So I wrote this, and I wanted to put it up on the site because I think it’d foster some interesting discussion. It’s not exactly pushing any buttons, but I do either ramble on or bumble through my thoughts in it. I ramble (or bumble) quite a bit… so I figured I should maybe name it something cute and throw it up on 4cr. (Hey, Rumas does it!) And thus R.O.B. (Rambling Or Bumbling) #1 was born. It may be boring, inconsequential, or simply derivative. Enjoy.

The Wii has started to bring fun back into the American consciousness. Promoting active, immersive play was the way it has done it. The ultimate consequence of the Wii is that people have rediscovered the joy that interactive entertainment can bring them. Nintendo has another product that is equally able to open up the doors to joy, fun, and laughter. It’s the Nintendo DS… and while it has certainly done well for itself in the face of its first real competition in a while I don’t believe it has penetrated as deeply as the Wii has. At least not in America.

Oddly enough, I think the situation may be switched in Japan (and to a lesser extent Europe). In Japan people of all ages and types have discovered the joy of gaming through the DS. The metrics of success for Nintendo are now just that. What has happened (and continues to happen) in Japan with the DS is the metric for success for all territories, all systems. They want, NEED, to bring their brand of happiness to the masses. Kids aren’t enough, gamers aren’t enough. And that’s why although the DS may be leading in numbers… it’s lagging behind Wii in that goal. The mass goal.

So the question is, how does DS do that in America? We’re not as portable friendly as Japan… so let’s factor that out of the equation right now. The DS can stand on its own as a system… period. It’s got an amazing library of games to suit a variety of tastes. It provides unique experiences unavailable anywhere else. Hell, the thing has surround sound. And if Wii (and PS2 before it) have proven anything… it’s that content, not flash is king. So let’s take the portable equation out of the DS, it’s not a compelling feature for the American public.

Much of my thoughts on this topic surround my mother, and her growing DS library. She’s the definition of “mass audience.” I believe she got hooked on Brain Age, or maybe Animal Crossing: Wild World. Regardless, once she got her own DS there was no stopping her. She found games that suited her, and without my input at all has amassed quite the library of games. Which leads me to believe, at least initially, that is about variety of games. The DS library is huge, and can accommodate a massive range of tastes. Why not build a case for the DS on that? On the fact that DS is the system that provides that personal, fun experience… no matter who you are.

The issue with this is that it looks at the consequence rather than the cause. My mom didn’t amass a library of games initially. She didn’t know (or need to know) that the DS has 15 games that would appeal to her as a person. All she needed was that one experience. That one compelling experience that all of us, as gamers have felt.

It’s a moment of joy, of humanity really. It’s wonderment. The same thing that happens when you first enter your own personalized city in Animal Crossing is the same thing that happens when you hit your first home run in Wii Sports baseball. It’s not just “hey, I’m having fun…” because after all sports, sex, and hopscotch are all fun. It’s a whole new type of fun… a new experience… something novel (and continuously novel).

So the question then becomes how do you get people to try something they’ve had such an aversion to for so long? Wii is certainly starting to do it with the notion of a more immersive, active game experience. Wii is not just another game system because of that… so what makes DS not another GameBoy? What brings DS to the masses?