and pictures! Nintendo lets me think a lot of things of my childhood. When I was studying in primary school, I used to play Nintendo GameBoy and Pokemon games. That makes me have a nice memory and met lots of friends with the same interest.
ReplyDeleteActually, my personal perception towards the Nintendo is that the brand suits students and children more. I think their marketing strategy is target on the segment of younger customers. For example, the electronic gamers like NDS and Wii and the video games like Pokemon and Cooking Mama are all target on younger audiences instead of adults. I suggest Nintendo to widen their potential market towards the adult customers because nowadays people experience more new things and become more mature. They can refer to their opponent Sony which they make good use of their resources horizontally and vertically. That means they have many departments and units to support each other and allocate their capital appropriately. For example, you can play DVDs on PS3 other than video games and you can listen to music with your PSP. Hence, Nintendo needs to expand their scale and widen their potential market to enhance their brand globally and constructively.
The latest and hotest topic on Nintendo will be the Pokemon HeartGold and Soul Silver, the remake of Pokemon Gold and Silver. I will try to illustrate my ideas with this example.
ReplyDeleteI think you can talk more on the cultural aspect of globalization, creativity and innovation. As Pokemon HeartGold and Soul Silver illustrate, innovations can be a medium of introducing one's own national culture. In Nintendo's case, it will be Japanese culture. Say, they introduce the geographical concepts of the Japanese by making up the Johto (which implies Kyoto) and Kanto (which implies Kanto region, where Tokyo is located.) maps for players to explore.
Let's take a peek at the graphic of the Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver:
http://www.pokemon.co.jp/special/hgss/shared/images/common/body_bg.jpg
The pagoda is, obviously built in Japanese style, and the mountain at the right hand side looks very alike with Mount Fuji.
And take a look at this video,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5Uh6vgGBM8
Some Geisha-like characters are dancing in Japanese way on the roof of that pagoda, and summoned Ho-oh (meaning "Phoneix" in Japanese).
What I try to show is that, one function of innovations is as a medium to promote culture. Under the globalization context, the culture intended to promote will be promoted even further. And after one culture is promoted to another culture, another culture will be inspired, and create some innovations with elements from both cultures. When these innovations reach other cultures, the cycle starts over again, constituting a cultural exchange.
Say, Pagoda and Phoniex are elements in buddhism, originated in India. They inspired the Japanese and become part of Japanese culture after Japanese keeping on add in their creativity and originality (Japanese style and technique in building and painting pagoda and phoneix respectively, and their way of using and admiring them), a creative process which has started since Buddism entered Japan in 538 AD. Besides, the Kimono Geishas wear are derived from gofuku (吳服), a clothing the Japanese learnt from the Kingdom of Wu (東吳) in the Three Kingdoms period.
In conclusion, when we talk about culture and innovations under a global context, of course we may focus on the diversity created by globalization which enabling different cultures meeting each other, as you mentioned. But the mechanism, or the process of how this is going to happen, as I illustrated with the Pagoda and Phoneix examples in the Pokemon Heartgold and Soulsilver, is important too.
Thank you for your sharing and it is wonderful about your analysis and suggestions towards Nintendo. I think we should clap our hands to congratulate the success of Nintendo. NDS and Wii should be something we are very familiar with as I believe most of us have tried them, even we don't get one in our home.
ReplyDeleteI agree with some of the above commenters that Nintendo succeed to enter the female market by the launch of NDS. The success of NDS is due to its nice appearance and the creative games which suit the ladies preference. For example, girls like cooking and the game "cooking mama" let them have a chance to show off even they don't know how to cook in the real life. I want to add one point, NDS Light now have the MP3 function, I think it is a breakthrough that the portable game products to have multi-function for Nintendo.
Besides, Wii is another well-developed products. It provides lots of exercise for us, especially those don't like sport and unable to do sport, such as the disabled people. People with leg disabled cannot walk and run like us, it is not easy for them to enjoy playing tennis and other sport. However, Wii is a platform for them to play these sports as they can control the player to play by only using their hands. The disabled people maybe feel happier after having fun and they can face their problems more positively.
Last but not least, I appreciate the suggestion of "Make use of Mod", that is ask for the public opinion when designing the game. This can take the advantage of collective intelligence that get others' knowledge and ideas from people you may not know. The ideas collected can be unexpectedly creative. Nintendo can do this by crowdsourcing, which like the idea of wikipedia.
I hope Nintendo can explore its business and design more creative games. Pokemon is really an interesting and exciting game for me. :P
Thank for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNow, when people talk about Nintendo, they will immediately relate it to games, like NDS or Wii, however, i believe people will relate it to virtual sport equipment in the future.
The 3D senser in Wii is definitely a great invention in the electronic game industry.Unlike what Howard (Howard Pang) mentioned above, i do agree that playing video games like Wii is an good alternative for the people with hectic life in the city.
For some reasons, people are less willing to do exercise which actually great increases the burden of the medical expenditure for the government, and it is believed that it will be difficult in the future. Although the governments put so much effort in promoting doing exercise, it is nearly in vain, because people prefer to stay at home and enjoy the air-conditioned environment instead of going out.
However, the Nintendo make exercising more interesting. By using the idea of playing video games with family at home, which not only help to improve family relationship, but also encourage players to do more exercise. For example, the Wii tennis game.
More than that, it is also possible that playing sports game by Wii as practicing method as there are limited space and equipment for practicing in some places. e.g. Hong Kong.
Thank you for your group provides us a blog which is relating Nintendo, globalization and innovative.
ReplyDeleteI agree with what your group said, it is undoubted that Nintendo did a great job on being innovative and creative. It has a lot of new products, such as wii and NDS. Not only new products, the ideas of various games for those products are also very creative and innovative, such as cooking mama and Mario cart. It change the local culture which in the old days, usually only male will play electronics computer games and seldom play in the street. Now, due to the innovative development of Nintendo, it is common to find a person, even a lady, who is playing NDS in the street.
Apart from new products, I think the Nintendo is so successful in entering into new market, like Hong Kong is because it understands very well about local culture. It then input those cultural factors into different new games. For examples those popular new NDS and wii games, the logic behind is very creative, such as the sports game in Wii encourage people to do sports in home as an entertainment which other Hong Kong people will seldom do exercise, although they concern about fitness and health problem.
Anyway, I think your group has done a good job. I really appreciate for your work and I am waiting for the coming new blog. Hope I can gain some insights from it again. : )
Hi ISee of MGT2411,
ReplyDeleteI am Kenny, a student tutor from the Language Clinic of College of Science and Engineering.
Your instructor had asked the LC instructors (my bosses) to pick someone in the LC to help check your blog.
And I am the one for your group.
I have just started surfing your blog.
Oh, you guys are from HRM! Sounds great!
Meanwhile I do not have the time to read everything you have.
Just treat this message a "hi" from a spy.
Kenny
Language Clinic student tutor
You have a good point here!I totally agree with what you have said!!Thanks for sharing your views...hope more people will read this article.Best Xbox One Steering Wheels Ultimate Buying Guide(2019 Updated)
ReplyDelete