Innovation patterns in the video gaming industry : evolution of Nintendo case study

Abstract

In the videogame industry, which in 2007 generated more than $9.5 billion of sales in the United States alone, creativity and innovation are the driving force behind each company's success. The gaming market follows a strict generation era where companies need to develop a product which is able to compete in a war of standards. One of the aims of this research is to follow the journey of the video gaming industry, from the early primitive machines to the state of the art consoles which are available today. Particular focus will be given to Nintendo's evolution of hardware starting from the ground breaking NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) which revived the video gaming market after it crashed in 1983. This study continues by concentrating on Nintendo's latest console, the Wii, which has triumphed in the recent console wars between its rivals, the Xbox360 and the Playstation3. The development of the Wii will be given particular importance so as to understand the concrete vision behind such an idea while evaluating the Wii's progress wilh ICT 1 rules such as Network effects, Lock-In and Switching, Verslonlng et cetera. This process will provide insight into Nintendo's strategics and their approach to hardware development, together with providing a blueprint of the video gaming industry's evolutionary patterns.