Wii wins big among casual gamers (From USA Today)

SEATTLE - In a slight crouch, Reggie Fils-Aime snapped off a left jab followed by a right hook.

Demonstrating how the hand controls of Nintendo's hot-selling Wii video game console work in a boxing game, Fils-Aime, the Nintendo of America president, let out a laugh.

He could well afford it. For now, Fils-Aime has put real-life business rivals at Microsoft and Sony at the receiving end of a pummeling.

Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360 boast superior computing power, theater-quality graphics and loyal followings among hard-core gamers. But since its launch six months ago, the Wii has snared the most coveted prize of all: a sizable and growing following among casual gamers.

"The Wii has become a viral and cultural phenomenon all to itself," Fils-Aime told reporters and game reviewers who met in Seattle this week to preview Wii's summer lineup of 14 new games.

Casual gamers are a potentially huge, untapped mass market for video games played on TV sets. For most of the past 25 years, video game consoles attached to TVs were aimed primarily at children and hard-core gamers, 18-to-34-year-old males who failed to outgrow the gaming habit.

Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony continue to cater to hard-core gamers; they drive a multibillion-dollar industry that closely parallels the movie-making business. But in recent years, the console makers have also begun to reach out to the mass market of average consumers who might spend hundreds of dollars for a gaming console even to play occasionally.

Since consoles now also connect to the Internet, whoever sells the most consoles also gains broad access to consumers' living rooms, and a foothold to sell other digital entertainment. "The idea is to get more people to buy consoles and games, then get them to do other things," says Matt Rosoff, gaming industry analyst for Directions on Microsoft.

Microsoft is furthest along. It recently began selling high-definition movies and TV shows through its Xbox Live online gaming service. But selling consoles to play $60 games remains the heart of the business. And for now, the race is on to get the latest consoles into the most living rooms. That's where the $250 Wii is besting the $400 Xbox 360 and the $600 PS3.

A Conan O'Brien boost

Video game console sales usually fall sharply after the holidays. Yet, last month, Nintendo sold 360,000 Wiis, 39% more than in March, says market research firm NPD. Microsoft sold 174,000 Xbox 360s, a 13% drop, while Sony sold 82,000 PS3s, a 37% decline. April marked the fourth-consecutive month the Wii outsold the competition.

The Wii offsets its comparatively modest computing power by introducing an innovative motion-sensing controller. Wii Sports, the game included with the Wii console, features tennis, bowling, golf and boxing. The games work by swinging the remote control like a racquet or club, or swinging it in a bowling motion. Boxing requires gripping the main control and a similar-size attachment, then pumping both fists.

Wii Sports, which comes with the console, became a word-of-mouth hit among families during the holidays. Suddenly, Aunt Sally, with no previous gaming skills, could hold her own against little Billy, the family's gaming guru. All she had to do was swing the Wii controller; no furious button pressing or amazing hand-eye coordination needed. Wii edged into the pop culture limelight when TV talk show host Conan O'Brien donned white shorts and beat tennis star Serena Williams in a Wii Sports tennis match.

Still, skepticism persists that the Wii is a novelty item whose popularity will ultimately wear thin. "I think the Wii bubble will burst any day," says Steven Kent, a Seattle-based freelance journalist and author of The Ultimate History of Video Games. "It's overpriced, underpowered, and we haven't seen anything but Wii Sports."

There are now 52 Wii games for sale. But Wii Sportshas been the big draw for casual gamers, says Billy Berghammer, managing editor of GameInformerOnline.com.

'Boogie' game up next

Among the new Wii games to hit store shelves in the months ahead are a couple of titles developed by major independent game studios. Electronic Arts is working on a game called Boogie; instead of using the hand controllers to fight, the player uses them to sing and dance.

Cat Daddy, a subsidiary of Take-Two Interactive, is finishing Carnival Games. Players will thwack at a strength-test pole, roll skee balls, knock down milk bottles and play other games to earn prizes.

"We wanted to design the entire game around the ability of the new control system to toss or flip things, and the carnival theme fit the bill very nicely," says Harley Howe, Cat Daddy CEO.

Fils-Aime gave no clues when Super Mario Galaxy will be ready. It's the blockbuster title that could cement the Wii's mass-market appeal.

"Super Mario Galaxy for the Wii is the crucial, crucial game," says Kent. Why? The plucky Italian plumber created by Nintendo has been a pop culture icon since the 1980s. Parents who bought the original game for their tykes are now grandparents, and those tykes are now parents.

But, like the movie business, timing is everything. "If it comes out late this year, that's very good for the Wii," says Kent. "If it doesn't, Xbox 360 could have a very good Christmas."
Tags: games, gaming, gamers, game console, wii