Nintendo obviously has a vested interest in ensuring that games gain increasing social acceptance. The firm, which is more than a hundred years old, now focusses exclusively on video games, which therefore remain its only source of revenue. And as per an address by Nintendo head honcho Saturo Iwata in a recent statement in the company’s annual report, Nintendo has a lot of work to do before games gain social acceptance.
“When we look at how video games have been accepted in society, what we call social acceptance of video games, it seems the public perception towards video games has significantly improved over the past years,” said Iwata. “However, it is our belief that there are still plenty of things for us to tackle to improve the social acceptance of video games to the level of other general forms of entertainment such as TV, movie, music and sports.”
“Nintendo will try to further the penetration of Wii by encouraging communication in the living room of each household through continuous software launches which will positively surprise consumers with brand new gameplay. In addition Nintendo will release Nintendo 3DS that allows people to play in 3D without the need for any special glasses, and will strive to satisfy more people by offering innovative gameplay with Nintendo 3DS.”
Naturally, Nintendo has made huge strides towards social penetration of video games with the Wii and the DS. Will their progress continue? That question remains up for grabs.