In the 80s, Nintendo Games was killing it. The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) had reached over 28 million sales all around the world and at this point was single-handedly reviving the American video market system that was failing.
Introducing Games to the West
Even though things were, great, Nintendo needed something else. They needed to find new ways to expand the market, that could strengthen their position and arsenal. They needed to make an impact in the industry, they needed a portable and compact gaming service.
The Game Boy: How Nintendo Introduced
In countries like Japan, the Game Boy was an easy thing to sell. For the average person and kids, it was the perfect product. A portable system where you could play in the go in a very fast-paced society. But things were a bit different, outside Japan.
To help pave the way, Tetris and Pokemon were the two games that will help. This is the story.
The marketing manager at Nintendo was Don Coyner, who had to find a way to introduce the Gameboy outside Japan. What made the Game Boy special, is the one thing he needed to figure out. But many things were positive about Game Boy. It was a relatively cheap device, costing only $89.95, its graphics were good and its size was very comfortable.
Nintendo Emulator: Ready To Play These Five Amazing Games?
If someone would say that there is no variety in the Nintendo Emulator, it would be an excellent lie. There were many exciting games like Mortal Kombat or Castlevania, which had a superb storyline. But also, there was a range of exciting games in their lineup.
What it made to stand out was the sustained gameplay. All. Tetris, Tennis, and Baseball, three of the five North American launch games had a unique feature for head-to-head multiplayer with a link cable. Head-to-head multiplayer between devices was one of Game Boy’s most unusual features.
Marketing was key for Nintendo, and it had a high budget for marketing. But their marketing kept it close to a couple of principles. Nintendo targeted 9- to 15-year-old-kids, mostly, appealing to older kids, as they would bring more sales. Advertising for young kids was the main focus, even though but also adult ones were targeted.
Gameplay footage is what Nintendo needed, but that wasn’t hard. What they needed to do is that needed to show someone who was using the product, that was hard. So, they tried to blend ads, like one when you see a robot playing Tetris, which looked like a futuristic ad. So, a lot of time was spent and their focus was centered on one focal point, marketing. It was a major game for them.
