Is it Time for Nintendo to Change Their Pack-in Games?

Nintendo has a method to their madness.  Here's another approach to marketing their games and gaming hardware that benefits the gamers, too.

Sometimes we allow ourselves the chance to step back from closely following the gaming company's moves and offer our own ideas on what would be a better move for them; both benefiting the gamer and the wallets of Nintendo and other publishers.

So in this instance, I wanted to share an idea that came to mind. E3 this year brought multiple apologies on behalf of Nintendo, a traditionally consumer-loyal company, for their (debatable) lack of content for the core gamer. And while some of these gamers may still rack up the hours on the Wii, many are looking to future titles in anticipation. This is basically an accepted truth in the state of affairs on Wii gaming. But what about those still buying the console?

A coming-of-age tale

Recently, a friend of mine decided that it was time for herself and her boyfriend to pick up a Wii. It didn't take long for her to relate her first Wii experience with me, talking about how she didn't realize that playing a virtual version of baseball could lead to such a sore arm. Now, though I've heard this same story many times over, I never took notice of certain language used in these stories until now. Many new Wii owners have never seemed to fully recognize or address that Wii Sports was a pack-in title with the system, a separate game. In fact, they seemed to associate the console with those games in particular, even if it is a separate disc on its own. To them, "Wii" means "golf, baseball, tennis, etc."

Wii Sports makes for almost every person's first experience with the console. It is an incredibly polished game for a simple pack-in, and its inclusion works well for Nintendo. But could this be helping bring in fewer gamers that would pay attention to future wonders like Disaster: Day of Crisis, or The Conduit? Is Wii Sports bringing in "casual" gamers more effectively than "core" gamers?

Frankly, Nintendo doesn't need to worry about selling more consoles at the moment, even if they actually made enough. But with price drops hitting other consoles in time for the holidays, Nintendo needs to do more than say they are appealing to everyone, they have to bring in the established core gamers as well. And pack-in titles could be a key to the whole mess. Imagine, would there be a change in the consumer demographic for who is purchasing a Wii if Zelda: Twilight Princess were a pack-in title? How about Smash Bros. Brawl? Metroid Prime 3: Corruption? Perhaps Super Mario Galaxy, or Mario Strikers Charged? Could they do third party bundles, and include games like Zack & Wiki, No More Heroes, or Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition?

What about the Publishers?

I mention third parties because this affects them as well. Historically, third-party companies don't fare as well on the Wii platform as Nintendo does with its own development teams. And this is especially the case with the more mature, "core" games. Surely, bringing in more consumers that won't pay attention to these possibly wonderful gaming experiences won't help Nintendo's issue with keeping companies publishing on their platform. Or, at least bothering to publish anything that a gamer may enjoy. Until some of these trends change, Nintendo won't fully convince me that they are actively working to bring you, the loyal gamer, back to the Wii. So going to the root of the issue and changing the "face" of the system, would truly change the approach of the company, even if it meant packing-in Metroid Prime 3 and darkening the box. And that could bring a very different crowd to the stores.

And part of me is afraid that Nintendo both refuses to change their squeaky-clean approach, and is afraid themselves to do so. If you were a parent that wanted to pick up a Wii at Target one day for your children, and the only one left was the super-zombie edition that had Resident Evil 4 included, would you be happy with the purchase? Additionally, this may be an approach that won't see the light of day for at least another year, until Wii Sports Resort settles in. So this idea could just be chalked up as something Nintendo may consider when they see a huge decline in sales (though I personally guarantee that it will come down the line, just like revamping Nintendo's Player's Choice selection; Super Paper Mario should NOT still retail at $50). The way I see it, bundles are lucrative by nature anyways.

Now, since the Wii first became available, giant bundles of mixed games and extra goodies became available in online stores. These pack-in structure changes mainly deal with in-store bundles. Regardless, a simple change like this could affect the consumer base for Nintendo drastically. And let's say a $50 game could be sold for a lesser value packed-in with a console for a (roughly) $289.99 price tag. In that case, I would bet Nintendo could move more systems. After all, we can hear time and time again that there is no such thing as a Wii price drop, so this would be a perfect alternative. And even if that isn't their goal anymore, then reshaping their philosophy in creating a product for everyone, including established gamers that want an affordable next-gen experience, should be their main aim. And giving more options for budget gamers than Wii Sports is a perfect way to appeal to everyone right out of the box.