Senior Citizens Buy Into Wii Concept?

Nintendo had one huge goal: sell the Nintendo Wii to non-gamers. Bring new casual gamers into the market, expand the pool of game players and sell more units because of it.

All seems to be working out, despite slow titles hitting the shelves lately, Nintendo's greatest challenge: keeping a single console in stock.

Senior Citizens are now getting into gaming, casual style, using the Nintendo Wii.

"I'm 82 years old, so I missed that part of our culture. Soap operas, yes. Video games, no," chirped Ebert, who recently started playing a tennis game on Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s new Wii video game console at the Virginia retirement community she calls home.

The video game market is said to be roughly $30 billion in size. Competing for your dollar would be Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. Microsoft had a year head start and Sony's product is very pricey and requires additional motivation (and money) to purchase it as an "early adopter."

Nintendo decided to simply expand that $30 billion market by inventing new gamers, older gamers in this case, and it's catchy.

It's like Bridge for older gamers!

Flora Dierbach, 72, chairs the entertainment committee at a sister facility owned by Erickson Retirement Communities in Chicago and helped arrange a Wii bowling tournament -- the latest Wii craze.

Sim Taylor, 81, said "I never could understand it [video games]" and recently added gaming to his list of hobbies. His wife hasn't caught the bug; she still remains an avid bridge player.

It is important to stay active, at any age, and for seniors the Nintendo Wii might be a great in-door solution and social event. They probably don't need networking and all the "bells and whistles" to enjoy the console. Playing amongst friends is just what the doctor ordered.

source: yahoo.com

Derrick