Iwata draws the boundaries very clearly

As I wrap things up, one thing I think I should do is make an article, more like a list, of definite rules Nintendo follows (of what I have learned). For example, one of these ‘rules’ is that Nintendo sees itself in the entertainment business, not the hi-tech business.  Another would be that Nintendo is an integrated hardware and software company but sees the software as the primary experience (that people buy the hardware to get to the software, that the hardware is molded to serve the software, not the other way around).

Consider these quotes from this Iwata Asks interview:

NAGATA: Next I’d like to ask about those features of the Nintendo DSi system that show an evolution from earlier DS models. I think game systems, cell phones and computers are rapidly approaching each other. Where do you see the boundaries between them?

IWATA: When it comes to our own platforms, we pay close attention to guaranteeing the performance of the integrated hardware and software, to similar methods of operation, and to the ability of everyone from children to older players to use them without reading a manual.

Iwata’s answer mentions the integrated hardware and software and how Nintendo aims to appeal to everyone.

NAGATA: Even though the features and specs such as downloads and wireless capabilities have come to resemble each other so closely?

IWATA: Yes. Even though certain aspects overlap one another, such as being able to take pictures or listen to music, we don’t think the borders have started to disappear at all. It’s not so much about the features as it is about Nintendo’s philosophy in making them. What stance should we take? What should we ask from customers? What shouldn’t we ask from customers? We have not wavered whatsoever regarding those elements.

Video-games are not in the technology business. They are in the entertainment business. This, alone, easily determines who is the winner and losers in the gaming market. There are numerous consoles and games who have ‘great technology’ but end up failing to ‘bad technology’ products since they have more entertainment value.

The boundaries of entertainment and technology differentiate something like the DSi from, say, a music player. They both technically play music but DSi puts a playful ‘spin’ on it. DSi has a camera but, again, it has a playful attitude with the camera.

They are not really ‘games’. But they are the so-called ‘in-between’ spaces that Reggie has mentioned, the white spaces.