Nintendo is not a brand I love. I've never been a fan of video games. As a fitness enthusiast, the idea of kids sitting around for hours on end, exercising nothing but their thumbs doesn't sit well with me. Still, my 14-year-old son Jake loves to play video games and has since he was little. He has plenty of grandparents and aunts and uncles who have been more than happy to feed his habit for birthdays and Christmas.
However, my opinion of the Nintendo brand changed this Christmas. You see, my son received a Nintendo Wii. If you're not familiar with the Wii, it is a "virtual reality" type video game system where you actually have to get up and move your body to play.
My twin sister was the first one to tell me how fun it was to play. And, she's not into video games either. So after my son kept pleading with me to try it, I finally did.
We virtual bowled, golfed, played tennis and baseball. We had to use all of the same body motions as if we were playing the actual sport. But, instead of being on a field or court somewhere, we were in our upstairs game room. And I admit, it was FUN! In fact, we've played several times since.
Nintendo is one smart company. They have finally come out with a product that answers all of the criticism that video games are contributing to the obesity and unhealthiness of today's youth. It's a product that even parents can feel good about. It makes kids happy because it's an innovative video game system. And it makes parents happy because it's getting their kids off their butts and moving. The Nintendo Wii has been selling like hotcakes since before Christmas and retailers STILL can't keep up with demand. In fact, I just read that their third-quarter sales were up 40% from a year earlier!
If you're not familiar with the Nintendo Wii, you can see what it is and watch some of their entertaining television commercials here.
How can you apply this type of innovative thinking to your business?