Bear with me while I over-analyse...

Here's a short article from a local paper about the a "Wii Games Night" at a local library for old people being extended to all adults. It got me thinking.

This isn't a "Computer Games Night", this is about a "Wii Games Night".

Language and its use can tell us a great deal about the way people think about things. This example tells us that the Wii is regarded as a member of a different and distinct category to other games consoles (not necessarily better, just different).

What's important is that the assumptions that people hold for the "games console" category, the generalised image that applies to all members of that class, do not apply to this new category.

While those in the know may have a nuanced view on what constitutes a "games console", and so group all three together, the same is not necessarily true of the wider population. For many the choice is not between three consoles, it is a question of "do I buy a games console, or do I buy a Wii?". In fact the question is often simpler, it is "should I buy a Wii?", the alternative never entered their brain.

A similar thing happened when the Dyson bagless vacuum cleaner came out. These were a different category of device, they operated on a different principal and so were not directly comparable to the established cleaners of the time. People would first decide "do I want a Dyson, or a vacuum cleaner?". If they opted for the latter, then they looked at the available models in that category. The same applies to Macs vs. PCs. The PC category includes a myriad of makes and models from which to choose, but first you have to choose to have a PC.

In fact Sony created a new category when they released the original PlayStation. I remember its release; it was a class apart from the alternatives. The PS2 and PS3, as a natural progression from the PS, never created a new category, they were just better versions of what came before.

In creating a whole new category for themselves, Nintendo have managed to shake off the associations people have the old category of "games console", or "computer games". I find it hard to believe that a "computer games night" for seniors would have the kind of interest that a "Wii Games Night" would.

Nintendo is like the leader in the Tour de France, streaking ahead of the pack and being regarded as fundamentally separate from that mass of other competitors.

But as we have seen from the Dyson example, the pack will adapt and try to join the new category by imitation and some innovation of its own (LittleBigPlanet comes to mind). Expect more of that in the next couple of years. And expect Nintendo to try and re-invent a new category when the others catch up.