Nintendo Wii Fanboy

We here at the Fanboy highly doubt that any of you have escaped the "Old People" phenomenon, by which Luddites of various ages, locked into their ways, miraculously pick up a Wiimote and slug it out in Wii Bowling. Many are so enthusiastic that they inquire as to the availability (answer: no) and price of this wonderous machine. But, in truth, how many are actually going to purchase one? Many with whom we've spoken have enjoyed the Wii, but still have difficulty fathoming a lifestyle in which the games are played so often as to warrant a 250 dollar purchase. What percent of Wii units sold will eventually go to this demographic, and is it large enough to push Nintendo to first place?

It seems Nintendo's opinions on older folks wanting to play games may not totally be without merit. While chances are should you shove a DS in front of your grandparent's face and demand they play, you'd only receive a puzzled look before said grandparent went back to their game of bridge, this new study shows that it's likely your grandparent already owns the DS and game, and is playing bridge online.

This new study, conducted by PopCap Games, shows that 66% of the estimated 150 million consumers that play casual games are over the age of 50. The study shows that these new breed of casual gamers enjoy playing titles daily for a mental workout, stress relief, and even pain distraction. We know shouting "brew" at our DS at the top of our lungs is a painful distraction all its own.

[Via Joystiq]

In the most shocking news of the week, Nintendo has announced that they're -- are you ready? -- working to market the Wii toward women and the elderly. You know, like they've been doing for a long time with their Nintendo DS! Who expected that, huh? "We want to appeal to mothers who don't want consoles in their living rooms, and to the elderly and to young women,'' Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said. "It's a challenge, like trying to sell cosmetics to men."

But is it so hard? Even more so than with the DS, the Wii sells itself. From the moment the Wii controller surfaced, even non-gamers were considering the vast possibilities the system would bring to the industry. In that same report, Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Japanese research giant Enterbrain, seemed to strike closer to the truth. "Wii definitely could become the most popular console of all time. Non-gamers can see how fun it is to play just by looking at people playing it." We here at the Fanboy offices can attest -- even our mothers and our non-gaming friends (we do have a few) seem interested in the Wii. Perhaps the best thing Nintendo could do to sell the Wii is to simply ensure their demo kiosks are everywhere. All the system needs is exposure, and it will sell. The only factor that is up in the air is how successful it might become. How many people will stop and want a longer look, and end up taking one home? Time for a little holiday sales speculation -- tells us what impact you think the Wii will have outside of the traditional market.